Aguas Calientes
Chef House Machu Picchu
My kids really just needed pizza. This place fit the bill. I had lomo saltado, but it didn’t compare to what we had in the jungle.
Cusco
Mistura Grill
The food here was nothing to write home about, but was fine and fun. The rooftop seating offers great views over Plaza de Armas, but is incredibly hot during the day. Knowing that, the restaurant offers sombreros for customers. We had our first taste of alpaca here and didn’t love it. We tried it elsewhere and thought it was better, so preparation matters! Ours was with herbs.
Per.uk
It is rare that Trip Advisor lets me down. I followed the recommendation and was sorely disappointed. I had looked for a good place to try Cuy (pronounced cui), aka Guinea pig. Cuy takes an hour to prepare, but ours was possibly over done. We found it to be tough, hard to tear apart (it’s a finger food) and hardly had any meat. It was probably the least enjoyable thing I ate on the trip. On the plus side, my son tried alpaca skewers and thought it was great.
Lima
La Picanteria
This small restaurant, located in Miraflores, was so much fun. You definitely need a reservation or you could have a long wait. In addition, you should arrive 30 minutes prior to your reservation to pick you fish. The later you choose which one(s) you want means your portion size might not be available. You pay by the weight of the entire fish. They will cook it in a variety of ways. The ceviche was so delicious, it actually set the standard for my daughter, so many that we tried subsequently didn’t measure up. We also tried it cooked with garlic. So good.
Mayta
Mayta is #47 on the World’s Best 2023. Since we took the kids, we skipped the tasting menu and ordered directly. The razor clams were a hit for me and my son and the ceviche (less the plantains) was a hit with my daughter. But the duck was the real winner here. Delicious!
Peru Gourmet
This restaurant is a nice place to stop if you are in downtown Lima. We tried Causa here, which was surprisingly enjoyable for me since I am not a big fan of potatoes. The Causa I tried had a top and bottom of basically mashed potatoes (and I’m sure some spices) and a filling of what I would consider chicken salad. It was topped with avocado. My daughter also enjoyed this.
Maido
Maido is #6 on the World’s Best of 2023. It is Japanese/Peruvian Fusion and we opted for the full Nikkei experience with a juice pairing. I found the presentation to be stunning, although some of the dishes were a miss for me. Full disclosure, I was having some tummy problems so it could have been me and not the food.
Isolina
Located in Barranco, this place always has a line. Get there early if you don’t want to wait.
La Rosa Nautica
After checking out of our hotel, we had a few hours to burn before heading to our flight home. We decided to hang out on the pier in Miraflores. It overlooks the Pacific Ocean and a large number of surfers, so we figured we could watch and have a few beers since we had already had a large lunch at Isolina. The main brand of beer in Peru is CUSQUEÑA. My kids thoroughly enjoyed the tuna tartare and the ceviche here. At dusk, the waves did sprinkle onto the dock, so be prepared. They refer to it as dancing waves.
More restaurants to try:
Doomo saltado, Lima
El Muelle in Barranco, Lima
