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Guys. It was only a matter of time, but now my dreams came true: a Peruvian Ceviche restaurant, only 300 meters from my living room away. Guys. Paradise has opened its doors for me. It’s the truth.
Of course, on the first day of opening, I had to go in and see for myself. After binge-gorging on Ceviche in Lisbon (six days of endless Ceviche feasting), I thought my passion about raw fish, denaturalized by the pure power of acidic lime juice, would subside. Instead, the monster in me grew, wanting for more, apparently never satisfied.
Perhaps I am disgusting (“voted most likely to be disgusting in 2015″), but I would actually take a bath in Ceviche and not feel ashamed for it. Wait, you know what– I would pay for that. And this is exactly why CHICHA is my new jam, except they don’t open for lunch, which in my opinion is a very grave mistake as they will loose a lot of money (basically, ALL of MY money).
I didn’t take many pictures because I inhaled the food. Also, because I wasn’t in the right state of mind after drowning in the perfectly well fitting Pisco Sour.
Before my Ceviche and Pisco Sour poetry kills everyone of us, let me tell you more about Chicha. The restaurant opened up in place of a tapas bar (Manuela) on Friedelstraße, one of the most gentrified streets of Berlin and, who would’ve guessed it, incidentally also one of my favorite streets. It has all the good cake, coffee and life-on-the-Canal that hippies hate and that I can barely afford. Conveniently, Friedelstraße is only a few minutes away from where I live. Strolling into the general direction of Kreuzkölln, especially with the Flowmarkt and everything, yield many interesting combinations of bougie life sprinkled with dogshit and overpriced artisan pancakes sold by people collecting donations to help refugees. It’s an eclectic mix, really.
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On the left: the salmon ceviche. On the right: the Chicha ceviche with meagre.
The former tapas restaurant just drowned in the noise of the Kiez. I only ever ate at Manuela once and I think that should tell you everything about it. The good news is: Chicha is also following a tapas concept, although the quality of the served dishes (especially those from the Ceviche bar) is on an entirely different level. Chicha don’t serve regional fish or cater to any of the locavores needs, which is fine, because I wouldn’t want a fish from the Spree. Therefore: expect reflecting prices. That also explains why the tapas structure of the menu is probably what works best for Berlin. Quite like their colleagues and friends from Industry Standard (another restaurant you should try on a semi-special occasion, but one that probably won’t get you hooked to come back time and time again), the management and new restaurant owners of Chicha probably knew that nobody in Berlin was ready to buy big plates (of high quality fish, no less) for even higher prices, so putting the costs into small plates to share seems like the best idea. That’s okay, I guess. I am a big fan of trying everything off the menu.
I’m not the biggest fan of sharing, though. If you must know one thing about me: I’m stingy with the Ceviche. I will wish diseases on you if you end up with your fork on my plate. Bless Nico, my lovely colleague who always has a critical and objective view on food while I just fall in love with everything, at least he didn’t like the dessert and left it for me to devour.
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I apologize for the quality of the picture — these are the beef heart skewers, a top recommendation even if you don’t love Ceviche.
What he did like — and what I loved, unexpectedly — were the hearts of beef on a skewer, from the grill. Because if Ceviche isn’t quite your thing (how can you do this to me?), you’ll get to try this. And if that isn’t your thing, then God help us all.
Chicha has only opened, so it’s just fair to say that not every dish was perfected yet. The Tuna, for example, didn’t blow our minds quite as much as the beef hearts. On the other hand, the Causa Pulpo — a Peruvian potato in a mashed state of aggregation — with Octopus was magnificent, and convinced us that Chicha is on the right track.
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Cheeseballs and Causa Pulpo
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Roasted coconut with more coconut on the inside. It’s triple Coco. A very basic, but matching dessert choice.
Again, the Pisco Sour kind of melted every functionality of my brain that night. It has ever since become my new favorite beverage. They should know how to make a good drink, though, as this is another thing about Chicha: the Pisco bar. The actual tapas spirit of serving snacks with drinks stays wonderfully intact, although I can’t assure you that a plate of half raw fish is the best basis on a drunk night out.
I don’t think Chicha needs anymore advertising after having successfully popped up on various food related events, such as Markthalle 9 and as mentioned, at Industry Standard. But the restaurant is thoroughly enjoyable. It’s comfortable, very well designed, friendly and elegant without being posh or inadequate to the Kiez. And, of course: Ceviche.
Image may be NSFW.
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Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
Admittedly: I have been feeling a little bit of self-hatred for my inability to resist the food hype. I know that Ceviche is the “next cool thing” and everybody’s been doing it, like Avocado, Carpaccio, and Kale. And smoothies, and cold juices. And so on. I am weak, but here’s the thing: 80% of my money has always gone into food-related things (for better or worse), so if you want to call me a gentrifying, kiez-killing, animal-torturing yuppy-hipster-whore, then that’s the price I’ll gladly pay while drowning in lime, chili and loads of onions.
CHICHA
Friedelstraße 34
12047 Berlin
http://www.chicha-berlin.de/