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As Lima becomes more and more international in its reputation for fine cuisine we are reviving out restaurant review column. We have invited Steve Guschov to be our monthly restaurant reviewer and hope you enjoy his comments and lively descriptions, Steve will be happy to hear your comments and suggestions. Welcome Steve!

Flamingo Road Church is located at Cineplanet Alcazar in Ovalo Gutierrez in Miraflores, and that means that we are surrounded by great places to eat every Sunday after the English service. One of our favorite places to visit on Sundays, or on any other day of the week, is Bohemia Café, located right on the ovalo (“rotary”) at Av. Santa Cruz 805.

Bohemia Café has been around for about a dozen years, and features modern Peruvian and international cuisine. The house chef is none other than the world-famous Gaston Acurio, who once squired Anthony Bourdain around town for his TV show.

There's lots to like at Bohemia Café. As far as starters and appetizers go, you'd do well to try the “sinfonia de causas”, which is a collection of three small causas, each featuring a unique filling in the middle, such as chicken or crabmeat. The “canasta de chicharrones” is also fantastic, consisting of a generous portion of on-the-bone, deep-fried chicken fritters. This appetizer could also be called “chicken-nuggets-on-the-bone.” It is one of the tastiest appetizers I have found in the city. Bohemia Café also features a wonderful shrimp cocktail (“coctel del langostinos”) studded with slices of avocado (“palta”). Trust me, it works. The creaminess of the soft avocado slices mixes perfectly with the shrimp and cocktail sauce. There are times when I've been tempted to order a couple of them and make an entire meal out of it. Bohemia Café also features one of the best presentations of “tiradito” in Lima. This plate consists of thinly-sliced ribbons of raw sea bass marinated in a spicy, lime-juice-based marinade. It is similar to Peru's world-famous cebiche, except that the tiradito, in my opinion, has a little bit more of a “kick” to it, and fish is cut into thin ribbons in tiradito, while it is more cube-shaped in ceviche.

As far as main dishes go, one of my personal favorites at Bohemia Cafe is the “rigatoni a la putanesca”, which mainly consists of rigatoni noodles, diced tomatoes … and anchovies. Now, I know that many of you expats are recoiling right now at the thought of anchovies. This beleaguered little fish has received a lot of bad publicity in North America, and really doesn't belong on a pizza, but it works perfectly on this pasta dish. I think that the anchovies caught in local Peruvian waters are more flavorful than their North American brothers, and slightly less salty as well. The anchovies add the perfect tang to the rigatoni pasta and tomatoes. It's creative and it works.

Another favorite dish at Bohemia Café is the “atun marinado con risotto y salsa de coco-curri.” This is a fillet of marinated tuna served with risotto and a coconut-curry sauce. A properly-prepared tuna fillet is one of the tastiest treats that the ocean can offer – and tastes absolutely nothing like canned tuna fish – and Gaston & Co. do it up right. The tuna is flavorful and tender enough to cut with a fork, and the coconut-curry sauce adds a Caribbean-Indian blast to it that is both sweet and spicy at the same time.

One of the funkiest plates on the menu at Bohemia Café is a blood sausage pizza (“pizza de morcilla”). I love pizza, and I love sausage pizza, but the blood sausage pizza is a world apart. The intense, tangy, salty punch of the blood-based morcilla sausage makes this a pizza that is not for the faint of heart. If you're the type of person that only likes cheese on your pizza, then stay away. But if you like a little bit of adventure on your pie, then try the blood sausage pizza.

Ready for dessert? Then try the “copon de tres leches al sauco”, which is a large cup with generous, intervening portions of tres leches and sauco, which is a fruit not unlike the blueberry in flavor. Another great dessert option is the “clasico mousse de chocolate Bohemia.” It is one of the most intense chocolate mousse dishes that I have ever enjoyed, and there is a photograph of it in Webster's dictionary next to the word “decadent.”

Bohemia Café is open every day starting at 12:30 P.M. Valet parking is available, and they take reservations at 446-5240 or 445-5889. They have a great website at: www.bohemiacafe.com.

(Steve Guschov is the Campus Pastor of Flamingo Road Church in Lima. He can be reached at steve.guschov@flamingoroad.org.)