MAYTA Peruvian Kitchen and Pisco Bar

Latin American cuisine has been on fire in the Hong Kong Dining scene with new restaurants popping up everywhere. It has been said that Peruvian cuisine is the latest trend and Dining Concept's latest venture is MAYTA which takes over Blue Smoke BBQ's former space in the Grand Progress Building in Lan Kwai Fong. Chicha, which claims to be Hong Kong's first Peruvian restaurant caused quite the buzz when it first opened but failed to impress me when I visited. Therefore I was excited to try MAYTA in hopes of experiencing quality Peruvian cuisine as the restaurant's menu is designed by the famous Peruvian chef Jaime Pesaque who also heads the original and raved about restaurant MAYTA in Lima.

C, Y, and I went to Mayta with high expectations and unfortunately left the restaurant with no intention of returning. Some of the dishes were good, while some were extremely sub-par. Service on the other hand was just down right shameful.

I usually don't take notes while at a restaurant unless the food is incredibly complex and I want to make sure I remember the details or in the case because there were SO many mistakes and bloopers that I had to record them all. I felt like Anton Ego from Ratatouille typing away on my phone whenever something displeased me.

Merrr. And below are all the service mistakes that were recorded:

1. Air conditioning was RIDICULOUSLY cold, asked the waiter to turn it down, he seemed completely bewildered and asked another waitress to help him decipher the request. The other waitress rudely exclaimed "Too cold?!" very loudly right next to our table and gave us a look. Only plus side to this was that it did seem to be less cold later although the waiter never came back to let us know they turned in down. 
2. No water when we sat down, had to ask repeatedly for hot water and was finally given room temperature water after multiple requests.
3. The waitress gave me the wrong drink and then when I told her that it did not taste like raspberries at all but instead tasted like absinthe just whisked away the drink with no apology. Returned later and kept pestering me about how they ran out of basil for my original drink while I was trying to swallow my food. Would not stop asking me if it was ok if there was no basil, how am I suppose to answer when I am clearly trying to chew my food. So annoying and unobservant.
4. The hostess was friendly, yet lacked training as well. Did not take away any of our menus after ordering. I asked her for extra crispy wonton skin for the ceviche, she seemed hesitant and said she would check. Honestly is it that much of a request to give me a bowl of wonton skins?
5. When we ordered more food, the hostess took away the menu this time but it knocked into my phone and did not apologize.
6. My napkin was dropped on the floor and I put it on my chair and no one asked if I needed a new napkin even though the napkin was blatantly draped over the seat the entire meal. Small detail but still reveals a lack of training. 
7. There was one particular male staff who seemed like he was in another galaxy, this was the same one who didn't understand when I wanted the air conditioning turned down. I asked him for a menu and he started blankly at me and I had to utilize sign language to help him understand what I meant by menu. He also looked very baffled when we asked him for the check. He dropped our credit card when we paid and also did not apologize. He also did not say thank you after we each signed. Very very basic manners hello? 

Usually I would not be so finicky but it was just blunder after blunder. Now onto the food... 

The site is down for some reason so I can't access the menu right now for the specific name of the dishes but I will write down the approximate name for now.

Empanadas
The overall verdict of this dish was that it tasted like frozen food. And this is a tricky dish because as you all know frozen food can be strangely appealing (Pizza pockets!!!). The dish wasn't terrible, the skins were fluffy (a little too thick) and the filling was decent, yet it reminded everyone at the table of frozen food. Perhaps this would have been very good if I had it in my dorm room back in college but it did not suffice as a dish in a restaurant. 

Pan Con Chicharonnes
This was the favorite dish of the night. I actually really enjoyed this soft bun filled with gorgeously crispy and fatty pork. Usually I would pick out all the fat but this actually tasted really great and the crispiness was a perfect balance to the bouncy steamed bun. The addition of pickles and the chip added another textural profile. Now if only the other dishes were just as good as this one... 

Salmon Ceviche with Crispy Wonton Skins
Ceviche is one of the staples of Peruvian cuisine so we were expecting a great dish but instead we had an uninspired dish that tasted like very boring sashimi chunks swimming in a bland orange liquid. The ceviche did not have any of that tangy exciting flavor that we expect out of ceviche and the salmon chunks also did not have any flavor. The amount of crispy wonton skins were also very lacking and overall the dish desperately needed both flavor and textural contrasts. 

Duck Confit Rice
This was another dish that we enjoyed. The duck confit was made well, the meat was tender and the skin crispy. The rice was al dente and smothered in a robust sauce that had just the perfect amount of spice to it to keep things interesting. 

Lomo Saltado
According to my friend who is a Peruvian food fanatic, Lomo Saltado is THE staple Peruvian dish. The dish consisted of beef with onions, carrots, roasted bananas, and a fried egg. This dish was quite interesting but it was nothing mind-blowing. The addition of the roasted bananas made the dish was tad too sweet for my liking. It would also be nice if the fries were crispier, instead they were greasy mushy potato slabs. 

Napkin that did not get replaced. Hmph.

Drinks were also sub-par. Too sweet.

If you haven't guess already from my post I probably will not be heading back to Mayta anytime soon. Yes, some of the dishes were enjoyable but the overall dining experience was less than favorable. Perhaps if someone else goes and finds its to have improved significantly I will visit again as I really did quite like the pork buns... but for now I will be spending my time on exploring other new restaurants and Mayta will not be on my list of recommended places.

MAYTA Peruvian Kitchen and Pisco Bar

3/F

Grand Progress Building

15-16 Lan Kwai Fong

Central

Hong Kong