Restaurant review Ceviche, 17 Frith Street, London.

Peruvian cuisine, it's probably fair to say, is something of an unknown quantity in Britain. In fact, before my visit to Ceviche, a new Peruvian restaurant in Soho, I would have struggled to name a single dish from that country – apart, perhaps, from Lima beans, which don't really count. Here, in the frenzied international zone that is the London dining scene, you'll find Mexican food a go-go, and a growing flirtation with Argentina. But Peru hasn't been invited to the party yet.

First-time restaurateur Martin Morales is determined to change that. A successful entertainment executive, who previously worked for Disney and iTunes, he sold his home to set up a restaurant he hopes will put the food of his country on the map.

Ceviche is (rather unpronounceably) named after the Peruvian national dish of fish, marinated in lime juice, chilli and salt, but there's a lot more to this fun Soho newcomer than raw fish. The menu reflects Peru's diverse culinary heritage, which fuses influences from Spain, Africa and Japan with the plant and cereal-based cooking of the indigenous people. Quinoa is native to Peru – there, that's something else we've all learnt – and that perky little grain pops up here, alongside a host of ingredients so refreshingly unfamiliar, you need a sat-nav to steer your way round the menu.

Our lunchtime visit saw us perching uncomfortably on high stools at the back of a cramped and narrow room, quirkily decorated in nostalgic flea-market chic – vintage album covers, piles of Vargas Llosa paperbacks, framed film memorabilia – all so apparently artless it can only have been the work of an expensive interior designer. Everything on display seems to have been imported from Peru – apart from our lovely waitress, who turned out to be Brazilian.

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