Coastal Peruvian Seafood & Grill Naples, Florida

There's a new kid in town, and this one is well worth a visit!  In a city with  seven delicious Peruvian restaurants, there's room for another.  I acquired my  taste for Peruvian cuisine whilst visiting Peru- you needn't travel that far to fall in love with the refreshing cuisine's goodness!

Executive Chef Christopher, and his wife/Front of House Fabiola Santos dreamed of having their own restaurant for years, one that would bring Peru's mix of Inca, Spanish, Italian, Chinese and Japanese styles to the table. They have opened their restaurant, and will find financial success, in only a few months. How do I know?   This is a very early review; they've only been open a week.  I am certain it will only get better with time, as the chefs try and perfect different variations on dishes. Chef Chris took time to come to each table and asked for, and truly listened to folks' impressions and feedback of their overall experience.

There's a welcome clean and crisp decor, from the attractively patterned seaweed green linoleum floor that sure looks like the ocean in some places (now you'll start noticing flooring! ) to the focally tiled wall and open kitchen behind the mini cebiche bar.

 Did I mention open kitchen?  It'll be your first time seeing a Josper charcoal oven, which smokes, grills and cooks simultaneously at temperatures ranging from 300-600 degrees, sealing in a robustly rustic flavor.

The specialty dishes flavors and crispness show off what the Josper can do.  Aaah, If only you could get a whiff of the woodsy smoke, however that goes up the ventilation hood.

Drinks? There's draft and bottled beers, wines by glass and bottle, and an assortment of  sangrias and soft drinks.

With "coastal" and " seafood" in the name...you know what to order!

Cebiche and tiraditos are the barometers of a great Peruvian restaurant, and Coastal has eight cebiches to sample...and daily specials, too. There's aji amarillo tiradito, with sashimi-style corvina topped with aji amarillo pepper cream with a hint of pisco; fish and octopus with arnaucho chili, and a trio of aji amarillo, soy/sesame, and rocoto cebiches served in shot glasses. Sample  Huancaina crema-a reinvention of the classic potatoes with a yellow pepper cream sauce.

My dining partner and I started with the "cebiche 200 miles" ($ 19 ), a generous mix of shrimp, squid, mussels, fish and sliced red onion in a sharply citrusy rocoto pepper tiger's milk. 

It's so fresh, with unusually large chunks of fish (1 1/4" x 1") for cebiche, calamari rings, and freshly shelled mussels. The tigers milk (citrus) acidity is sharper than at other Peruvian spots.

The octopus carpaccio ($15)  is a goodly serving of sliced medium sized au natural octopus,

topped with a nice blended olive oil aioli, a dash of tiger's milk, avocado slices and bits of crisp bacon. 

The octopus is delicious with the delicate sauce. While I love bacon on many items, here, I'd recommend asking for the bits to be served on the side, so you can add  'em as you'd like. Recommended.

Entrees are a mix of the classical lomo saltado's sautéed beef tenderloin, to the creative tuna Peru-Thai's seared tuna with panko crust over a lima bean puree with mango, chili and veggies. Where else will you find an aji amarillo risotto with flambéed beef and seafood, or chaufa aeropuerto's fried rice and noodles with pork, shrimp and chicken?

  We decided on two of the Josper charcoal oven's specialties. The Poseidon fest ($23 )  is a stunning presentation with an ample grilled assortment of huge shrimp, fish, octopus, large scallops and squid. Though it's generously topped with a rich mildy spicy anticucho sauce, I'd recommend asking for the sauce on the side, to use as a discrete dip- an accent to the delicate crisp goodness of the seafood. 

The Josper oven's magic is clearly evident with the beautifully golden brown seafood. There's also two slices of toasted thick bread to sop up the sauce. By the time you read this, this will probably be known as their signature dish!

The coastal anticuchos ($23 ) are grilled chunks of veal heart, served with yucca fries  and a slice of Peruvian golden corn. It was ok, it was nicely sauced and cooked well done; I prefer a more tender medium rare...My bad, I didn't ask for it to be medium rare-lesson learned- next time!

Desserts were terrific! 

   Pisco Sour Semifredo ($8) is  refreshing, with a splash of the classic Pisco liquor and lime sauce, blended to a whipped delight. If they added crunched up bit soft Andes chocolate mints or creme de menthe to the bottom of the parfait, this would be perfection! Recommended.

The must have dessert is the Chirimoya martini ($9) , with chunks of the lychee-textured fruit mixed in a fresh mousseline. Highly recommended. 

Other desserts include chocolucuma- an Andes'  fruit blended with chocolate;with choc-olate; Neapolitan flan, suspiro de limena and caramel cheesecake

Our very large lunch assortment, which could easily feed three or four people, was $97, before tax and tip. There are daily specials that are far more wallet friendly-we wanted to try the dinner items that also were available at lunch.

Coastal Peruvian is the new kid on the block...and I predict they'll have tables full every night, in just a few months of word of mouth advertising.

Coastal Peruvian, 5447 Airport-Pulling Road, is open 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, and 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday. For information, call 239-631-6943 or go to coastalperuvian.com.