Restaurant: Llama
Location: 415 Anastasia Blvd., St. Augustine, Fl, 32080. The restaurant itself is a very small corner unit of a multi-unit building. It is fairly unassuming from the outside thought there is a nice sign visible from the road, as well as llamas painted onto the corner pillar. The parking lot isn't the prettiest, but it's a parking lot. There are two large windows on the front corner of the building, with shades that are down during the day and up at night, providing a limited view in the dining room.
Meal: Dinner, including appetizer, mimosa, entre, wine, and desert.
My meal consisted of the Pomarosa Mimosa, the Casuas Trio appetizer, Lomo for the entre, a bottle of 2015 4 Kilos 12 Volts wine, and a trio of artisanal ice creams for dessert (ginger, bay leaf, and Thai tea). *sea menu for item descriptions
Ratings:
Food/Beverage Quality: 9/10 The meal began with a bowl of "snacks" placed by the waiter which was a small bowl of Peruvian giant and plantain chips, these were very delicious, and the perfect finger food to have while browsing the menu. The appetizer left a lot to be desired, though we really had no idea what Casuas was when we ordered it, so it is difficult to actually judge the quality. It is described as a grilled potato cake with different meat toppings, it came cold and mashed potato like and the toppings were done in a chicken/shrimp salad style. This is how it is supposed to be served apparently, and though we really disliked it at first, by the end we fought over the last bite of the shrimp and we both loved the octopus/avocado one. The mimosa was pretty standard but very good. The Lomo entre wasn't bad but wasn't anything spectacular either, it was just hangar steak, peppers, onions, and what seemed like steak fries underneath it all. The meat was served medium rare as I ordered, and though the interior was cooked perfectly, the exterior of the pieces of meet was tough and almost charred. Again, this may be how the dish is meant to be served, and by the end I was quite satisfied. The wine was good, but I'm not much of an expert. The desert was phenomenal, and really helped tie everything together and left me with a much better impression of the whole meal than I had before it arrived. The artisanal ice creams were served in the usual portions in an interesting trio bowl dish. Each scoop had a surprising depth of flavor, and it was a great way to end the meal. The Thai tea ice cream was arguably the best most interesting ice cream I have ever had.
Food/Beverage Quantity: 10/10 Everything served, from the snacks to the desert was in the expected portion size, or better. The appetizer was not to big, the entre was large enough to take a bit home, and the desert left us scraping the bowl but fully satisfied. The mimosa was served in a standard flute.
Value for the Dollar: 7/10 Overall, I felt everything to be a little overpriced. I see what they are trying to do, and had the service and food been just a bit better I would have thought everything was perfect. Having eaten at the other "fine-dining" establishments down -town I would rank this as the least memorable at that price-point. Then again, we had a great time and will certainly be back to perhaps try some different menu items.
Service: 7/10 The service was not at all bad but was just barely adequate. The waiter spoke with a thick accent but was totally understandable. He was very nice and attentive but was overall not very knowledgeable. We asked for a wine recommendation after order entrees, and he really wasn't any help. He paused for a very long time while trying to read my menu out of my hand, when we finally spoke up and just picked one, he wasn't sure if they even still carried it. I get that menus change, and wine runs out, but this was pretty rough. He again had to ask the kitchen if they had the ice creams we had picked for desert. We were eating fairly late so he may have been unsure what was still available, but still.
Décor: 8/10 The dining rooms is very, very small, but that didn't bother us at all, we like intimate settings. I particularly enjoyed some of the Peruvian specific décor such as colorful llama/alpaca hair "tapestries". Right above out table was this gorgeous vine/branch/flower piece that was very nice. The window right by our table had a shade pulled down on it, which we liked, but during our meal the waiter came over and opened it without asking, exposing the parking lot and street directly to us. It wasn't a deal breaker and we didn't mind much, but it was odd.
Overall, we did enjoy our meal and dining experience in general. Being a foreign, cultural cuisine, we may have ordered some items that we did not end up liking due to ignorance. I can see what the are trying to do and look forward to their progress. The food really was good, and with a few minor tweaks to service it would definitely be up there with the other "fine-dining" places in town. I really hope they're able to move downtown. read more