Suyo: Birthday dinner at modern Peruvian restaurant in Vancouver
We celebrated my birthday this year with an expensive dinner at Suyo 🥳, a modern Peruvian restaurant on Main Street near the Mount Pleasant area.
Suyo has been on my foodie list for awhile since they appeared on the Michelin guide. I have been saving this spot to celebrate a special occasion because I saw their menu was on the expensive side (TLDR: We ended up spending $400 💸).
In this blog post, I will be reviewing all the dishes and drinks we ordered and how our general experience went.
Suyo
3475 Main St, Vancouver, BC V5V 3M9
The vibe
The exterior looks simple and modern but inside it is actually quite small! The vibe was a little dark with leafy plants and concrete walls and interiors. There is a nicely lit bar and the seating kind of wraps around it like a short hallway.
We came for dinner on a Friday night and the restaurant was fully booked – every table was filled. They originally seated us at the first table next to the hostess booth. Unfortunately, we didn’t really like this table because it required us to sit side-by-side facing the bar. We do not often eat side by side like this when we dine as 2 adults and I also knew it would be difficult to take photos and videos if my husband wasn’t sitting across from me.
We asked if we could be seated at another table and the staff were able to accommodate this request after a quick wait. They seated us further in the dining room at a regular table for 2 where we sit across from each other and it was much more comfortable and also more private. One side was booth seating and the other side was regular chairs.
Food and drinks review
Prices are listed in CAD and rounded to the nearest dollar for simplicity.
Pisco sour ($20) + Undergrowth ($22)
Suyo’s cocktail program is award-winning due to the Bar Manager Max Curzon-Price winning theMichelin Guide Vancouver exceptional cocktail award in 2023. On their cocktail menu, they highlight different parts of Peru that have inspired each drink with a story – very cool 🤩!
My husband ordered the pisco sour, which uses Italia pisco, citrus, bitters and egg white. This came in a cute cup of egg white foam and had a nice sour and tangy taste.
I asked which cocktail was the most popular and the server recommended to me the undergrowth. This cocktail uses diplomatico rum, bacardi ocho, citrus, jungle falernum, and amazonian tepache. It is actually kind of 2 drinks in one and you are supposed to sip them interchangeably throughout your meal. I thought that was kind of fun and I’ve never had a cocktail split into 2 like this 🤯. I guess I like to double first my drinks 😂. Both drinks were easy to drink and had fruity elements to it.
Kanpachi tiradito ($45)
Suyo has several ceviches on their menu and we ordered the most expensive one – the kanpachi tiradito. This came with 6 pieces of kanpachi fish paired with avocado, mango, calaca, and maracuya leche de tigre.
The presentation for this dish was beautiful – colourful and fun 😍! The flavours also really popped. There was sourness and freshness and overall a refreshing and light taste. There were also a lot of textures with the soft fish and fruits in contrast to the more crunchy elements. We were also quite shocked at the size of the corn 😲? We have never seen corn that large before.
Overall, a pricey ceviche dish but it was very unique and delicious.
Beef tenderloin tartare ($34)
For a small plate, we ordered the beef tartare. This was paired with taro root chips, salsa anticuchera, and a rocoto emulsion.
One of my pet peeves is when I order a dish like tartare and they only give me 2 crostini 😒. I was happy with the amount of taro chips – actually enough for me to eat the tartare. It also held onto its structural integrity – I thought the chip would easily break when scooping up or holding the tartare, but it held on.
The tartare was quite saucy and overall had a pretty smooth texture. In general, we liked this tartare but did think it was on the pricey side compared to other tartares we’ve had at other restaurants in Vancouver.
Pork belly chicharron ($32)
For our second small plate, we ordered the pork belly chicharron. It came with 3 pretty large pieces of pork belly topped with salsa criolla, polenta tamal, and chicharron drizzled with an olive emulsion. Underneath the pork belly was a square of sweet potato.
I think out of all the dishes we tried, we liked this one the least. We expected the pork belly to be fattier but most of them were pretty lean except for one piece. The chicharron was crunchy and nice, but we felt the flavour was lacking a little and there wasn’t enough sweetness coming in even with the sweet potato.
Carne a la parrilla ($134)
For our main and the star of the night, we ordered the grilled steak 🥩! It was listed as “MP” but the server told us it would cost $134 and would feature an 18oz ribeye with bone. There was also a wagyu option for $200+. The steak also had a special sauce (I don’t remember what is in it) and topped with a house-made chimichurri sauce.
This steak smelled really good and was very eye-catching when it arrived. I liked that it was pre-cut into slices to make it easier for us to share and eat. Each piece was very tender and delicious with both sauces and I usually don’t like steak!
This main dish also comes with a side and we got a pretty large plate of mashed potato, asparagus, leek and crunchy potato tips (think hickory stick chips). This made the main dish more worth it and filled us up so much.
I am a potato girl 🥔 so I lowkey loved this dish even though it was too salty for my husband. The mashed potatoes were creamy, the asparagus and leek were deliciously roasted and I liked the crunchiness of the potato chip sticks on top.
Mousse de maracuya ($21)
We were really full after the steak but since it was my birthday, we felt like we should still order dessert. Wow – are we glad we did! This dessert was SO GOOD 🤤!
There is a very mini version of tres leches cake, which is a sponge cake that is soaked in 3 different types of milk: evaporated milk, condensed milk and whole milk. This cake was paired with a refreshing coconut lime sorbet and vanilla rooibos. There is also a fancy-looking passionfruit mousse that really just completed the whole dish. What a way to end our meal 🙌!
Final thoughts
Loewe’s rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
We had a really delicious and filling dinner at Suyo for my birthday. In total after tax and tip, we spent just over $400 for 2 people 💸.
Food was in general, excellent. Our favourite dishes of the night were the steak, kanpachi ceviche and the dessert. Although I probably wouldn’t get the kanpachi again because it is a little too expensive in my books for the amount of food (but really great flavours).
I think we could have definitely skipped 1 or even both of the small plates (tartare and pork belly). Not only were we super full without the small plates, I often find small plates to be overpriced at any restaurant and just not really worth it.
Service was also excellent 👍. Not only were they very accommodating in our request to switch tables, they also let us know they added a note that we do not like that table for future bookings – thoughtful! The server was also very passionate in explaining the menu and had a very friendly demeanor.
I would recommend you to check out Suyo for a special occasion or if you are looking to try some very unique dishes as I don’t find a lot of Peruvian options in the Lower Mainland. One thing I do admire about Suyo is the storytelling and the passion they have to share and spread Peruvian food and culture. I really see that in their menu, dishes and staff.
Sincerely, Loewe
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