Tumi Peruvian Cuisine

Great service, they staff treats you like family not a customer. The Lomo was the best I have tasted in NorCal and the anticuchos was spot on, identical to the flavor of my abuela’s recipe. I highly recommend this place if you want to know what Peruvian food is all about.

I went here earlier this year with two friends, and while it was tasty enough, it was waaay too expensive for the small portions. This is not peruvian style, and the restaurant that was here before was way better. I left feeling quite hungry, and dissatisfied. I was very disappointed, especially since before this time, I had tried to go here two more times but the restaurant was closed since the owners were having a baby. I understand how difficult it is, but can you at least post it on your website if you’re having such difficulties? Parking in Berkeley is a pain, and pissing off people like that is not good for business.

I think this place is closed?
My friends and I, wowed by the stellar Unilocal reviews, headed over to The Village on Friday ⁶⁄₈ and scoured for half an hour for this place.
We went upstairs, saw what we believed was the Peruvian flag, but the place looked deserted. Confusing since some of the Unilocal reviews seem so recent.
We then ran into a friendly couple who told us that Tumi Peruvian is owned by a sweet couple but the wife was late in her pregnancy the last time that they had seen here.
So, so sad about missing out on Tumi Peruvian if, in fact, it IS closed. Hopefully, they’ll reopen soon!

This was my first time trying Peruvian food and I wasn’t very impressed. The Ahi Ceviche Nikei seemed like something I could find in a Japanese restaurant and the Tallarin Saltado tasted like the steak my mom makes at home. The tuna wasn’t exactly fresh, so I was scared I would get food poisoning. The water tasted funky too. I thought it was just me but my boyfriend took one sip and mentioned something about it before I did. I wasn’t satisfied, especially since it was kind of pricy for the small portion sizes.
The service was extremely slow. My boyfriend and I were the only ones in the restaurant and we still had to wait forever for our food.

Tumi’s is located in The Village, inside and up the stairs. It’s like a little hidden treasure. It’s hard to find but when you do, it’s fucking delicious.
I love the little free snacks and drinks the owner gives out!
1) Cancha Salada: Giant corn kernels roasted and salted. These would be perfect drinking snacks. Think, gourmet Corn Nuts.
2) Fried plantain chips. Super thinly sliced, crunchy and not greasy plantain chips. Mmmm so good.
3) We also got these two juices. One was passion fruit which was hella good. Tangy, tart and sweet. The other tasted a bit herbal to me but the bf liked it.
4) At the end of the meal he gave us a little shortbread cookie. Super buttery and sweet with a homemade caramel filling.
Onto the food…
CEVICHE DE PESCADO CLASICO: Fresh, firm white fish (maybe halibut?), tons of lime juice, a creamy spicy sauce with thinly sliced red onions. This thing is UH-​MAY-​ZING. Use the plantain chips to scoop up the ceviche. Definitely a must have.
POLLO A LA BRASA: Tender, juicy roasted chicken with a savory and smoky marinade. This dish has lots of white pepper in it and is fucking delicious. I just wish the serving was bigger! It came with a small side salad (with a very good spicy/​sour dressing) and lots of fries. The fries reminded me of giant In-​n-​Out fries which I usually don’t like but theirs were pretty good. Especially dipped in the various sauces they provide you (ketchup, mustard then two other special ones, an aioli and a creamy, roasted, spicy sauce.)
LOMO SALTADO: Meat mixed with fries on rice? My bf’s dream come true. He loves lomo satado and Tumi’s did not disappoint. The beef was tender, onions and peppers had the perfect texture (not too mushy, not too crunchy), the fries were the same as the ones I got and the rice had a richness to it that was more than just butter. I can’t explain it but their rice is good. The sauce from the meat was plate licking delicious. The soy sauce flavor was just right mixed in with the tangy vinegar.
Side note: Ask for extra sauce in your lomo saltado! My bf wanted to lick the plate cause there wasn’t enough and it was so good.

+ Friendly, helpful service
+ Delicious ceviche
+ Chicha morada — super awesome drink!
Tumi is a small restaurant in «The Village» — and by small, I mean there are less than 10 tables in the whole place. We came on a Thursday evening around 7pm and the two of us were welcomed to sit wherever we liked, including at a 4-​person table. There were 3 other tables occupied at the time we came.
We had:
–CHICHA MORADA. This non-​carbonated, non-​alcoholic purple corn & pineapple-​based drink is wonderfully flavored with cloves, cinnamon, and a bit of sugar. I asked if it were particularly sweet, and the owner told us it was not too sweet, and that if I found it too sweet I could dilute it with a bit of ice. Along with my drink, he brought over a glass of ice for me to dilute if necessary. I found the drink to be absolutely delicious. Adding a bit of ice helps tone down the sweetness if you’re not a fan of sweet drinks.
–CEVICHE MIXTO. A mix of prawns, scallops, clams, squid, and fish with slivers of red onion. Comes with a side of Peruvian corn, and sweet potato. A perfect balance of sour and salty — mouth-​watering, perfectly seasoned seafood and shellfish. It comes with 3 prawns resting on top of a mound of red onion slivers and the other seafood ingredients. I highly recommend this as an appetizer.
–LOMO SALTADO. A plate of wok-​fried tenderloin steak strips, with onions, and onions. Comes with white rice and french fries. I found this dish to be a bit too salty for my taste, but was otherwise flavorful. The steak was tender and the onions had a nice bite.
We were given some Peruvian chicha morada candy with our bill. The owners’ mother sends them packages of the candy straight from Peru!
Overall I enjoyed my meal here and would definitely come visit again to try some other items from the menu and to support this family-​operated business.

It’s a boy!
So they won’t open until April 18^th and then they’ve got baby hours. Mostly dinner service.
Can’t wait to try it!

Absolutely amazing!!! The food here was delicious and they have quite a selection of really really good peruvian cuisine. I had the sopa a la minuta (soup with noodles and beef). I’d also highly recommend anyone not familiar with peruvian food to try some of their aji sauces with fried yucca or papas fritas (french fries). I personally like the hot rocoto sauce and with aoli.
Also, if you know nothing about peruvian food then you’re in luck because the service here was awesome. Pablo and his wife do you right and are great at making recommendations. This service is rare for a small and reasonably priced restaurant in Berkeley.

Just found out they don’t do lunch :(What a bummer. Maybe one day I’ll check them out for dinner.

Pablo and his wife were part of the family behind Sazón in Santa Rosa (
) before splitting off on their own late last year to open Tumi.
In a weird cuisine continuance, Tumi is the 3^rd Peruvian restaurant in a row in this location (after Arriba Peru & Fonzie’s Peruvian Chicken) in «The Village», the odd indoor/​outdoor food court type place that also houses Fondue Fred, Norikonoko, Finfine Ethiopean, and Koryo Restaurant. It’s in the back and on the 2^nd floor so not the easiest of the places to spot.
Anyway, I came for lunch on Saturday and was given the Dinner menu (
). I was told the Pollo a la Brasa (Peruvian Rotisserie Chicken and my first choice) was more than 30 minutes from being ready, but was also told chicken & steak sandwiches from the lunch menu were available ($ 9) as well as off-​menu specials of chicken or pork Peruvian tamales ($ 6.50).
I went with a pork tamale, chicken sandwich, and a glass of Chicha Morada, a sweet drink made from purple corn.
First came a small bowl of Cancha, which are a toasted corn snack (
) along with the Chicha Morada (
) which was a deep purple and tasted of cinnamon and cloves. There may have been some other fruit juices in this. Delicious and refreshing.
The square tamale is presented in the banana leaf it was steamed in topped with salsa criolla (onions, peppers, & herbs) and comes with a small dish of green Huacatay sauce, a Peruvian pepper and «black mint» salsa (
). As he delivered the plate, Pablo told me to proceed with caution because there was a whole hot pepper lurking somewhere inside. It was larger than I expected (~5″ x 5″) with a very yellow, moist, and flavorful masa. In addition to a generous amount of pork, there was some hard boiled egg, as well as the aforementioned whole chili. Delicious. One of the best tamales I’ve ever had.
The chicken sandwich came out with a decent sized pile of fries (
). The sandwich had layers of sliced chicken breast, salsa criolla, cheese, and rocoto sauce (another Peruvian hot pepper) between the toasted roll (
). This had good flavor, but the a lot of the chicken was pretty dry. I found out from Pablo that the previous day’s rotisserie chickens are used in the sandwiches (which is why they were available, but the Pollo a la Brasa was not) and it’s possible to request dark meat instead of the breast meat I got.
Speaking of Pablo, he’s a super friendly guy. He chatted me up about Korean restaurants in the area and answered my questions about the food at Tumi. I’ll definitely be back to try some fresh rotisserie chicken, the Lomo Saltado, and their ceviches.

Chica morada here is the boooomb. Best chicha morada I’ve ever had. The portion of the lomo saltado was smaller than I expected, but the homemade chicha morada made up for that. The ceviche is fresh and definitely hits the spot. I also loved how, Juan Pablo, the owner, made it a point to explain all the dishes. He even gave me and my friend a lesson on Peruvian culture explaining the tumi!

I’m Peruvian and have some very picky Peruvian family members. We decided to try Tumi and drive half an hour to Berkeley. It was well worth it!!! The food is so authentic and absolutely delicious. We ordered the ceviche mixto… some of the best ceviche I have had in a long time. The picante de mariscos was also delicious. I would highly recommend this restaurant. If you want authentic and absolutely delicious Peruvian food you have to dine there!

Tumi is the new place that opened after Arriba Peru went out.
The food was pretty good but relatively high compared to its portions. I love the cancha that they serve.
The ceviche was good and just enough spicy. The fish was pretty fresh and the presentation was really nice.
The yuca frita was crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. The anticucho was very good. Not too dry and was tender and chewy. The aji de gallina was pretty good too. The sauce wasn’t too spicy and went well mixed with the rice.
They should update their open times since always when I went, it was closed while on Unilocal it said that they were open.
I am still curious if they give UCB discounts like Arriba Peru did, since it didn’t state it on their menu or in the restaurant.

Just came here for the second time, this time with my whole family. And just like last time, the food was really good and the service was even better. I believe this restaurant is operated by a husband-​and-​wife team, and they brought us free samples of cancha (similar to «corn nuts» but much much better) and plantain chips along with our entrees. They even brought us an extra large bowl of soup at no additional cost so that all four of us could have some. When it came time to pay the check, the owner gave us the 20% student discount (!!!) without my brother or I even mentioning that we were Cal students.
As far as food goes, lomo saltado is a MUST, especially if you’re new to Peruvian food like my family was. I ordered pollo a la brasa, and I loved the cilantro aioli that came with it.
Taste — ⁴⁄₅. Very good food, and a wide range of dishes on the menu.
Value — ⁴⁄₅. Prices are reasonable, especially if you are a Cal student and you get the discount.
Service — ⁵⁄₅. You CANNOT ask for better service than this.
I’ll definitely be back again.

The food is DELICIOUS and the service was phenomenal! If you’re at all curious about Peruvian food, this is definitely an amazing place to start! The chicha morada is excellent, as were the lomo saltado, ahi ceviche, platanos fritos, cancha, and sweet potato chips. Also make sure you try some Inka Kola! I’ve missed Peruvian food and I am so happy I’ve found a place near home to take me back. If you’re feeling adventurous or if you love things spicy, ask for some ají and put a small amount on your rice. Juan Pablo and his wife are wonderful and welcoming.
If you’re having trouble finding this place, make sure you go inside the building with the music store and the korean bbq restaurant– its up the stairs in the back! You won’t be disappointed!

Amazing!!! we had chicha, ceviche, anticuchos and chupe de camarones omg sooo good I will definitely go again.

I thought I had been to this place, but then realized it was a different name. So it just happened that the other placed closed and this place open in its place and that they are both Peruvian restaurants. The place is upstairs and looks closed when you’re walking up the stairs, but the sign will be flashing open. S. The o trust the sign as there are blinds that are down that makes it appear to be closed when it is actually open for business.
The owner is very nice. The place looks the same as it did last time.
I had the causa limenas and the pollo a la brasa. The causa came out and it is very pretty looking. Taste wise it is a little bit too salty because of the olive. If you eat it without the olive it is okay, but not great. The pollo a la brasa comes with a salad and french fries. Traditionally in Peru, the salad and the french fries come out with chicken, but here they served me the salad first and then brought out the chicken with the french fries. The chicken was cooked right as it was not dry, but the spices on the skin wasn’t all that. I wasn’t a fan of the french fries as they weren’t crispy enough. The aji (hot sauce served in a bowl) had 2 different types in 1 bowl. Half was a deep red orange color and the other a light yellowish green. The red one is spicy and it is okay. Generally, I love spicy, but I was in favor of the milder one as it tasted better to me.
I read the other reviews and everyone seems to like the Lomo Saltado so maybe next time I will have that and that Papa Rellena.

Best ceviche we’ve had. Loma saltado was delicious. All ingredients were fresh. So good we ordered the same order to go! Service was very friendly and attentive. We will be coming back regularly.

Went there again. It’s definitely a litle pricey for college students but for the area it’s actually not too bad. Got the lomo saltado again. Taste is good but don’t know if the price is justified. Probably will be back again. The owner is super nice.
Would like to see some different french fries if possible.

Delish! Love the Lomo Saltado. Makes me miss Peru. The dishes I saw being delivered to other tables had a beautiful presentation. The neighbor table raved about the ceviche.