A Peruvian Perusal
Peruvian-Asian fusion near Chueca.
Pro Friendly, excellent ceviche.
Con A touch pricier than it could be.
Pay
€€€
Per Person €35: Shared Tequeños, ceviche, dessert. Solo: 2 beers, main. Gratis: Corn. El Tenedor offers may be available.
Find
Website https://katary.es/
ℹ️ Dietary Info Icons on menu
Access Step free to eating area.
In Short
Hopes. A touch of the Peruvian. Who wouldn't enjoy that?
Reality. Everything well-cooked, some details we have doubts about. Asian aspects not always evident.
First Impressions. Two blokes with a ladder, putting the sign up outside.
USP? Not a whole lot of Peruvian options around Alonso Martinez.
The offer in three words. Solid, if unspectacular.
Service! One server, doing a sterling job of it. A chef, quite possibly new in the job, popping out to chat with friends or family. Nice.
Friend friendly? Peru mostly means meat.
Rating for dating. Lots of space between tables makes for decent privacy.
Tip? 5%
Change one thing? Slice those spuds thinner.
Revisitability. Maybe for lunch menu.
Compare & Contrast
Alternative Peruvian? Chincha in Chamberi.
In Pictures
On Google Images
What's the story?
Katary's got the recipes, it's got the flavours. But it's got details to work on, too.
The most evident element of asian, these meat-filled "tequeños" feel far more like crispy wantons. They came with two creamy spicy no-holds-barred sauces we liked a lot, which certainly made them worth the effort. Four @ €6 doesn't feel over generous, though. Those condiments are the key.
Fish course? Yes. An excellent ceviche rocoto had one sauce from the tequeños redeployed to great effect, to zzuzh up this excellent, prettily plated ceviche. It'll give your chilli tolerances a testing. Some excellent flavour and texture opportunities are doable here, with crunch added from those taco/corn chips. It certainly deserves its label as Katary's signature dish, omnivores should give it a go.
These two classic Peruvian mains are present and mostly correct. Gallina al aji is a generous portion and as authentic as any we've had, or indeed been taught to make. A curious dish, its curry-like texture feels like there should be more spicing, but it's moreish and enjoyable. Two heftyt spudbergs (well cooked, despite their size), hide most of their mass beneath the surface and therefore go slightly against the bitesize tone of the rest of the dish.
It's a similar tale with Lomo Saltado. Essentially tasting just right, with a killer savoury sauce and some excellently tender beef, the spuds could do with refining. The best we've had were thin-sliced, deep fried then oven roasted and worked beautifully. These potato monoliths were well cooked, and would have been ideal for chip Jenga, but are out of scale. Plating needs a thought too, as we ended up transferring the generous portion of rice onto the serving platter. A long, flat plate doesn't let you mop that sauce to the max.
Desserts are the classic Madrileño-Peruvian suspects, but we managed to bypass yet another cheesecake - Madrid, city of a million cheesecakes? That's not going to work for the tourist board, is it? - and sidestepped, with a sigh, to Suspiro de limeño. This was on point as a classic Spanish-Peruvian dulce de leche/meringue combination. It's simple, rewardingly classic and ideal for two to share.
Service was good with a friendly, chatty lady who readily cleared up details and was delighted we'd demolished everything put in front of us. Beers came impressively cold, but despite our evident eating enthusiasm, no chupitos/digestives are on the agenda. Fair enough, but we're going to mention it. The interior is spacious, but actually verging on stark. It felt like a table or two had gone missing as there are acres of floor space. That floor could be smarter, I noticed, too. Music was touch modern for the clientele, but we were glad of Katary offering us a calm, reliably served dinner after a long day, which isn't as easy to find as you'd hope
Price-wise, Katary's like many Peruvian places. The tequeño and lomo portion size isn't the largest ever and at least 50c chopped off everything would leave you leaving feeling it was better value.
Katary's make an honest sincere effort, but there's work to be done to make us want to rush back.
Food 🟊🟊🟊 Service 🟊🟊🟊🟊 Decor 🟊🟊🟊
Peruvian-Asian fusion near Chueca.
Pro Friendly, excellent ceviche.
Con A touch pricier than it could be.
Pay
€€€
Per Person €35: Shared Tequeños, ceviche, dessert. Solo: 2 beers, main. Gratis: Corn. El Tenedor offers may be available.
Find
Website https://katary.es/
ℹ️ Dietary Info Icons on menu
Access Step free to eating area.
In Short
Hopes. A touch of the Peruvian. Who wouldn't enjoy that?
Reality. Everything well-cooked, some details we have doubts about. Asian aspects not always evident.
First Impressions. Two blokes with a ladder, putting the sign up outside.
USP? Not a whole lot of Peruvian options around Alonso Martinez.
The offer in three words. Solid, if unspectacular.
Service! One server, doing a sterling job of it. A chef, quite possibly new in the job, popping out to chat with friends or family. Nice.
Friend friendly? Peru mostly means meat.
Rating for dating. Lots of space between tables makes for decent privacy.
Tip? 5%
Change one thing? Slice those spuds thinner.
Revisitability. Maybe for lunch menu.
Compare & Contrast
Alternative Peruvian? Chincha in Chamberi.
In Pictures
On Google Images
What's the story?
Katary's got the recipes, it's got the flavours. But it's got details to work on, too.
The most evident element of asian, these meat-filled "tequeños" feel far more like crispy wantons. They came with two creamy spicy no-holds-barred sauces we liked a lot, which certainly made them worth the effort. Four @ €6 doesn't feel over generous, though. Those condiments are the key.
Fish course? Yes. An excellent ceviche rocoto had one sauce from the tequeños redeployed to great effect, to zzuzh up this excellent, prettily plated ceviche. It'll give your chilli tolerances a testing. Some excellent flavour and texture opportunities are doable here, with crunch added from those taco/corn chips. It certainly deserves its label as Katary's signature dish, omnivores should give it a go.
These two classic Peruvian mains are present and mostly correct. Gallina al aji is a generous portion and as authentic as any we've had, or indeed been taught to make. A curious dish, its curry-like texture feels like there should be more spicing, but it's moreish and enjoyable. Two heftyt spudbergs (well cooked, despite their size), hide most of their mass beneath the surface and therefore go slightly against the bitesize tone of the rest of the dish.
It's a similar tale with Lomo Saltado. Essentially tasting just right, with a killer savoury sauce and some excellently tender beef, the spuds could do with refining. The best we've had were thin-sliced, deep fried then oven roasted and worked beautifully. These potato monoliths were well cooked, and would have been ideal for chip Jenga, but are out of scale. Plating needs a thought too, as we ended up transferring the generous portion of rice onto the serving platter. A long, flat plate doesn't let you mop that sauce to the max.
Desserts are the classic Madrileño-Peruvian suspects, but we managed to bypass yet another cheesecake - Madrid, city of a million cheesecakes? That's not going to work for the tourist board, is it? - and sidestepped, with a sigh, to Suspiro de limeño. This was on point as a classic Spanish-Peruvian dulce de leche/meringue combination. It's simple, rewardingly classic and ideal for two to share.
Service was good with a friendly, chatty lady who readily cleared up details and was delighted we'd demolished everything put in front of us. Beers came impressively cold, but despite our evident eating enthusiasm, no chupitos/digestives are on the agenda. Fair enough, but we're going to mention it. The interior is spacious, but actually verging on stark. It felt like a table or two had gone missing as there are acres of floor space. That floor could be smarter, I noticed, too. Music was touch modern for the clientele, but we were glad of Katary offering us a calm, reliably served dinner after a long day, which isn't as easy to find as you'd hope
Price-wise, Katary's like many Peruvian places. The tequeño and lomo portion size isn't the largest ever and at least 50c chopped off everything would leave you leaving feeling it was better value.
Katary's make an honest sincere effort, but there's work to be done to make us want to rush back.
Food 🟊🟊🟊 Service 🟊🟊🟊🟊 Decor 🟊🟊🟊
