One of the great things about Peruvian cuisine is the diversity of regional cooking styles and specialties. One of the most distinctive styles is that of Arequipa, the city of white stone, where you can find such specialties as the roasted cuy, or guinea pig, which is common throughout Peru but cooked a little differently here (roasted whole in a special style). Having only experienced the dining scene in Lima and Cusco, I couldn’t wait to get a taste of Arequipa. Unfortunately, I only had one day in Arequipa before returning to Argentina, and so I had to choose wisely. Luckily, though, I had some help. Whenever I’m in doubt, I like to ask some of the countrymen themselves, especially cab drivers, who tend to give out the best advice when it comes to exploring a new country, at least in my book. The overwhelming consensus was that if I wanted true, authentic Arequipenian cuisine, made like a grandma would make it, I really couldn’t go anywhere but to Tradición Arequipeña. And so I went, driven on by an insatiable appetite that had been whetted by the many respondents.

The restaurant, to tell you the truth, is just a casual, cheap, family-friendly type eatery. And of course, with any really cheap,  casual restaurant there will be problems, and probably the biggest one that Tradición Arequipeña suffers from is service, which is just downright slow. The waiters are great, friendly guys, but it takes them an hour to bring you even a simple request. And that’s only a slight exaggeration—I was the only person sitting in the upstairs seating area when I arrived, and there was almost nobody in the whole restaurant, yet I still couldn’t get a cup of juice until 10 minutes past my order. And there are so few of them around that it takes a few minutes just to find one to ask for something simple, like more drinks.

The other aspects of the restaurant fared better. The ambience, for example, is great for a cheap joint. There are 5 different seating areas, each with a different view and vibe. I had a second floor, semi-open seating area, with a fantastic view of the surrounding area. It’s very nice on a warm sunny day, like the day I went. Other than that, the whole restaurant is very simple, with normal, wooden chairs and tables. There is also some live music at dinnertime, though I didn’t get to hear it. And, finally, there are some nice touches to make you really feel like you’re in an old-fashioned, casual, and—yes—touristy joint. Most notably, whenever you order the famed Chupe de Camarones, a traditional seafood stew and regional specialty, the waiter brings you a bib-like paper napkin that fits over your head and covers your entire upper body to keep off all the splashing soup (and it will splash, since you’re expected to dig in with your hands to eat all the shellfish). The waiter will even offer to take a photo of you. I know what you may be thinking at this point—sounds like this place just oozes “touristy” or “common”—and you’d be right, but that doesn’t prevent this place from serving up some true, authentic Arequipenian cuisine that you’d be hard-pressed to find anywhere else.

And the food really is the main attraction here. It’s not the best, but it serves true Arequipenian cuisine, with almost all of the regional specialties of Arequipa offered. I know, again, because I asked local Peruvians. Moreover, this is one of the best values of any restaurant I visited. Everything I ate (4 large courses + 3 fruit drinks) cost me about $30, and the portions are so huge that I’d be willing to bet that what I ate would feed two normal people (I was starving that day). And for the most part the food tasted pretty good.

Overall, then, this is a great restaurant/pigout joint. Not only do you get huge portions and a nice ambience for a very low price, but this is one of the few where you can try well-prepared, traditional Arequipenian cuisine. It’s highly recommended if you want authentic a and/or cheap food in Arequipa.

What I had:

1. Piqueo Tradicional, a medley of traditional Peruvian foods, including rocoto relleno (stuffed red pepper), potato pie, boiled potatoes, chili sauce, lamb feet vinaigrette, oven-baked ribs and pork: Wow! This is a GIGANTIC dish and is the perfect way to experience practically the whole of traditional Arequipenian cuisine. Overall: 4.0/5.0 for the variety and quality in general. Hits: rocoto relleno. Misses: boiled potato.
   • The ribs are so crispy you can eat the bone. The pork, in general, is nice, flavorful, and moist enough not to be dry.
   • The potato pie is nice and rich, with a creamy cheese inside and a crunchy top. The potato taste is right on—the Andean potato is just so satisfying, in terms of its starchiness.
   • Lamb foot is interesting. Served cold, kind of like in a ceviche—the vinaigrettegives it a very nice flavor and complements it well. The lamb foot is nice and chewy because it has so much fat, but the texture and flavor are actually good. It’s just way too spicy and has too much pepper on it.
   • The boiled potatoes are the weak link. They are served with mayo and spices, but they’re just so cold that it seems wrong. The creaminess and richness of the mayo, moreover, makes the starchiness just way too fatty and unsatisfying. And the potato flavor is dull.
   • The stuffed red pepper is, hands down, the most delicious part of the dish. It’s spicy as hell, but oh so good! The filling is right. A peanut flavor just jumps out. The meat inside is nice, juicy, and savory, and the mix inside seems a bit creamy.
2. Platter of fried yucca and fried cheese: Rich and fatty. The yucca could use ketchup—it’s in huge, dry chunks. The dryness is a bit odd, since yucca is typically so starchy it’s normally very satisfying even on its own. The taste is, thus, much more like potatoes—not the greatest quality. The cheese is gooey but far too salty and oily. It leaves a disgusting grease all over the plate. It can’t even hold a torch to fried mozzarella. Cheese is a 0.0/5.0. Yucca is a 2.7+/5.0.
3. Chupe de Camarones, a cream stew of crawfish, vegetables, milk, rice, potatoes, corn, and beans (and the regional specialty of Arequipa): Huge mountain of seafood. You must eat this with your hands and it gets really, really messy. The waiters even provide you with a large apron-type covering for your chest and ask if you want a photo—this is quite the annoying tourist experience, like eating at one of those steakhouses with a gimmicky challenge in the US. Still, the stew is of great quality. The crawfish and shrimp are cooked very. The soup is rich and creamy, with lots of starchy thickeners and a great mix of veggies. The quality is unmistakable, but it’s just too messy and too much seafood for my taste. For me, an 3.0, but I could see a seafood lover rating this as highly as a 3.5.
4. Queso Helado/Frozen Cheese: just like ice cream, but much harder and with lots of cinnamon. Way too icy, but with a nice flavor. The cheese just doesn’t come through, though. Seems like an odd flavor combination, and, in reality, it’s somewhat tasteless. 1.0/5.0

Scoring

Ambience: 3.5/5.0
Service: 0.5/5.0
Food: 3.0/5.0
Value: 4.8/5.0. The portions are so large that you probably won’t finish, and the quality doesn’t suffer too much.
Verdict: 3.5/5.0, but 4.0 for a pigout joint.

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

Before returning to my residence in Argentina from Peru, I decided to spend a day in Arequipa, the legendary city of white, constructed out of a white rock that was left over from nearby volcanic eruptions. Arequipa really was, at least for me, the most beautiful part of my trip, and complementing that beauty was a popping dining scene that really gave some of the other more popular cities of Peru a run for their money. And the thing to note about the Arequipenian culinary culture is really the uniqueness. Not only does it have its own regional style (which I did get to experience during lunchtime), but Arequipa also has a certain cosmopolitanism that I also saw glimpses of in Cusco. One of the results is a restaurant like Zig Zag, which was really one of the oddities of my trip—Swiss and Peruvian/Alpandina cuisine, in the form of a steakhouse.

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Coming from Argentina, I had had my fair share of steakhouses, but nothing like Zig Zag, where the focus is less on high quality beef and more on gamier, leaner, and healthier meats, like ostrich and alpaca, all grilled on stone. And it’s a smart marketing slogan, too, as Zig Zag boasts its “healthy” meat options as both a way to experiment with new flavors and to save on the fat. That really is the main draw of the restaurant, as you’re not going here for the perfect steak, which you probably wouldn’t find in Peru anyway. Rather, it’s an all-around solid steakhouse integrating a lot of styles of cooking and providing an eclectic experience, both in terms of the meats used and in the menu options offered. And while this does feel like a gimmick—and it is—Zig Zag is one of the few places in Peru where you’re just going to get a very well-presented dinner with simple, strong flavors and everything exceptionally well-cooked.

And, to top off the all-around great food, you get a restaurant that’s probably the coolest place in town at nights. Zig Zag is romantic enough to have a nice, intimate dinner for two, and it’s trendy enough for you to go just for the hell of it. While the decorations are somewhat simple, especially along the walls, where the restaurant just chose to expose the plain, beautiful white stone of the city, it has a sense of comfort and restrained classiness. For example, there is a beautiful spiral, twisting staircase that runs lengthwise through the restaurant to connect to a rather small, intimate second floor dining area. Other examples include the candlelight and the loungy red couches. While the seating area is small, there is enough space between tables so you don’t feel uncomfortable. And even the food is aesthetically pleasing—you don’t just get a steak, you get it served on a hot stone tray with little flags on each cut to signify what animal it comes from, for example. This is definitely the place to go to if you’re sick of the somewhat sloppy, boring restaurants that are common in Peru. Zig Zag really does simplicity right. And the service was pretty good, too—everything went off without a hitch, though I didn’t notice anything exceptional.

Overall, then, Zig Zag is a great place to grab a meal, if not for the actual quality of the food, then for the supposed health benefits, the chance to try something new, the chance to get a good steak in Peru, and finally, for the hip vibe. It’s no surprise, then, that Zig Zag really draws out the crowds—you’ll be lucky to get a table.

What I had:

1. Ostrich Tartare: I don’t normally note presentation, but this was a beautiful dish—tomatoes, veggies, 2 mounds of tartare, with an open ostrich egg (showing the yoke). Tastes very fresh. The sun-dried tomatoes really complement the tartare well. Fantastic, full chunks of meat—again, very fresh and flavorful. Tastes kind of like a nice sashimi. Also, there is tons of meat. The yoke is more for presentation—it’s flavor is unnecessary. Also, some of the veggies don’t complement the meat. 4.3/5.0
2. Trilogy of Meats (Ostrich, Beef, and Alpaca, served with fried yucca): Again, beautiful presentation—a sizzling meat platter, with 3 separated mounds of meat, 3 sauces, and a mound of fishstick-like fried yucca. The sides are fantastic—the yucca is golden and crispy, just enough. A ratatouille of veggies (zucchini, pepper, and tomato) is also provided, and it is well-cooked and flavorful. The meat is cooked well, too, with just enough redness to it. In all honesty, though, the 3 sauces (butter with anchovies, tartar sauce, and a combination of ketchup and mayo) are unnecessary. Not only are they unspectacular, but the meat stands on its own. The ostrich is a little too chewy (due to the nature of the meat) and way too salty for my taste. The alpaca is more to my liking, but it’s still slightly salty. The beef is also great and much less salty, but its quality isn’t the greatest, especially considering I was traveling from Argentina, where the meat is phenomenal. Still, the cuts are succulent and properly cooked, and the concept of the dish is nice. Plus, it’s HUGE. Good luck finishing this sucker, even if you’re a steak-lover. 3.5/5.0
3. 3-chocolate mousse with Peruvian cacao: Not bad. Rich and gritty (in a good way). Dark milk chocolate flavor comes through, and the sweetness is just right. Not cloying at all. The quality is rather good, but still, it’s just a normal chocolate mousse. 3.0

Ambience: 4.2+/5.0
Service: 3.2/5.0
Food: 3.7/5.0
Value: 3.7/5.0
Overall Score: 3.7/5.0

Lima 517
Puno, Peru

During my trip to Peru, I spent a night in Puno before heading off to Lake Titicaca to spend some time on an island with some of Peru’s indigenous people. That’s great and all, but unfortunately when you’re stranded on an island with no electricity, transportation, or even a supermarket, you’re probably not going to get much to eat. Thus, I knew I needed a large dinner that night. Puno, though, isn’t really one of Peru’s culinary treasures, so I decided to try out some of the traditional Peruvian dishes I hadn’t had a chance to taste yet. I settled on La Casona, a somewhat recommended, traditional Peruvian restaurant (recommended being a loose term, since it’s hard to really recommend much in Puno). Surprisingly, what I got was borderline good, especially for the price I paid.

I can’t really say much about La Casona, except that simplicity runs through in almost every facet, from the ambience to the food. The restaurant interior is really just some small wooden tables and chairs, with a homey, slight log cabin vibe, but it’s really very plain. The service was nothing noticeable, though there were no problems. And the food was just plain Peruvian, with no frills whatsoever. That’s the charm of it, though—this is one of the few places I ate at in Peru where I didn’t see any attempt to infuse a bit of a modern flair to the Peruvian cuisine, and I actually liked that. I was on a quest to taste a whole slew of real Peruvian dishes, but everywhere I went, I always had to taste some modification or modern update—it’s as though typical Peruvian cuisine is taboo among restaurateurs. La Casona, though, does it the old-fashioned way, and I can attest to that, because every single one of the courses I ate was true Peruvian fare.

As for the quality of the food, I can’t say I was highly pleased, but the menu was varied enough for me to find what I had specifically been looking for (Aji de Gallina—chicken stew), and the food was decent enough at the price for me to enjoy it. There were some flavors that really just didn’t work, in my book, but I do know that that’s probably more because of the nature of the dish than the quality of the restaurant’s preparation—I mean, some dishes just aren’t for everyone.

In any case, I normally wouldn’t recommend a place like this, but judging by the fact that it’s in Puno, it’s really quite a good choice to consider if you’re ever nearby.

What I had:

1. Causa (Layers of smashed yellow potato and a dash of lemon, stuffed with meat): Just like chicken salad or a potato sandwich with chicken salad filling. Rich and heavy. Good potato part. Too much mayo, which is rather cloying, but the strong potato presence balance it. Way too heavy, though. 1.5/5.0
2. Anticucho of Alpaca (Meat marinated in red chili seasoning with onions, red peppers, potatoes): Great meat—tastes just like steak but on the leaner, gamier side, like a rabbit. Great mix of veggies, especially of boiled potatoes. The sauce works but it’s underwhelming and too salty. 2.5/5.0
3. Aji de Gallina (Shredded chicken in chili and peanut and sauce with potatoes, lettuce, tomato, hard-boiled egg, and olives): Very good. Like a yellow chicken curry but with a peanut aftertaste (i.e. Thai style),and some of the odd vegetables that are included do help to add a bit more flavor. Rich and creamy with great chunks of meat and a nice base of potatoes. Andean potatoes have a great rich, starchy flavor—even more so than the potatoes Americans are used to—that really helps to thicken the whole stew, which is never mushy, gritty, or inconsistent. Rice would have been better (and rice is the traditional accompaniment to this stew), but potatoes are so common in Peruvian cuisine that they can often be substituted for rice.  3.4/5.0

Ambience: 2.0/5.0
Service: 2.2/5.0
Food: 2.4/5.0
Value: 3.0/5.0
Overall Score: 2.4/5.0. Really simple place, but it’s about as nice as it’s going to get in Puno, which isn’t known for a great culinary scene.

Triunfo 393
Cusco, Peru

When I returned to Cusco from Machu Pichu, I was famished. I had left at around 5:30 a.m. in pitch darkness and had barely eaten some bread on the way there. I had hiked up the actual mountain itself and had then, quite foolishly, refused to eat much of a lunch, knowing full well that I was going to return to a big dinner that day. Unfortunately, my return train had been delayed about an hour and a half, so by the time I got back to Cusco it was around 8 p.m., and I hadn’t had a real meal since the night before. So I was somewhat of a ravenous beast at that point, and I just wanted some real meat and potatoes to dig in to. I got my wish at A Mi Manera, the one place in town that really serves up a mean cuy, or guinea pig, one of the distinctive national dishes of Peru. And when I say guinea pig, I mean a whole roasted pig—yeah, I was that hungry. And I really have to say, A Mi Manera, although not quite as popular as some of the restaurants in town, probably gave me a better meal than I’d gotten anywhere in Cusco other than at MAP Café, which cost over 2x as much.

A Mi Manera is a quaint little restaurant. Located right next to the much more popular Cicciolina, it typically doesn’t have too many guests, so you can find some pretty good seating here. In fact, I was one of the only people in the restaurant at all when I went. And, unlike most restaurants in Peru, it actually doesn’t look half-bad for a very simple joint—it has nice, bright lighting, a full classy bar out in front with racks of glasses hanging from the top and twisting iron designs, and a very clean open kitchen area in the back. Plus, there are some nice decorations on the walls in places, like full-size indigenous masked dolls and bright paintings. The one complaint I really have is that you might feel a bit cramped, just because the restaurant is so small that a full-sized bar in the front really makes its small size noticeable, at least in the front. And it’s not an intimate type of small—it’s more just a bad use of space. Still, it’s nicer than what you typically get.

As for the service, it’s fantastic, not necessarily in professionalism but just in the quality of the staff, which is very friendly and will greatly help you with any questions you may have about Peru. In fact, my waiter just conversed with me for a while about my experiences in the ruins and Machu Picchu, also giving me some recommendation about sightseeing throughout the country. He was much, much more helpful than most of the people I’d talked to before.

And finally, and most importantly, the food actually delivers! This is just a traditional, down-home place, specializing in the traditional Peruvian dishes. That doesn’t sacrifice any of the uniqueness of the dishes, though, as the restaurant also combines Peruvian flavors in distinct ways that you might not find in other places—for example, quinoa pure might be served with the meat, or the dessert might utilize indigenous Peruvian fruits even though it is purely a house creation. Not only do you get authenticity but you get some all-around solid flavor.  Not one dish I had was bad at all, and the portions were large and filling enough that I really came out stuffed. In fact, for about $20, I got an appetizer, a whole roasted guinea pig on a gigantic plate of starches, and a nice dessert to boot. And, again, what I ate is not typical—the guinea pig alone probably was too much for one person alone.

This was thus a fantastic way to end off my trip to Machu Pichu with a feast fit for a king. I went away stuffed, but I didn’t have to sacrifice quality or pay an arm and a leg. Really, if you’re in Cusco and are looking for real Peruvian food, you can’t do any better than A Mi Manera.

What I had:

1. Rostizza (Gratinated potatoes with Andean cheese and bell peppers): Fantastic. Imagine a hash brown pancake covered in cheese and bell peppers. Potatoes are perfectly golden and crispy. They are molded into a cake in thin strips. The cheese and peppers add flavor and variety. Not healthy but worth it. 4.0/5.0
2. Cuy w/ stuffed roasted pepper and golden potatoes: The cuy, or guinea pig, is a Peruvian specialty and is great. Its flavor is rather interesting—not like a pig at all. Very greasy but with a bit of a gamier taste. Still like a roast suckling pig in theory, complete with great crackling. The skin is limp and loose—just falling off. The peanut sauce that is provided blends extremely well with the cuy, though the sauce makes it too salty. Honestly, though, the stuffed pepper steals  the show (filled with raisin, almond, some veggies, and ground beef). Amazing, with a brioche-like base that is the perfect complement. Also, the giant boiled potatoes are perfectly cooked and very flavorful. They are Andean potatoes, which have a completely different taste than what Americans are used to, and they are so rich and flavorful that I could eat them alone with no problem (unlike the American variety). Dish has tons of food, such that you probably won’t even finish. Great variety, great food, and great value—definitely a memorable dish that really gives you a true Peruvian experience and simultaneously tastes great.  4.0/5.0. 4.3/5.0 for people who like cuy meat or who want a taste of Peru.
3. Dessert—Trilogía/Trilogy (Crepe with sauco (elderberry) syrup, served with vanilla and peach. Sauco is an indigenous fruit): Sauco flavor is very interesting—heavy, like maple syrup or a fruity caramel—sweet in a fruity way, and kind of like caramelized berries. Very good with vanilla ice cream, and the ice cream itself is rather good. I loved it. Simple, but great for an ice cream treat. 4.0/5.0

Ambience: 3.0/5.0
Service: 4.0/5.0
Food: 4.0/5.0
Value: 4.0/5.0
Overall Score: 3.8/5.0

Portal de Carnes 236, Second Floor
Cusco, Peru

As you should know by now, I’m a lover of dessert, which is my favorite part of the meal, so when I travel to a new country, the first part of the native cuisine that I really want to familiarize myself with is the dessert. So when I went to Cusco, I decided to try some of the old-school, traditional desserts of Peru. That led me on a search for a restaurant where I could find the infamous Masamorra Morada, a gelatin-like concoction made of purple corn, which just about every Peruvian kept on telling me about as some amazing treat (you know how people hype up things). But I couldn’t find it anywhere until I stumbled upon a local Peruvian restaurateur while exploring Cusco, the same guy who owned Incanto (and whom I mentioned in the review of that restaurant). While I was reserved at the start, the restaurateur took the time to really explain the nuances of Peruvian cuisine and then recommended that I check out one of his local restaurants, Limo Cocina Peruano, if I wanted a Masamorra Morada. He even threw in a Pisco Sour on the house, so I felt like I just had to give it a shot.

Limo Cocina Peruano, a semi high-end modern Peruvian restaurant, specializing in innovating in the traditional Peruvian dishes. When I got there, I was quite impressed by the scene. Again, I saw the simple modern design that is so typical of the better restaurants in Peru. Bright reddish-oranges were on the walls, the bar was prominently displayed in the front and very nice, the lighting was good, the seating very comfortable and spacious, and just in general good music. It really felt like a classy. And it just seemed like a hot hangout for people after work—I even ran into my waiter from Map Café the night before and had a nice conversation with him. I sat at the bar, so I can’t say much for service, but the bartenders were pretty friendly, too, striking up casual conversation.

Most important, though, is the food, and I can’t say it impressed me in any way. Like I said, I went for the Masamorra Morada, but I ended up actually sampling quite a few desserts and a ceviche to boot. Obviously, the ceviche was the best thing I tried, but even that didn’t really stand out compared to some of the others I’d had in the nation. Moreover, I was really quite disappointed by the dessert, not so much for the quality present in the restaurant, which prepared everything just fine, but rather because I really don’t understand the Peruvian taste for dessert. The traditional desserts just tend to be overly sweet, oddly textured, or big on clashing flavors—but that’s just my take. I do think the fundamental issue is that American tastes just diverge so greatly from Peruvian ones.

Anyway, I can’t say the restaurant is bad in itself, since the quality seems to be just fine when it comes to regular cuisine like ceviche, but I can say that it might just be better avoiding dessert in Peru at restaurants, especially this one— no point in paying an arm and a leg for something you’re not going to enjoy. Overall, while the restaurant has potential, I just didn’t get to see it.

What I had:

1. Ceviche Tropical (Tuna, shrimp, red onion, bell pepper, garlic, lime, mango, papaya, pineapple, coconut milk, all marinated in lime and pisco): Interesting. Very fruity and sweet, which is very unusual for a ceviche, which typically emphasize citrus tastes. But the sauce is creamy and rich and mixes well with the slightly salty fish to give it some unique flavor. 3.5/5.0
2. Masamorra Morada (Traditional Peruvian dish. Somewhat like a pudding made of purple corn):  It doesn’t taste bad per se, but rather just odd. Only slightly sweet. More like a taste of corn. Like drinking chichi morada, but in an unsatisfying gelatinous form. Can be a bit on the tasteless side. Definitely not the best Peru has to offer. 1.0/5.0
3. Alfajor with toffee (cookie sandwich stuffed with toffee and covered in chocolate): For an alfajor, very good. Much less sweet than the Argentine variety, and I actually prefer. Has a perfectly dry, sugar-coated, gigantic wafer. The toffee is stick, sweet, but not cloying, and, most importantly, the right amount is stuffed into the sandwich (not overstuffed). 3.0/5.0
4. Suspiro a lúcuma (Basically, a lúcuma mousse with meringue): This is an untraditional take on a traditional dessert, substituting the indigenous lúcuma fruit for lime. Use of lúcuma instead of lime makes it too sweet but also gives it a lot more flavor and consistency—in fact, it reminds me of a caramel custard, due to the natural creamy sweetness of the fruit. However, the flavor is more interesting than good. The meringue is very sweet. The lúcuma has a gritty consistency to it, like a cantelope with the seeds, which translates into a rough mousse. The ingredients just clash, and neither really balances the other. It’s cloyingly sweet and rough in the mouth. 0.5/5.0
5. Cocktail of Pisco with strawberry and banana liqueur: Too bitter. Doesn’t really have a refreshing fruitiness to it, because it is overshadowed by the pisco, which is far too strong.

Ambience: 3.9/5.0
Service: N/A
Taste: 2.0/5.0
Value: 2.0/5.0. The desserts are a rip-off, but the prices are pretty standard for a higher-end Peruvian place.
Overall Score: 2.3/5.0. This was supposedly the place to try Peruvian desserts, but I can’t say it impressed in any way.

175 Calle Cantuarias, Miraflores
Lima, Peru

In Peru, there are very few restaurants that are universally acclaimed. One of the few is Astrid & Gaston, named after the world-renowned celebrity chef couple that owns it and probably the most exclusive/famous restaurant in Peru. Now, whatever Gaston touches, at least in Peru, is gold. He owns not only the most reputed fine dining experience, but also several other restaurants at all price ranges throughout Peru, including Cebichería La Mar, where I had what was hands down not only the best ceviche of my trip, but probably the best dining experience in all my travels last year. And it was after that high I experienced from lunch at Cebichería La Mar, I was convinced that Gaston was a culinary mastermind, and I decided that I just had to try Gaston’s ultimate creation, Astrid & Gaston, the very same night. Unexpectedly, though, whereas Cebichería La Mar, a traditional Peruvian ceviche joint, was near perfect in every way, Astrid & Gaston was the exact opposite—a failure in almost all regards.

As you enter Astrid & Gaston, the ambience does impress, in contrast to so many other places in Peru. It has a controlled, simple modernity to it, with minimal decorations, but bright coats of paint, a nice bar, and in general just a nice seating arrangement.  The only reason it stands out, though, is because you don’t get to see so many nice-looking restaurants like it in Peru. Otherwise, it’s nothing extraordinary. And the service, at least initially, seems fine—prompt and very formal/professional, unlike in most Latin American restaurants.

So where does this legendary restaurant fail? First, and most importantly, the food. The food was decent but boring. In fact, only the cocktails stood out as something extraordinary—and oh were they extraordinary! Never before have I seen so many pisco cocktails, and all of such high quality, too. Unfortunately, where it counted, the restaurant failed. It’s food is meant to offer a modern take on Peruvian cuisine, but instead what I saw was a lot of innovation for the sake of innovation—i.e. going for presentation and uniqueness instead of for taste. For example, they might use duck instead of chicken in a traditional recipe or add a few cloyingly sweet components to an already sweet dessert. Not all of it is bad, but there is quite a bit of stumbling, especially in terms of flavor combinations, especially for such a supposedly fine restaurant.

And perhaps worst of all was a service issue I had with my waiter. The wine menu is supposedly phenomenal, especially for Peru, but I didn’t even get to see it because my waiter didn’t give me the wine menu when I asked for it. Instead, he said he would get a recommendation from the sommelier, and instead of running it by me or even letting me see the wine as he poured it, he brought out his recommendation—some garbage wine, no less—pre-poured in a glass for me, without even letting me try the wine to see if it was fresh or giving me any information on the wine. It was not only a horrible wine, but the waiter came off as downright patronizing, overstepping his bounds completely.  For a restaurant this formal and this expensive (even by American standards), it’s downright sinful to be so careless to the customer. Needless to say, I didn’t finish the wine, and I stuck to cocktails from then on.

Overall, then, for the uninspired food, the lack of professionalism, and the outrageous prices, I would have to recommend avoiding Astrid & Gaston, contrary to what you may read in all the travel guides.  Astrid & Gaston is way too overhyped. Nothing lived up to the reputation of the restaurant, and the wine thing was a complete joke. I really wanted to like this restaurant, especially after my experience with Cebichería la Mar, but it was probably the worst dining experience I had in Peru, sadly.

What I had:

1. Bread: great variety—breadsticks, raisin bread, corn bread, chili bread, potato bread, and nut bread. All with chimichurri, butter, and chili. Very hit or miss, though. Chimichurri was fantastic—cheese, oil, tomatoes, and basil mix for a really nice flavor. The potato bread was the only one that struck me as fantastic—rich, oily, starchy. Nut bread was nice and sweet. None of the sauces worked well, and most of the bread was a miss. Disappointing.
2. Appetizer: Anticucho (pieces of meat on a golden potato) of 4 varieties: cow, chicken, heart, and chicken liver. Served with 3 sauces: tomatoes in lime/lemon, chili, and bean. Sauces in general were a little weak, especially the chili. The tomato lime/lemon sauce was okay but simple and underwhelming. The beans were good but just didn’t go with the flavor of the anticuchos. The meat, on the other hand, was cooked well all around. The chicken was outstanding. The golden potatoes worked well, too, with the flavor of the meat, adding a nice starchiness, but they’re kind of bland/mushy in texture. Heart was a little too rough for me, but not bad. The liver just seemed a poor choice—too strong, greasy, and flavorless. Overall, disappointing. 1.0/5.0
3. Rice cooked in cherries with duck: Actually, a great dish. Reminded me of a nice risotto. Rich, creamy, flavorful rice. The duck was also very well-cooked, with the skin falling off. The meat was a little tough and gamy, but I’m not a big fan of duck, to be honest. Still, it was good. The problem was in the mix, which felt contrived. The rice was great on its own and just needed a protein component, but it seemed like duck was chosen merely for the sake of creating a “gourmet” version of a traditional dish (it’s normally with chicken). Still, intense, flavorful, and unique. Crackling on the duck is fantastic. 3.5/5.0
4. Chocolate soufflé of exotic fruits with a chocolate crocante: Good for a fruit desert, and a solid soufflé. It’s really quite well-made. And the presentation is great. The flaw, however, is that there’s not enough flavor, and the flavors there are clash. The dark chocolate doesn’t mix too well with the raspberries—typically they do, but here the raspberries just gave a sourness to the dish. Moreover, for a chocolate dish, this has far too little sweetness to it, even for dark chocolate, and the slightly sour raspberry fruitiness only makes it worse. 2.0
5. Arroz con leche especial (special-style arroz con leche), served with compote, some meringue, and fruit: Interesting taste. Definitely better than the soufflé. Great mix of flavors, actually—unlike the other dishes, things don’t seem tacked on. I can’t say it’s amazing, though. The arroz con leche is too sweet and rich for me. It has the texture and taste of a chunky custard, but far more intense. The fruit and cream don’t really help to balance it. If anything, the meringue makes it even sweeter. 2.5
6. Uruwaska Cocktail: Pisco, assion fruit juice, lime, and lychee liquor. This is just plain delicious. I could taste the pisco, giving it a strength that’s great. At the same time, it’s fruity and sweet enough that someone with a sweet tooth, like me, can really enjoy it. Lychee flavor comes out very well. Bitterness of pisco canbe offsetting, but overall a very nice combo, with great synergy and flavor. 4.0
7. Limeña Mazamorrera: Pisco Moscatel, purple corn, sauco cream (sauco is an indigenous fruit), morello cherries macerated in pisco. This cocktail is phenomenal! Thick and sweet, with chocolaty overtones from the dark chocolate-like bitterness. Perfect combo. No complaints, and hands down, the best part of the meal. 4.5+

Ambience: 3.5/5.0
Service: 1.0/5.0
Taste: 2.6/5.0. The cocktails were a special treat.
Value: 0.0/5.0. Costs an arm and a leg for mediocre food.
Overall Score: 1.5+/5.0. This restaurant costs way too much for what you’re getting. It may be one of the nicest-looking in Peru, but it sure isn’t the best-tasting.

Av. La Mar 770
Lima, Peru

There is nothing quite so Peruvian as ceviche, a dish that I personally love. So when I was in Peru I just couldn’t pass up the opportunity to go taste ceviche at some traditional Cebicherías, or ceviche restaurants, which are traditionally only open for lunch. Unfortunately, I only had one day in Lima (where Peruvians say the best ceviche is found), so I had to make it count. I had compiled a list of some of the best ceviche places in town, but I still couldn’t choose—that is, until I started talking to the locals. On my way to my hostal in the cab, I didn’t even mention that I was looking for ceviche specifically, just for some Peruvian food, and my cab driver began to go on and on about ceviche and specifically about one place, Cebichería La Mar, the brainchild of celebrity chef Gaston. With that type of praise, I just couldn’t avoid this place, and I headed over for lunch.

When I entered, I was immediately impressed. It was absolutely hot, with tons of space and seating but still full almost to the brim. It was semi-outdoor dining, with a very hip, modern vibe to it—modern architecture (diagonal lines, etc.), spacious, with a very nice bar area, and just casual. The service, however, didn’t suffer at all. My waiter was perhaps one of the best I’ve had in any restaurant in South America. Not only was he extremely amiable, but, upon seeing that I’m a foreigner, he really took some time to explain the dishes to me clearly and give great recommendations. Upon finding out that I was writing down notes about the restaurant, he even gave me a whole menu to take home with me! And this was a gigantic, hardback menu!

As for the food, just thinking about it makes me hungry. It had a nice beer and liquor selection, with so many cocktails and pisco variations that it’s ridiculous. The tropical juices were also fantastic. The menu had a large variety of food as well, highlighting the majority of traditional Peruvian dishes, including tacu tacu (explained below), ceviche, causa (small bites of meat with potato), and tiraditos (Peruvian sushi, more or less). Moreover, everything was of the highest quality, even what I didn’t particularly like. Topping all that, the portions were humungous and very affordable. I paid about $52 for a cocktail, 2 tropical juices, a shot of pisco, and 3 dishes that were far too much to finish.

And for all you interested foodies out there, this restaurant is actually a chain, though I was the original. One location has recently opened in San Francisco, so if you have the option, you might want to check it out, though I really can’t attest to the quality, never having been to that branch.

Overall, it was a phenomenal experience, from the ambience to the service to the food, and it easily one of the best meals of my life.

What I had:

1. Complementary appetizer in bucket: potato and sweet potato chips (Fantastic and plenty of it) with 3 different levels of spiced sauces and roasted, unpopped corn seeds. Sweet potato and plaintain chips are phenomenal, 2/3 sauces are irresistible, and the corn seeds are even better than popcorn and unforgettably good. I just can’t stop eating these, especially the corn seeds. 5.0/5.0
2. Degustation of 5 Ceviches
   • Clásico/Classic: Great chunks of fish, but spicy as hell, to the point that I almost can’t eat it. Delicious, though. The fish is as tender as sashimi, and the tanginess/citrus is perfect and balances the spice nicely. 4.0/5.0
   • Miraflorino (Classic version leche de tigre with fruits of the sea, i.e. a wide variety of seafood): Phenomenal! Octopus, calamari, and tuna are so fresh and add so much extra flavor and nuance to the traditional ceviche. More rubbery texture of the octopus and calamari is especially nice. Sauce is perfect—mild, tangy, and a little creamy. 4.8/5.0. Best ceviche I’ve had ever!
   • Nikei (leche de tigre “nikei” version + tuna): Refreshingly sweet. You wouldn’t think sweet ceviche works, but it does. Especially interesting is how the citrus and sugar balance each other so nicely. Tuna is perfect, and the sweetness a nice uniqueness to the ceviche. Kind of like of a desert. 4.2-4.4/5.0
   • Potente/Potent: This is powerful stuff. Nice mix of seafood, but the flavors are more bitter, and the spiciness only makes it worse. Seafood is chopped too—so it loses a lot of the texture and even flavor of the big sashimi-type pieces. 2.5/5.0
   • Elegante/Elegant: Nice, big pieces of seafood again. And yet again, the spiciness is off-putting. Sauce, however, is rather creamy and mayonnaise-like, which helps to offset the spice but at the same time makes the dish cloying. Still, the seafood is great. 3.0/5.0
3. Super saltado tacu tacu—This is plain, simple food at it’s finest, and it is a near perfect dish. It’s a gigantic dish of rice with beef and seafood “a la criolla,” or Creole style. Perfectly spiced and cooked. Vegetables have a nice kebab-type, smoky/savory flavor to them. The rice is somewhat mushy and too starchy because it has beans mixed in with it. In conjunction, though, everything has a nice dirty ricefeel to it, and it exudes a nice smokiness. Seafood is perfect as always, and the beef was cooked extremely well, too. The beef could have used some salt and spice, but it was so tender and flavorful that it was comparable to Argentine-quality steak. This dish is pure comfort food at its best, and it would have been near perfect without the mushiness of the rice and bean combo. 4.5
4. Dessert: Picarones (Dough mixed with sweet potatoes and sugar, then deep fried and served in fig honey): Wow! Enough said—just read the ingredients! Takes me back to my grandma’s homemade desserts, with a great combination of doughtiness, sweetness, and fruitiness. The fig honey works extremely well. Only loses points for being monotonous, but, again, this is fantastic comfort food. 4.0

Ambience: 4.5/5.0
Service: 5.0/5.0
Taste: 4.5-4.7/5.0
Value: 4.5/5.0. A bit pricey, but completely justified for the portions, innovation and quality you get.
Overall: 4.7/5.0-4.8/5.0. This was, without a doubt, my favorite restaurant in all of my travels (not just in Peru)!

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.

Santa Catalina Angosta 135
Cusco, Peru

I was traveling through Cusco, looking for some restaurants that I had plotted on my map, when a random Peruvian came up to me and began pitching his restaurant. Typically, I’m not a sucker. I do my research, and if I haven’t heard of it, it’s probably not something I want to eat at, especially while I’m on vacation. As with most South Americans, though, Peruvians are just great people in general—warm, amiable, and just so likable that it’s hard to refuse them. The guy even offered me a free pisco sour, and that just wrapped up the deal (how can you say no to free alcohol?). So, while I managed to get away, I did promise to return for a lunch, and I did return to try out Incanto (literally, “enchantment”).

Incanto really delivers on the traditional Peruvian fare. Whereas most highly rated restaurants try to differentiate themselves with more European flavors, Incanto sticks to the classics, innovating a tad, but sticking to Peruvian flavors. Ironically, the owner has another restaurant, Limo Cocina Peruano, in Cusco on the opposite side of the spectrum, which has as its catch that it takes all the Peruvian classics and infuses them with completely new flavors. I tried both, and I quite frankly prefer the less contrived simplicity of Incanto, which uses traditional dishes, which may not be the best, but which are very authentic.

The restaurant itself isn’t much to talk about. It’s just a medium-sized eatery with a nice bar and some good, open seating, and the service is decent. The tables are very simple and there is almost no decoration on the completely whitewashed walls. Nor does the food really jump out, but like I said, this is one of the decent places in Cusco where you can really try Peruvian cuisine. So all in all, it’s an average/good local place that’s worth a shot if you’ve already been to the better restaurants in Cusco.

1. Suspiro a la limeña (mousse with meringue and cinnamon), with dulce de leche. This is a very traditional Peruvian dessert. Very sweet, and a sharp cinnamon taste. But very good—nice mix of fruitiness, sugar, and cinnamon. Only problem: can be cloyingly sweet, especially with the meringue (though it’s well-made). Mouse also cloying at times—too rich. Still, well-made, with interesting flavors. Use of dulce de leche adds some needed sweetness. 2.5/5.0
2. Mushroom and Artichoke Ceviche: Pretty standard stuff. Tad spicy, very citrusy, but no meat—seems wrong for a ceviche. Without the meat component, very much lighter. Still retains the freshness, but just not enough substance. 1.0/5.0
3. Seco Cordero (Lamb in green pea sauce with tacu tacu, i.e. rice, beans, and/or yellow potatoes): Pretty good. Sauce clashes a tad, but the ingredients are great. Tacu Tacu is a little gritty as usual—odd texture. Lamb is tough (I think on purpose, since the name is literally “dry lamb”), but it’s very well-cooked and is the highlight of the dish. Potato and rice cake adds some much needed rich starch.  3.0/5.0
4. Mousse of Pisco Sour (made with Gran Comodoro Acholado Pisco): Very bold. Mixes a strong alcohol taste with nice sweetness. The sauce is sweet and fruity, but not overpowering. The mousse itself is very well-done. Smooth as gelato but with a nice tanginess to it, combined with the aftertaste of the bitter in a Pisco Sour (drops of bitter herbs they put in the pisco). Not my favorite flavor profile, but the taste is very interesting—refreshingly citrusy, and the lime works to balance the sweetness to a degree. 3.0 (3.5 for the creativity)

Ambience: 2.0/5.0
Service: 2.5/5.0
Taste: 2.5/5.0
Value: 2.5/5.0. Pricey by Peruvian standards.
Overall Score: 2.5/5.0