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The Hummingbird
A Peruvian-Japanese ceviche house in Echo Park from chef Ricardo Zarate, ex-Picca.
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Reasons to check it out
- Run by chef-owner Ricardo Zarate, Peruvian-born, with Michelin and James Beard recognition from earlier restaurants
- Serves Nikkei (Peruvian-Japanese) cooking — ceviches, tiradito, handrolls — rather than a generic fusion menu
- Opened in Echo Park in the 2024 wave of new LA restaurants covered by Variety
- 4.6 stars across 197 Google reviews, with specific dishes praised and a thoughtful, unpretentious room
“Nikkei isn't a buzzword here — it's the chef's actual background, cooked by someone who's done it at a Michelin level before.”
— STEFAN
The Hummingbird is chef-owner Ricardo Zarate's current restaurant, and his background is the actual reason to go: Peruvian-born, with stints at Picca, Rosaline and Causita that earned him Michelin and James Beard recognition before this smaller Echo Park room. The cooking here is Nikkei — Peruvian technique crossed with Japanese ingredients and plating — rather than fusion as a marketing word.
Not every review agrees, and that's worth knowing
One Peruvian reviewer, a month before this writing, was openly skeptical going in — questioning whether fusion cooking dilutes an already-strong cuisine rather than improving it. It's a real culinary opinion worth weighing, not a knock on the food's quality. Other recent reviewers land differently: one, three months before this writing, called it a place that "quietly gets everything right," with a focused menu and fresh ingredients.
Google's 197 reviews put it at 4.6 stars. The most-ordered dishes are the Opal Ceviche and a passion fruit panna cotta for dessert — a detail that signals the kitchen's range beyond raw fish. One reviewer flagged the prices as steep for the portions; at $40-90 a person, it's priced like the chef's resume, not like a neighborhood spot.
Sources: Google Maps — The Hummingbird | Ceviche House listing and reviews, The Eastsider LA — Peruvian-Japanese cuisine takes flight at The Hummingbird in Echo Park, Variety — New Hotspots in Silver Lake and Echo Park Rev Up LA's Ever-Changing Restaurant Scene, Fox 11 LA — Chef Ricardo Zarate celebrates one year anniversary at the Hummingbird Ceviche House
