Just off the bustling, sunny Newbury Street, Rosa y Marigold sits tucked into a shadowed, quiet corner, providing a quick escape from the crowded shopping chaos.

Offering “classic Peruvian flavors with a twist,” Rosa y Marigold was recently selected as “Best New Restaurant in Boston” by Eater and named “Dreamy Peruvian Restaurant” by Boston Magazine. As expected, Rosa y Marigold’s food is good, delivering upon the earthy, acidic, and aromatic flavor profile one envisions from a Peruvian restaurant. However, the restaurant’s ambiance clashes with its culinary offerings, making the dining experience feel slightly disjointed.

Thus, if one judges Rosa y Marigold on its menu items alone, its recent accolades are justifiable. But if one considers the integrated restaurant experience, “Best New Restaurant” may be pushing the bounds of praise to which Rosa y Marigold is entitled.

The restaurant is part of a larger collaboration with La Celeste Constellation, a hospitality group that takes a holistic approach to the dining experience, marking an emphasis on spatial focus and collaboration. The group is spearheaded by filmmaker and chef JuanMa Calderón and architect Maria Rondeau.

Rosa y Marigold’s decorative flaws are puzzling, given that spatial focus is intrinsic to the restaurant’s establishment. The ambiance, on its own, isn’t inherently disturbing, but it doesn’t suit the rich, warm flavors anticipated of Peruvian food.

Rosa y Marigold’s ceiling is a reflective, distorted mirror, while the tables and cushion-less seats are made of a cold, dull metal. Beautiful flowers are anchored in thick, cylinder-shaped tin vases that reflect neon, fluorescent lighting. La Celeste Constellation is dedicated to “radiating the love and good vibes” in each of their projects, but with this restaurant, they evidently fell short.

Where a restaurant’s ambiance should compliment its food, Rosa y Marigold’s modern, surrealist architecture clashes with the smoky, earthy flavors on its menu.

However, it is still easy to enjoy Rosa y Marigold when considering the food alone. The most delightful were the huevos rancheros: three corn tortillas overlapped in a triangle formation with cotija cheese, black bean escabeche, and two perfectly fried eggs layered on top. The dish was completed with a dousing of smoky, deep-red ranchero sauce; the runny egg yolk wedded the creamy cotija with the smoky, tangy black beans in a perfect union; the corn tortillas were exceptional, too, boasting a rich flavor that elevated each component of the dish. The only issue was the ranchero sauce, which was far too spicy and ultimately masked the dish’s otherwise complex flavor profile.

The pan con chicharrón — deep-fried pork with sweet potato — was good, not great. The pork was cooked well and paired nicely with the sweet potato, whose sweet earthiness complemented the pork’s rich, buttery flavor. Stuffed into the sandwich was a tangy, acidic red onion slaw that balanced the sweetness while also providing a foundation for the pork’s rich flavor to fully develop.

While the sandwich’s contents were excellent, the bread was incredibly disappointing — all around dry and crumbly, whereas it should have been crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. The bread-to-filling ratio was also far too high, which detracted from the filling. Simply changing the bread would make the pan con chicharrón truly impeccable.

The huevos rancheros and pan con chicharrón were ultimately good and sold at standard pricing of $18 and $16, respectively.

It is easy to describe Rosa y Marigold as decent but difficult to describe it as “dreamy.” Those seeking good Peruvian food will leave satisfied. Those seeking a warm, pleasant dining atmosphere will unfortunately leave wanting more.

—Staff Writer Celia Tolmie can be reached at [email protected].