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.

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

It’s pretty tough finding good food in Peru, and it’s even tougher finding food good enough to justify coming back for more. I was in Cusco for six days, though, so it’s exactly that type of all-around good, go-to restaurant that I needed to find, and it was especially imperative because after Cusco I was going on some rough expeditions through the Amazon and through Puno, where I’d be hard-pressed to find decent food. Luckily enough, Cusco did have one place that fit the bill, and that was Cicciolina.

Beware, though—Cicciolina is one of the city’s most popular restaurants, it’s always packed, and it’s rather small. To its benefit, though, the seating, especially in the dining room, is rather comfortable. It has a nice, small café feel to it and is very simple, modern, and minimalist, with little decoration to it, but an overall homey vibe, especially due to the bright colors and lighting. The service is also amiable and prompt, though not “professional” or overly formal. And, most importantly, Cicciolina serves some pretty some pretty solid breakfast, lunch, and dinner, the tapas being the specialty. For me, though, the tapas menu was more more interesting than great. Though it was actually a great way to experience the flavors of Peru, it was somewhat hit or miss.

Overall, I like this restraurant greatly, even though it’s not perfect in any regard. Some things are off, but in general the selection is great, with unique, interesting flavors. It’s simple and small, with good service and all-around good food. And it’s not a bad value either. This is definitely a great choice in Cusco for a normal meal.

What I had during 2 dinners:

1. Bread with olives and tomato pure: Bread is underwhelming. Just plain white, but the light, fresh, tomato sauce makes it a lot better
2. Ceviche: Not the best, but still great. Not too spicy, but very fresh and citrusy. Large chunks of fish with a good mix of onions—lots of veggies and basil help to balance it out and make it a bit lighter. 3.5-4.0/5.0
3. White Chocolate Mousse with Brownie (also includes some gelatin, dulce de leche, and liquor): Fantastic! Gelatin is extraneous, but mousse is very fine. Dulce de leche flavor makes it a little too sweet, but otherwise it’s very well-balanced in sweetness. Brownie isn’t bad, and the liquor taste doesn’t overpower anything. 4.0
4. Cheese Plate—Not highly recommended. Only had a couple of really good cheeses, particularly the smoked brie.
5. Roast Beef Sandwich: Great value—20 soles for a gigantic, filling sandwich. Served hot, with very good, tender meat. Kind of salty and plain, but the meat more than makes up for it. Also, it’s rather gourmet—has some interesting ingredients like manchego cheese, which really adds flavor, though increase the saltiness. 3.5
6. Peruvian scallops thrown on the bbq with soy, ginger, garlic, and lime: Very light. The sauce of ginger and soy really complements the oysters, which have a great smoky flavor. The sauce would be overwhelming on its own, but the more neutral flavor of the oysters balances its strength nicely. Fantastic quality of oysters, too—gigantic, juicy, and cooked very well. Just a tad light of a dish for me. 3.5-4.0/5.0
7. Alpaca in 4 pepper cream sauce with golden yucca and roasted tomatoes: Alpaca is a very nice, flavorful, and juicy meat. It’s light, with much less fat than I’d find in beef, yet it tastes more like beef than chicken. Not as rough as beef, though—much more elegant. And the sauce is great. It’s creamy and rich, except for a very bitter end. It does, however, suit the slight toughness of the Alpaca meat. The tomatoes and especially the fried yucca are delicious, too, and the fried yucca adds a nice starchiness to the dish that is really needed to balance the strength of the sauce and the gaminess of the meat. Only complaint: elements aren’t integrated well together, and the sauce is too bitter for me. 3.5-4.0/5.0 (4.0 for uniqueness)
8. Ripened bananas burnt with sugar, accompanied with bright green grapes in a passion fruit and anise sauce: Bananas are perfect. Fresh, fruity, and somewhat sweet, fried very well. The mixture of batter and sweetness is very satisfying. The passion fruit and anise sauce is light and refreshing, which is nice, since passion fruit and anise are both so intense in flavor that they could easily overpower the bananas. The one problem: far too simple and monotonous. It’s really just bananas. 3.0/5.0

What I had on the tapas menu for lunch:

1. Banana Smoothie w/ milk—Pretty good, but way too much of a strong milky flavor, covering up the banana. Nice and thick, though. Try it with water instead if you want a more pronounced fruitier
2. Pisco Sour: not bad for a Pisco Sour, but I prefer some of the other ones in Peru.
3. Lightly fried calamari with sweet chili cream: A bit too rich, but the dish mixes a light fried greasiness with  a creamy, sweet, and slightly spicy flavor. Fantastic combo. 3.5-4.0/5.0
4. Crunchy prawns with sweet potato and wasabi mayo: Fantastic. A little too greasy, but very flavorful. I can’t stand wasabi, but the mayo’s moderated it, and you really don’t get overpowered by the spice at all—if anything, the creamy spiciness is the perfect complement to the starch of the potatoes and the crunch of the prawns. 3.0-3.5/5.0
5. Hummus with eggplant and zucchini: Weird mix, but it actually works. The hummus isn’t too good (I am Middle Eastern, after all, so I expect a lot), but the weakness of the hummus is compensated with the zesty flavors of the veggies. 2.0/5.0
6. Tiradito (basically, Peruvian sashimi) of very thin raw fish in soy sauce and wasabi broth: Wasabi overpowers the dish. Good idea, but the ingredients don’t mix well. The fish is also not the best—very fresh, but too salty, especially with the soy sauce added on. 1.0/5.0
7. Red trout tartar with wasabi mayo: It seems  that Cicciolina is very fond of wasabi. Thankfully, this time it’s not too spicy, as, again, the mayo balances it out. Great, fresh fish, with a rich sauce and a very nice balance (especially because of the inclusion of avocado). Leaves a nice, creamy aftertaste. 3.5
8. Prawns wrapped in quinoa: Very interesting flavor. Quinoa adds a nice, healthy crunch, with very little oiliness to it. The sauce is extraneous and not too flavorful, but the shrimp is perfectly cooked. The smokiness is great as well. 3.0-3.5
9. 4 mini-causas (prawn, octopus, trout, and guinea pig, each on top of a small layer of sweet, golden potatoes): Very interesting—thick, rich flavor of the potato helps to balance out the taste of the meat, but overall it’s an odd combo. Just adds a layer of mush on top. Still, it’s an interesting experience. Of the four, the trout fares the best, and the octopus the worst (rubbery texture on top of rich mash just doesn’t work). 1.5/5.0
10. Mousse duo—Chocolate mousse with fruits of the forest, & lúcuma cream (lúcuma, or eggfruit, is an indigenous fruit): Lúcuma is phenomenal—tastes just like a pumpkin pie, with a fruity twist. Very rich, creamy, and caramel-like. The chocolate mousse is also great—has the same great grainy quality as the lúcuma b/c of the fruits. It has a nice bittersweet richness to it. 4/5.0

Ambience: 3.0/5.0
Service: 3.5/5.0
Taste: 3.2+/5.0
Value: 3.7+/5.0
Overall Score: 3.4/5.0. My go-to place in Cusco for a quick, decently priced, good-quality dinner.