Menu to Taste

Mérito

Venezuelan-Peruvian · Lima · San Isidro · Chef Juan Luis Martínez

Ranked No. 26 on The World's 50 Best Restaurants list, Mérito in Lima showcases chef Juan Luis Martínez's Venezuelan-Peruvian cuisine. Operating in the Barranco district, the restaurant combines South American produce with Venezuelan recipes, highlighting dishes such as glazed pork belly with arepas.

Prolongación Salaverry 2310, San Isidro, Lima 15036, Peru, Lima

  • #4 Latin America's 50 Best 2025
  • #26 World's 50 Best Restaurants 2025

Menu

Dishes

  • Bienmesabe — Venezuelan Coconut Custard, Almond, Andean Chirimoya (36) — Bienmesabe — the classic Venezuelan coconut custard dessert (its name means 'tastes good to me') made from coconut milk, sugar, egg yolks, and cinnamon — paired with chirimoya (Peruvian custard apple) sorbet and ground almonds. The bienmesabe is Venezuela's most beloved traditional dessert; the chirimoya pairing crosses the geographical boundary into Peru's inter-Andean valleys.
  • Ceviche del Día — Market Fish, Ají Dulce Leche de Tigre (55) — Mérito's daily ceviche: the Peruvian classic rebuilt with a leche de tigre that incorporates ají dulce (the Venezuelan sweet pepper) into the marinade. The result maintains ceviche's essential acid-chili-lime character while adding a Venezuelan aromatic note that makes this one of the most distinctive ceviches in Lima — Peruvian technique, Venezuelan soul.
  • Seared Scallops — Trucha Roe, Corn Cream, Andean Microgreens (62) — Pacific scallops seared to a golden crust, served with a cream made from Peruvian native corn, trucha (trout) roe from Andean highland fisheries, and microgreens from Mater-influenced highland growing. The corn cream roots the dish in Peru; the trucha roe adds Andean altitude; the scallop quality reflects the Humboldt Current.
  • Mushroom Rice — Andean Fungi, Native Corn Stock, Truffle (52) — A rice preparation using Andean wild mushrooms and a stock made from native corn — the corn stock providing a sweetness and depth that replaces the meat stocks traditional in arroz con hongos. A truffle finish connects the Andean fungi to European luxury ingredient language while remaining fundamentally rooted in the Andean highland ecosystem.
  • Peruvian Chocolate Rock — Chuncho Cacao, Cacao Nib Soil (38) — Mérito's signature dessert presentation: Chuncho cacao (native Peruvian variety from Cusco) shaped and textured to resemble a stone or rock, surrounded by a 'soil' of cacao nibs, cacao husk, and toasted quinoa. The rock shape references the Andean stone landscape where the cacao's source ingredients grow; the interior is a layered ganache of extraordinary richness.
  • Fish Curry — Market Fish, Coconut, Venezuelan Spice Blend (58) — A curry informed by Venezuela's Afro-Caribbean coastal cooking tradition — coconut milk, tropical spices — applied to daily market fish from Lima's Pacific coast. The coconut-spice base is Venezuelan; the fish quality is Peruvian. A preparation that could only exist in the biography of a Venezuelan chef who cooked in Lima's finest kitchens.
  • Papa Voladora Cakelet — Flying Potato, Caramel, Lucuma (32) — A small cake built around papa voladora (a rare Andean variety whose name translates to 'flying potato') — a native potato with exceptional starch and moisture content — combined with lucuma (the subtropical Peruvian fruit with a dry, maple-like sweetness) caramel. The dessert is simultaneously a play on the Venezuelan tequeño tradition and a tribute to Peru's extraordinary native potato diversity.
  • Coconut Anise — Coastal Coconut, Andean Anise, Chirimoya Sorbet (32) — A dessert that maps Peru's geography: coastal coconut from the northern Piura region, Andean anise (with a more complex, herbal character than star anise), and chirimoya sorbet (custard apple from Peru's inter-Andean valleys). Three flavour zones — coast, highlands, inter-Andean — united in a single cold dessert.
  • Pabellón Criollo Mérito — Venezuelan National Dish Elevated (65) — Pabellón criollo — Venezuela's national dish: black beans, white rice, shredded beef (carne mechada), and fried plantain (tajadas) — elevated into a fine dining preparation. At Mérito, the four components are treated individually: the black beans cooked with epazote until silky, the beef shredded from a slow-braised short rib, the plantain from a ripe madurito variety, and the rice made from native Peruvian grain. The four elements arrive separately for the diner to combine.
  • Format (10)

Wines

  • Papelón con Limón — Venezuelan Raw Sugar Lemonade (18) — Venezuela's most universal refreshment: papelón (unrefined raw cane sugar block) dissolved into water with fresh lime, served over ice. At Mérito it is made with both Venezuelan papelón and Peruvian maracuyá (passion fruit) — the two citrus traditions of Venezuela and Peru united in the restaurant's simplest beverage. Available throughout the meal.

Tasting Menu

  • 10-Course Tasting Menu (75)

The Experience

An intimate room built around the chef's counter. The meal is structured around a tasting menu.

  • Atmosphere: Intimate
  • Format: Tasting menu
  • Setting: Chef's counter

Phone: +51 1 650-5808

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