Helmed by chef Marcos Espinoza, the man behind Brasília's celebrated Taypá Sabores Del Perú restaurant, the eight-strong Peruvian team in the kitchen at Botafogo's latest opening, Lima, makes for a certified slice of authentic Andean eating. In keeping with the neighbourhood's hard-drinking habits, however, this is as much the place for a classic pisco sour as it is dinner, the name lit up in fluoro letters outside and playing on the fact that the tangy national drink is fast becoming the 'new' caipirinha, occupying a space at the bar somewhere between the Brazilian staple and the good old margarita.

Among the best, the Lima Drink adds Peru's famous purple corn, packed with antioxidants (at least when it's not served with punchy pisco), along with ginger and lime for a satisying array of flavours that goes well with the simplicity of the house ceviche. Equally good together, the classic pisco sour is a sharply refreshing foil to the Camarones en su Rio (pictured) - crispy, quinoa-battered shrimp with rich, refried black-bean sauce.

Ceviche is, of course, the other house speciality, and the Atum Criollo version (R$38.90) takes the prize with fresh slices of tuna served in an exquisite tiger's milk marinade of passion fruit, yellow pepper, oyster sauce, ginger and cucumber. A second tuna dish, Atum al Ataque (R$33.60), adds slices of smoked mango, wasabi mayonnaise and sun-dried tomato to the mix, but equally enticing lighter bites feature tender, chargrilled octopus (Causa La Oliva) and olive oil-cured salmon with garlic, ginger and mint (Salmon Salmônico).

Finishing on a high note, the pastry chef Júlio João Castilho, a graduate of the Cordon Bleu school of Peru, is the man behind the Algarrobina, a teeth-meltingly sweet dessert combining the creamy syrup of the black carob tree with pisco, caramel sauce and cinnamon ice-cream (R$19).