Ever since I was in South America a few years ago, I become obsessed with ceviche. While the city is undergoing a poke insanity right now, ceviche which is kind of like a red headed step-sister dish, hasn't quite picked up around the city. But when I was at Gotham Poke, I noticed Mission Ceviche in the same food hall so I made a mental note about it. Luckily, Allison had also made a mental note of it and we made a little field trip out there on a Thursday night.
In case you haven't been to Gansevoort Market before, it's a casual food hall near the MeatPacking District and each stall has a few seats and then there's a slightly larger seating area in the back. Mission Ceviche is smack in the middle of the food hall, so you can't miss it. The menu has 2 sections to it: make your own ceviche and then a few Peurivan style main entrees. Allison and I shared 1 classic ceviche ($12) and 1 chicken dish ($12) and got a homemade ginger ale ($3). We got the ceviche with the catch of the day which was a nice fluke; it is an excellent fish to use for ceviche because it's mild and you can really taste the acidity and citrus of the classic "marinate" or they call it "tiger milk" we got. You can choose lettuce or quinoa as your base (we got lettuce), so it's quite a healthy dish. On top of it, it comes with red onion, cilantro, sweet potato mash and giant corn kernels which is very traditional. It was fresh and tangy and I felt really healthy during the whole process. My only complaint is that the portion size is a bit small but then again, I was sharing it with someone else when it's really made for 1.
As for the chicken, I really enjoyed it although it's a totally different dish from the ceviche. It's a warm dish and much heavier because it's got a curry-like cream sauce to it - it's juicy shredded chicken simmering in a yellow chili pepper cream, parmesan cheese and aioli and you can get it on a base of rice, beans or quinoa (we got the quinoa). It was like a very hearty chicken stew and the smells and flavors were fantastic - I could see it being a good cold winter night type of dish but probably not something for a hot summer evening.
Overall, I was really pleased with the food here. It's hard to find good ceviche not at a sit down restaurant, so I can definitely see myself swinging by here to grab a quick bite to eat. I just wish the place was a bit more lively and exciting inside - the 2 times I've been there, it's been kind of dead. I'm not sure if it's because they don't really have a great facade outside that indicates all the cool food inside but for now, it's kind of nice to have the place to yourself. Total bill: $36 for 2 people with tax and tip
Photo Credit: Yelp
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