Baco

Posted by Edmund in Eclectic, Peru, Restaurants | 1 comment

Because of the way my tours had been planned in Peru, I had to return to Cusco for one night before  returning to Lima to jet back to Argentina. In that day, I really had nothing left to do but to eat.

I’m not kidding, either. For about 12 whole hours, all I did was go around getting in all the last tastes of Peru that I could. You’d think that, with that much time, I’d really be able to get a culinary adventure. Unfortunately, though, Cusco only has a handful of decent restaurants to begin with—so few that, in the span of 4 days I’d already spent there, I’d gone through the vast majority. So I went to the final unexplored territory, a relatively new restaurant named Baco, apparently after the Roman god of wine.

[provided by and posted with permission of Baco]

Baco, though, does have the credentials for greatness. It’s owned by the same group that owns Cicciolina, perhaps Cusco’s most highly recommended eatery and casual snack/tapas bar. This time, however, the owners decided to do something a little different and make the eatery a lot higher-end and classier. Instead of a tapas bar, you get a wine bar, and instead of a casual eatery, you get fine dining. That’s quite a welcome addition to Cusco, since the small city has almost no true fine dining restaurants (except for MAP Café), nor any real wine bars.

As you might guess from the name, one thing that the restaurant really prides itself on is the wine, and it does indeed have the best wine list in town. Not only does it have a full cellar on display, it boasts a nice range of about 10 wines by the glass from all over South America. As long as you avoid the Peruvian ones (which are about as atrocious as wine gets), you’re in good hands. Needless to say, I was quite impressed to find a decent wine selection for once at a Peruvian restaurant, though I will say that the list is nothing out of the ordinary compared to restaurants in other countries. You could, in fact. probably find the same in Argentina in some mid-range restaurants.

As for the food, I really can’t say it’s quite as gourmet as the owners of the restaurant made it sound at first, as you can find some very simple dishes more fitting of casual eateries, such as a bbq plate. The menu does take it up a notch, though, compared to the more general dining scene in Cusco. And while I can’t say the food was unusually delicious, it was all-around very well-cooked, a bit inventive, and rather flavorful.

That said, probably the best part of the restaurant  was the ambience. This was noticeably classier, cleaner, and much better designed than what you typically find in Cusco. The wine cellar on display is a really nice touch, and the seating area is small, but comfortable, with both booths and tables as well as plenty of space among people. Since I had a reservation, I was lucky enough to get the best seat in the house—an isolated booth in the corner, overlooking the whole restaurant. It’s elevated so that you get a great view of the whole place, but it’s also set off from the rest of the restaurant by a wall so that nobody can really see you while you’re in the booth. Private, intimate, and relaxing–just the way I like it. This is certainly the type of restaurant for those who like to enjoy the scenery as much as the food.

The service also lived up to the quality of the ambience, as my waitress was not only cordial and amiable, but did a lot of little touches that made the experience better, such as  offering me a choice of various tables, quickly refilling my drinks and bringing out my order, etc. Promptness may not seem so important at first, but you have to remember that this is Peru, where time really doesn’t have the same meaning as it might in America. Prompt service is very rare indeed, and Baco does a good job of giving some of the promptest in the country.

Overall, then, this was a great restaurant, if not for the food, then for the ambience, service, and the wine. It’s easily one of the best dining experiences in the city.

What I had:

1. Complementary mini-pizzas: Thin crust, with balsamic vinegar. Innovative and tasty. 3.0/5.0
2. Chili garlic bread—fantastic. Has real chili sauce smothered over every slice. Too crispy. The white bread flavor isn’t great either, but the dish is innovative and flavorful in general. 3.0/5.0
3. Appetizer—BBQ plate (sausages and veggies): Really good. Blood sausage was horrible, but the zucchini, eggplant, chicken, chorizo, and other sausage were well-cooked. The red pepper was a bit boring in terms of flavor. The pork in general was too salty. Sauces and tabouleh were provided on the side, giving lots of variety to the dish. To top it all off, the really crispy sweet potato fries were great, though too salty. 3.5/5.0
4. Lamb ribs in fruit sauce with pea, pecan, mushroom, and mint salad: Very nice presentation to it, with a medley of colors. Lamb is perfectly cooked, falling off the bone. The fruit sauce is a very interesting and flavorful match, unexpectedly. The salad, on the other hand, fares worse. It’s a little rough in the mouth—cold, gritty, and lacking in synergy among its components. 3.0/5.0. Lamb is more of a 4.0 and the salad a 2.0.
5. Fig cake with pecan ice cream and butterscotch syrup: Wow! Just read the ingredients and tell me that doesn’t sound amazing! Solid, flavorful ice cream that actually tastes like pecans is added to a warm fluffy cake and warm syrup.  Fig flavor comes through very nicely—subtle, but the sweetness is right on. 4.1/5.0

Ambience: 4.0/5.0
Service: 4.2+/5.0
Taste: 3.4/5.0
Value: 3.0/5.0. Pricier than most places in Peru, but most places also don’t have this type of ambience, service, or wine.
Overall Score: 3.7+/5.0