New Menu - Brasas at The Peruvian, Edinburgh Street Food
Brasas is the newest evolution of The Peruvian at Edinburgh Street Food and honestly, it feels less like a menu change and more like Carlo stepping fully into his final form. After years as one of ESF’s staple vendors, he’s taken everything people already loved about his food and thrown it straight onto the fire. Literally.
The new Brasas concept is built around glowing coals, open flame, and that unmistakable Peruvian approach to cooking where smoke isn’t an afterthought, it’s an ingredient. Every dish hits the pass carrying the perfume of charcoal and embers, that primal mix of fat dripping onto hot coals, flames licking the edges of meat, and the kind of deep, savoury smokiness you simply can’t fake.
This is Peruvian food the way it’s meant to taste: fiery, chargrilled, rustic, bold.
Carlo’s rotisserie chicken turns slowly over the coals, skin blistering and bronzing until it’s lacquered with flavour. The chargrilled steak comes off the grill with those perfect blackened stripes, smoky on the outside, juicy within. Even the sides feel touched by fire; nothing here is shy, nothing is subtle, everything is dialled up to that elemental, flame-kissed intensity.
The Stars of the Brasas Menu
For me, two dishes absolutely steal the show, the ones that make you stop mid‑bite and go oh, this is the real deal.
Pollo a la Brasa - the heart of the fire
Peruvian rotisserie chicken is already iconic, but cooked over wood and charcoal it becomes something else entirely. Carlo’s version turns slowly over the flames, skin blistering, fat dripping, smoke wrapping itself around every inch. We went for the half chicken (you can also choose just dark or white meat), and it arrived glistening, bronzed, and impossibly fragrant.
The meat was juicy, smoky, and falling off the bone, the kind of chicken you get properly messy with. No dainty fork work here. You tear, you dunk, you devour. And dunking it into the chimichurri? Unreal. Bright, herby, punchy, it cuts through the richness and makes every bite sing.
Lomo Saltado - a dish that feels made for me
If there was ever a plate engineered specifically for my tastebuds, it’s this one. Lomo Saltado is a Peruvian stir fry of steak strips, red onions, spring onions, tomatoes and coriander, served with garlic rice and those glorious crunchy potato chunks. It’s comfort food with swagger.
The steak was layered with flavour, smoky from the grill, tender enough that it barely needed chewing. The coriander and garlic rice is the quiet hero, a soft, fragrant stage that lets the steak shine without competing. And those potatoes? Crisp outside, fluffy inside, soaking up all the juices like they were born for it.
This is the dish you finish even when you’re full. The dish you think about the next day. The dish that tells you Brasas isn’t just a menu change, it’s Carlo cooking with absolute confidence.
The Sides - fire‑kissed, vibrant, and properly satisfying
Of course we had sides, you can’t come to Brasas and not let the fire lead you beyond the mains.
Beetroot & Feta Salad
This one surprised me in the best way. The beetroot is smoked over the fire, so instead of the usual earthy sweetness you get this deeper, darker note, a kind of gentle campfire perfume running through each chunk. Tossed with quinoa, brightened with chimichurri, and loaded with salty feta, it’s a salad with actual personality. Fresh but smoky, light but layered.
Glazed Sweet Potatoes
Soft, sticky, caramelised edges with that whisper of char from the grill. They’re the kind of sweet potatoes you keep going back to between bites of chicken and steak; a little sweet, a little smoky, a perfect foil to all the savoury richness on the table.
Smoked Pork
And because restraint is not the Brasas way, we also tucked into the smoked pork. Deeply savoury, tender, and carrying that unmistakable charcoal aroma. Rich, smoky, and incredibly moreish.
Brasas isn’t just a menu refresh, it’s Carlo cooking with absolute confidence, leaning into flame, smoke and instinct. It’s food that feels alive: messy, primal, deeply satisfying. The kind of dishes that make you forget you’re in a food hall and instead transport you to a street corner in Lima, the scent of burning wood in the air.
Edinburgh Street Food has always had its stars, but Brasas feels like a victory lap. A menu with heat, heart and soul.
THINGS TO NOTE ABOUT BRASAS
They are located inside Edinburgh Street Food
You can order food direct from them at the counter or order through the ESF app
They are disabled friendly
They are dog friendly
They have indoor and outdoor seating
Brasas, The Peruvian, Edinburgh Street Food, Edinburgh, EH1 - https://www.instagram.com/theperuvianscotland/
My Spoon Award : Tartan Spoon 10/10
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