Sirena Cocina Latina

Just stopped in quick during the Taste of Little Italy festival and had a delicious crab cake appetizer. Awesome staff and good happy hour prices.

Seafood Wings ($ 12) are crab cakes with sweet-​sour-​spicy sauce, and habanero parsley aioli. The crab cake «fritters» are filled with crab meat rather than a lot of filler for a full crab-​flavored bite. The sauce is reminiscent of a General Tso sauce with its Asian flavor profile. It works well with the crab by enhancing the sweet crab flavor. The habanero aioli is both refreshing and creamy yet delivers a slightly spicy punch. Rating: 4.8÷5
Ahi Tuna Tartar ($ 15) is ahi tuna mixed with yuzu, tamari, sesame oil, sesame seeds, scallions, roasted peanuts, capers, mayonnaise, and served with crackers. Wow! This is definitely a fusion dish. It tastes like a Latin-​inspired poke with the yuzu and sesame flavors, yet is different than expected. The ahi tastes fresh with sweet and succulent flavors. The combination of ingredients is in harmony to create the perfect dish. This would also be great atop a bowl of sticky rice. Rating: ⁵⁄₅
Lima Style Chicharrón Sliders ($ 16) start with egg buns then are layered with pork belly chicharrón, lettuce, pickled onions and served with sweet potato fries and creole sauce. The egg buns are beautiful with a shiny, golden brown exterior with a soft, yet chewy, interior. The crispy pork belly is like a cube of carnitas, tender on the inside with a contrasting crispy exterior. The pork works well with the pickled onion which adds a nice acidity. The fresh lettuce provides a refreshing, crisp texture. The sweet potato fries are sweet and have a caramelized flavor. Rating: 4.5÷5
Octopus ($ 20) is grilled and served with carrot purée, glazed fennel, roasted Peruvian potatoes, sunchoke, and roasted baby peppers. The octopus is tender with slightly crisp exterior as if dropped into the deep fryer for just a minute. The flavor is sweet and tastes fresh. The carrot purée is reminiscent of butternut squash with a fluffy texture and sweet flavor. It contrasts nicely with the smoky flavor of the grilled octopus. The potatoes are cooked to perfection and the sweet peppers add contrast similar to Potatoes O’Brien. Rating: ⁵⁄₅

This place has absolutely delicious food. Interesting combinations like artichoke and carrot mole tacos and ceviche with coconut milk. The cocktails are nice, especially the pisco kid. The others show an effort at innovation, if not quite the execution in every case. The carrot mole is simply divine but the cancha should be left off or put to the side.
I’m waiting on dessert but the ice cream sandwich anticipation is nearly killing me.
Definitely will be back to try more of this great place.

Just had a light dinner, Salmon Salad special for me and Beet Salad for Shauna. Tasty, light and delicious! The beer was cold and tasty too.
Thanks Sirena.

Wow! Just decided to try this place. And it is amazing! The bartender (don’t know her name) was really nice and made the best drinks I have had in awhile. The ceviche was the best I have ever had. I will be going back when I visit San Diego again.

This restaurant completely blew our minds. It was unexpected and we only came here after seeing that they were doing a Mother’s Day special. From the appetizer of shrimp to the lomo saltado even the dessert of flan… just amazing. See pictures of food to be more impressed… we just love how vibrant, warm and inviting the place looked and was. We will certainly be back!

Delicious food, cute décor & great service! The la picante mule is my favorite and Dyanne the bar tender is the best!

A Saltado without rice is like cereal without milk. That’s what you’ll find here at this pricey, Latin American-​inspired, adult-​friendly bar and restaurant, located in the heart of Little Italy, San Diego. Sirena Cocina Latina offers traditional dishes from Chile and Peru, such as the Ají de Gallina, Seco de Res, and the Lomo Saltado.
Although their servers are courteous and friendly, the food fails to hit the mark. In particular, their Lomo Saltado was a major disappointment. I’ve been to Peru a dozen times and have had Peruvian food all over Southern California hundreds of times. As a connoisseur of Peruvian food, and as some of you may know, the Lomo Saltado is one of the most popular, well-​known dishes in the world, which is known for its explosive flavor and exquisite texture. The flavor comes from a combination of garlic, onions, tomatoes, soy sauce and a few other spices — an Asian-​Peruvian inspired hybrid. The recipe is used to marinate the steak (or fish, chicken, or vegetables, depending on what type of Saltado you want). The onions and tomatoes are supposed to be cooked for a limited period of time in order for them to retain their texture and firmness. The same goes for the Potatoes, which are fried (like French fries), and then thrown in the mix towards the end, so that they’re not mushy. The creation is then served with rice. This is the traditional and legendary recipe that constitutes the world famous Lomo Saltado.
However, Sirena Cocina Latina disappoints by failing in the proper preparation, use of ingredients and delivery of the Lomo Saltado. Firstly, I’m shocked that the Lomo Saltado here was not served with rice. Rice is a staple food in South America and complements almost all South American dishes, including the Lomo. This Lomo Saltado should have been served with rice. No excuses. Secondly, a few of the potatoes were undercooked. I need not say more. Lastly, the texture of the tomatoes and onions was damaged because it was over cooked and overly marinated. The worst part was that the entire serving was in a bowl which kept all of the dishes’ contents in a heavy sauce, which not only over marinated everything, but made everything mushy. For $ 19, I am expecting a Lomo Saltado that will be cooked and prepared well. I’m disappointed that the potatoes weren’t cooked thoroughly. I don’t know what recipe they’re using but it did not taste authentic; the sauce was sweeter than it’s supposed to be.
On the bright side, the Ceviche is not bad at all and that is why I am giving this place 3 stars. The mojito I ordered was OK, as well.
I suppose I will give this place another shot. But, until then, I hope the management reads this review so they can reassess and address the recipe and preparation style of their Lomo Saltado.

Food was delicious. He seafood is fresh and the drinks are savory. Staff is friendly. If you are in town or staying in the porto vista hotel right across the street you should definitely stop by.

My husband and I loved the food here. The bartender and new waiter were very attentive and made some great recommendations. We spent two hours enjoying as much as we could handle. We tried the fried yucca, Mixto Tiridito, Chileno ceviche, Octopus entrée and Chicharron Sliders. Everything was delicious. Pisco sours and Berry Mojitos were great as well. Definitely a must try.

We came in for dinner on a Wednesday and had a lovely time. Our server was new (only day 3!) but super attentive and the bartender Michael took great care of us and made some fab drinks. We were on the hunt for good Mexican cuisine and found a perfect fit!

Yummy food! The octopus was outstanding and memorable. Didn’t try the Peruvian ceviche but will be back.

Had the sautea berries and empanadas. The berries were so sweet and they melted in my mouth. Had like a buttery sweet taste with a hint of acid. The empanadas were yummy and flakey they have $ 2 tacos on Sunday. The server was awesome thanks Zack.

I really wanted to like this place, but the ridiculous high prices and bland food were a total disappointment.
I mean, $ 14 dlls for a small ceviche tostada? I am not the one to be stingy when it comes to food or travel for that matter. I am actually guilty of the exact opposite, so when I pay top shelf prices I expect premium food and service that goes with it, this place fail to deliver on both.

Great ambiance! Service was awesome! Chef is from Chile and mentioned some of the produce is from local farms/​growers. Fusion of Latin flavors!
Came for Aguachile which was really good, untraditional from the Mexican version. The fish tacos looked great. Will definitely come back to try more dishes!
Prices a little on the higher-​end.
Aguachile (small shrimp appetizer) + small bottle Perrier + iced tea = $ 24

To be fair I’ve only been here once and only tried one dish, and maybe it was an off night, but:
I would think what should be one of their flagship dishes, the Peruvian ceviche, was lacking in flavor and the texture was not quite right. There was too little lime so the ceviche lacked vibrance. Overall flavor was bland. There were a few bits of crunchy somethings, I think in an attempt to add texture, but it was odd, not well-​placed. For the price I expected much more.
The space is nice and has an open atmosphere but I’d hesitate to return.

This place is in a quaint little spot in the heart of Little Italy, San Diego. The BF and I came in with no reservation at 7pm on a Friday night and were seated right away.
The vibe: dim lighting with a nice bar and semi open kitchen. You can see into the kitchen as the chefs work their magic. The place was mostly filled up and has a cool trendy vibe but low key at the same time. Not too loud to have a conversation. Décor is modern/​rustic with dark wood tables and comfy chairs.
The food: we ordered a bottle of wine, ceviche, and braised scallops. I understand that it doesn’t take long to make these things but it came out so fast! I highly recommend ordering these two dishes. The chefs really put attention to detail as the food itself looked like a plate of art. But so fresh and delicious! Although these were on the lighter side, the portions were perfect for us since we weren’t starving.
Overall, I was very satisfied. It was my first time there and I was very happy with my experience.

Sirena, I hope you read these reviews
Sadly I feel this place isn’t going to make it unless they do some kick ass happy hour specials or $ 5 food and $ 5 drink promos each night. Its just not busy. Ever. That block off Little Italy is killing them. I’d offer the old fashioned grasshopper or pink squirrel. I know these are old steak house cocktails and not latin, but damn I could use me a good cheap icecream + alcohol drink tonight.

I am torn between 2 and 3 stars for this place. I think – the food wasn’t terrible, but at the same time, for the high prices, it should have been excellent. I think – maybe we shouldn’t have ordered off the normal menu during brunch, but at the same time, if they aren’t ready to serve certain food, they shouldn’t serve it.
Firstly, the blackberry mimosas were strange – a glass of champagne with a blob of frozen blackberry sorbet. We had to stick our flatware in the glasses to stir/​break up the sorbet. It didn’t taste that good either. Maybe this was our fault for not asking to better explain it before we ordered. I guess I expected fresh fruit? These mimosas were $ 10 and it was another $ 8 for the waiter to pour in more champagne.
I studied their menu online before we went and was very excited to try some creative seafood dishes, many of which looked Peruvian. My husband is from Peru and we’ve both had lots of tasty food at his parents’ house and in the country.
But we went on a Sunday around lunchtime, so they only had their brunch menu, which was much less exciting. They did say we could order some items from the regular menu, so that was cool.
The waiter explained that the night before they were super busy, so they only had 3 empanadas left. Literally, three! So we snatched ‘em up! They were all veggie varieties and sadly, were a bit bland and not noteworthy.
My eating partner got the brunch special of chilequiles and a small stack of sweet potato (I think?) pancakes. She said the pancakes were delicious and the chilequiles were just ok. If I went to Sirena again, I would order this.
I ordered the Salmon & Ají entrée from the regular menu which came with ají amarillo sauce, sweet potato, and mushrooms. It looked beautiful when it arrived. The fish was cooked nicely but the entire dish was bland. Even a touch of salt would have helped. It’s strange to have a beautifully, well-​cooked dish that does nothing for the taste buds. The portion size was appropriate, which was good. I liked the sweet potato, but overall, was disappointed.
We got yellowtail tacos and somehow, again, they were bland and flavorless. A wedge of lemon and a bit of salt would have helped. They looked pretty but… that was it.
On the bright side, my eating partner reported that the Peruvian ceviche was good, and he is a tough customer when it comes to ceviche. He enjoyed it.
At the end of the meal, our waiter brought us a complimentary order of fish tacos (fried, this time). We hadn’t expressed any displeasure in our meal, so this was an unexpected and nice gesture. Thank you! But I’m sorry to report that they tasted just like the yellowtail tacos – bland, desperately needing some lemon and salt, at least.
The décor is hip, clean, and new – very nice. There is no outdoor seating at this time.
I showed up that day, so excited to try these creative dishes, and instead we were left with a high bill for bland food. Portions are small on some dishes, and satisfactory on others. Maybe it was an off day, but I can’t afford to give them another shot.

This is not a well known seafood restaurant serving up Latin American seafood specialties, specifically from South America. I came in on a lazy warm Sunday after noon and the first thing I ordered was a refreshing Blood Orange Belgian White Ale, which came recommended by a super bar keep.
For $ 8, I ordered trio of fish tacos, and I was very pleased when they agreed to grill them for me, instead of beer battering them. They used sea bass in this day so the fish was succulent and tender and came with a nice seasoning. The tacos came on a house made corn tortilla which were very soft, warm, and had a great fresh corn flavor. I liked the pico de gallo, compressed red onions, and cream avocados drizzled with sour cream.
They rotate the types of fish, depending on what is available fresh at the local fish markets. Service was warm, provided by Yesenia, and the owner was well spoken regarding his menu and quality product. I would recommend the offer more fresh salsas with their foods. The one that was served to me, a jalapeño based, was okay, but missing that nice vibrant touch in flavor and color.