Downtown Mill Valley has a new restaurant in the former El Paseo space at 17 Throckmorton Ave. Lima Nikkei serves Nikkei food, the mix of Peruvian and Japanese cooking that developed in Lima. The restaurant's website says founder and owner Edwin Sandoval created it as a family-run neighborhood place.
The menu
The posted menu has a long list of ceviches and tiraditos, most at $25 to $27. They include a classic Peruvian ceviche with leche de tigre and tuna tataki with rocoto ponzu. There's also a $75 cold sampler for sharing. Small bites include a Dungeness crab hand roll ($12) and a pork-belly bao ($9). Larger dishes include lomo saltado ($39), a Peruvian chili-curry udon with salmon and shrimp ($41) and seafood rice ($36). Robata anticucho skewers cost $12 to $18. The cocktails lean on pisco, sake and shochu.
Early reviews
The OpenTable listing showed a 4.3 rating from 35 reviews by late October, with diners reviewing it since at least mid-October. Recent reviewers praised dishes like the chocolate mousse and the matcha mille-feuille. One said they would come back but order lighter dishes next time. OpenTable lists the cuisine as Peruvian, Japanese and cocktail bar.
The restaurant's site lists dinner hours of 4 to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 4 to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday. OpenTable also shows weekend lunch from 11:30 a.m., so check before you go.