Mati Peruvian Restaurant – Albuquerque, New Mexico

In 2004, The Economist (a British weekly news publication) proclaimed that “Peru can lay claim to one of the world’s dozen or so great cuisines.” In 2005, Bon Appetit declared Peruvian “the next hot cuisine,” extolling its “vibrant ceviches, crispy, spiced rotisserie chickens and packed-with-flavor empanadas” then encapsulating its declaration with “this is one cuisine we could eat every day.”  A year later, at the world’s premier gastronomic forum, the International Summit of Gastronomy, Lima (the coastal nation’s capital city) was touted as the “gastronomic capital of the Americas.”

In 2011, The Wall Street Journal also called Peruvian food “the next big thing” glossing that it “provides flavors that have the world’s top toques raving, experimenting and catching the next jet.”   The following year, BBC expressed the same “next best thing” notion.  In 2014, Conde Naste Traveler called Peru “the future of gastronomy.”  One year later, The Culinary Exchange expressed that “the world’s next global food trend is…Peruvian cuisine.”  A number of other online and print publications parroted that “next big thing” mantle.

As an independent  observer of the culinary condition, I had to wonder “when will Peruvian food finally arrive as the “next big thing,” especially in Albuquerque which isn’t necessarily quick to embrace culinary trends.  My own introduction to Peruvian cuisine transpired in 2008 at Destino Nuevo Latino (since closed) in San Francisco.  It was an eye-opening, soul-warming experience, one that made me want more.  During our peregrinations, we’ve visited a number of other Peruvian restaurants and were similarly blown away.

What makes Peruvian cuisine so unique is a combination of ancient roots and culinary traditions enriched by waves of immigration–Chinese, Japanese, Africans–and  vast geographical differences ranging from high Andean mountains to dense jungles and an enormous and varied coastline.  Peru’s biodiversity means that there is no one Peruvian cuisine, but rather variations depending on bounty of a particular area.  Most culinary students know that Peru has some 4,000 varieties of potato, that its ceviche is incomparable and that in the highlands guinea pig is a staple food, but there is so much more to Peruvian cuisine than that.  Peru’s culinary excellence is making it an ambassador for the world.

Over the years, the Land of Enchantment has had a number of Peruvian restaurants, but only two have achieved the type of cachet warranted by a cuisine that’s supposed to be the future of gastronomy.  In 2022 two of the Land of Enchantment’s Peruvian pearls were listed among the 25 Best Peruvian Restaurants in the U.S..  At #10 was Pollito Con Papas, the homey and wonderful gem owned and operated by Rene and Monica Coronado.  Tied for number one–the very best Peruvian restaurant in the country–was Aji Restaurant from Taos.

Until 2024, the superb Pollito Y Papas had a monopoly as Albuquerque’s sole purveyor of Peruvian cuisine.  Other Peruvian eateries such as Taste of Peru were short-lived.  In 2024, after ventures in Taos and Santa Fe,  Trotsky Barreto launched Mati Peruvian Restaurant in Albuquerque.  We spent a delightful hour at Mati during our inaugural visit and were the sole diners at the restaurant.  Our host told us we were there too early (noonish) and that the crowds amass later in the afternoon and into the evening.  Phew, we wouldn’t want to lose another Peruvian restaurant.  Mati is located in the parking-poor complex that previously housed Eterna Primavera, a phenomenal Guatemalan restaurant we thought had staying power.

Mati is festooned with decorative touches that redound to Peru’s beauty.  Requisite photographs of smiling llamas will bring a smile to your face.  The cynosure of one dining room is a large Peruvian flag.  Study it closely and you’ll see that a cornucopia (horn of plenty) makes up part of that flag.  Though meant to signify the nation’s mineral wealth, it can also signify Peru’s agrarian bounty as well as its plentitude of seafood for pescatarians and the rest of us alike.  The restaurant isn’t especially commodious, but seating is comfortable.  You can almost expect that–despite signage prohibiting it–double-parked cars will probably block your exit.

Cold Peruvian beverages are a superb way to wash down your meal.   First-timers might want to start off with an Inca Kola (a cola with a sweet, fruity flavor that somewhat resembles its main ingredient, lemon verbena and which might remind you of cream soda).  My very favorite Peruvian beverage is chicha morada, a purplish-black beverage made with Peruvian purple corn and infused with pineapple, lime and apples as well as cloves and cinnamon. When the weather turns colder, chicha is served hot. It’s the perfect winter beverage, but it’s equally delicious any time of the year.   My Kim prefers Maracuyá, a refreshing passionfruit beverage that hearkens to tropical climes.   The best description I’ve read for maracuyá is that it’s “a bubbly, tangy, complex and delicious flavor. Tastes like lying in a hammock on a breezy day, free and easy.”

The full menu is offered all day long (11AM – 7:40PM).  It’s not a compendium of Peruvian cuisine, but it does offer a representative sample of some of the nation’s best.  Peruvian style fried plantains is a nice way to begin a meal at Mati.  Lightly sprinkled in confectioner sugar, sliced plantains are a starchy accompaniment or predecessor to a great meal.  Sweet, ripe plantains are actually fairly healthy despite being fried and caramelized (the riper, the sweeter and the less starchy they are).

A century or more before Asian fusion cuisine became a culinary fad across the fruited plain, Chinese immigrants arrived in Peru looking for work. They integrated their own culinary techniques and ingredients to Peru’s diverse culinary vernacular. The most visible aspect of the Chinese influence on the Peruvian table is Lomo Saltado, a Peruvian stir-fry.  This hybrid stir-fry is made with thinly sliced beef, tomatoes, peppers and onions blended in a pan with soy sauce and get this, French fries (another Peruvian passion). It’s a very interesting dish made even better with the Peruvian condiments (ketchup need not apply).

National Geographic believes “There’s good evidence to suggest that 3,000 years ago, fishermen ate their catch straight from the sea” and that “the concept of ceviche is so old we’ve no recipes for its earliest incarnations, which were probably made in or near Huanchaco, a town on the northern Pacific coast of Peru.”  Genesis not withstanding, ceviche is the national dish of Peru.  Ceviche is a citrusy seafood dish traditionally made from raw fish and cured with lime.  Mati offers three different ceviche dishes.  Offering the most seafood variety is the Ceviche Mati (fish, shrimp and octopus served over a bed of lettuce and served with canchita, a toasted Peruvian corn somewhat resembling popcorn on steroids (meaning it’s a large kernel corn).   Ceviche Mati is so good, it might just transport you to coastal Peru.

Though we might have enjoyed having Mati Peruvian Restaurant all to ourselves, we would prefer overflow crowds.  That would mean Albuquerque has embraced one of the world’s truly great cuisines, one that’s been on the verge of breaking out onto the world culinary stage for years–even in the Duke City.

Mati Peruvian Restaurant
303 San Pedro Drive, N.E.
Albuquerque, New Mexico
(505) 516-9618
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LATEST VISIT: 23 September 2024
# OF VISITS: 1
RATING: N/R
COST: $$
BEST BET:  Ceviche Mati, Lomo Saltado, Chicha Morada (Purple Chicha) and Maracuyá (Passion Fruit), Plátanos Fritos
REVIEW #1422