Cusco and the Sacred Valley Restaurants
We’ve compiled the best of the best in Cusco and the Sacred Valley - browse our top choices for Restaurants during your stay.
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We’ve compiled the best of the best in Cusco and the Sacred Valley - browse our top choices for Restaurants during your stay.
The family that owns this small restaurant pours passion into their business and their excellent food, which is made using local ingredients that are carefully sourced in ways that lend poorer communities a helping hand. To ensure that everyone who walks in gains a little more understanding of indigenous culture, the specialty here is meat prepared on stones that are full of nutritious, flavor-enhancing minerals. There are also veggie options and a daily menu.
A labor of love from someone born and raised in Ollantaytambo has resulted in a must-visit restaurant experience—one in which you will savor traditional ancestral foods made with the freshest of local ingredients and prepared to appeal to the foreign palate. The all-wood décor makes for a warm and rustic yet chic atmosphere, with Peruvian accents sprinkled throughout. If you like cocktails, you must try one using Destilería Andina’s artisanal hooch produced, like Chuncho, by the El Albergue family.
Everyone seems to know everyone at this second-floor eatery, part lively tapas bar, part sit-down, candlelit restaurant. The tapas are delicious and varied, while the main dishes offer fabulous Mediterranean cuisine with twists from the Andes. You can order off the restaurant menu in the tapas bar, but not the other way around. Reservations are very strongly encouraged.
One of the best restaurants in the Cusco region was serving Peruvian fusion before it became trendy, perfecting the art of combining flavors in a way that each one can be savored. You’ll need some time to decide between all the enticing options on the menu; the cuts of meat are amazingly tender, and there are some interesting vegetarian choices as well, not to mention an array of fabulous appetizers that might tempt you to just order a medley.
If you're in Peru and missing Paris, you're in luck. Unlike many of the higher-end restaurants in Cusco, this is not Peruvian fusion—it is French cuisine through and through, right down to the imported wine and the fabulous crème brûlée. In addition to à la carte, there are tasting menus of either five or seven courses, allowing you to sample a variety of dishes like foie gras, escargots, and duck confit for S/152 and S/195 respectively. Tasting menus can be created to suit vegetarians as well. Add to that the comfortable seating with tables spaced a good distance apart and impeccable service, and you may well find yourself returning here.
For an excellent view of the Plaza de Armas with food and drinks to match, this is the perfect place to enjoy a drink before dinner as the sun sets behind the surrounding mountains. Limo is known for its cebiche and fish dishes, not to mention its pisco drinks, but there is plenty more to choose from. In addition to traditional Peruvian food, there is a variety of fusion dishes using local ingredients.
Start with a drink made from one of the many house-made pisco infusions, and then move on to the Peruvian fusion that is Batata's specialty, in particular, mouthwatering alpaca steaks. With a rooftop terrace and a cozy interior dining room, the vibe here is in the sweet spot between upscale-but-friendly and romantic. The wine list is continuously improving, and you may be able to get in a wine or pisco tasting if you ask ahead of time. The restaurant also offers cooking classes that include a trip to the local market for the freshest ingredients.
World-renowned chef Virgilio Martinez of Central fame has done it again with this tasting menu–style restaurant that allows you to devour Andean culture in a very personal way. Locally grown products that have been used in the Andes mountains for millennia are crafted into gourmet dishes that should be on any gastronomic tour of Peru. Be sure to opt for the pairing option, with or without alcohol.
The menu at this restaurant, which is modeled after a typical open-air quinta, with wooden tables scattered around a large patio, gets its influences from all over Peru, and the waiters are happy to explain what makes each traditional dish special. For a special treat, go for the underground-oven-baked pachamanca, in which different types of meats are slow roasted together with potatoes and aromatic herbs. This dish, as well as the cuy, has to be ordered 24 hours in advance, so plan ahead.
Enjoy absolutely fabulous sandwiches, salads, homemade ice cream and other desserts, craft beer, and much more at this cozy and comfortable café. The outdoor garden area is perfect for enjoying a sunny day under the gaze of the gorgeous Pitusiray Mountain.
If you're looking for authentic Peruvian food with a show, the dinner buffet at Ayasqa is your best bet as, unlike many buffets, they focus on doing a smaller number of dishes extremely well, giving you the opportunity to taste traditional plates at their finest. If you're more adventurous, go at lunchtime when you can try more exotic options such as tongue, oxtail soup, pig's feet, and beef heart. Cooking classes are also available here.
Just as Le Soleil next door makes you feel like you're in Paris, this place, under the same ownership, offers a bit of Japan in the Andes. A 40-year veteran Japanese udon chef was flown in from Paris to help the kitchen get the traditional process—two hours of hands-on work—down pat, and it was a success. Note that they serve only udon (beef, duck, chicken, curry, pork, or seaweed) plus authentic Japanese tea, beer, or sake to wash it down. It might not be enough if you're really hungry, but for a light bite it's an unexpected treat, especially on a chilly Cusco night.
Pouring some of the best coffee in the city from a special house blend, this café is a Cusco icon; Martin Chambi photos help anchor it in Peru, but the jazz and bohemian atmosphere make it feel more cosmopolitan. It's great for a quick bite, as well as for picking up fliers on current cultural offerings. Try the passion-fruit cheesecake or tiramisu with your cappuccino, and head next door to the Cusco School of Fine Arts to see what's on display.
Inspired by Gastón Acurio—renowned chef and godfather of the Novo Andino culinary craze—hip and hopping Chicha dishes up regional Cusqueña cuisine with a modern twist. Dishes such as Peking-style guinea pig (a variation on moo shu) and alpaca curry with quinua are great ways to try two of the favorite local delicacies. Housed on the second floor of a colonial building, there's plenty of space to accommodate groups of varying sizes, but dinner reservations are a good idea. Don't leave without trying one of the innovative house pisco cocktails.
Come for the kitschy, fun, over-the-top decor: take your pick of seating from a brass daybed, a heart-shaped couch, or leopard- and cheetah-print stools, and dine off bathtubs that double as fish tanks covered with glass tops, watched over all the while by baroque angels, flying pigs, and disco balls in all sizes. The steak-driven menu, just like the decoration, is absolutely fabulous, darling. A massive angel sculpture presides over the courtyard, whose walls are painted to look like a sky full of clouds. This was one of Francisco Pizarro's houses, and it's doubtful that he envisioned anything so avant-garde. The decor encourages you to indulge, and you won't want to pass up a sinful dessert. There are plenty of tables, but if your heart is set on dinner here, make a reservation. Fallen Angel rents out similarly decorated, uniquely luxurious rooms upstairs starting at around US$200 per night.
Don't be mistaken: Heidi is not the owner, but rather the mule who resided on the nearby farm where the owners get much of the produce for this San Blas restaurant. It's all about the farm here, especially the farm-fresh yogurt—something definitely worth trying—as well as lunch and dinner made with fresh ingredients. The dishes are quite satisfying, with plenty of choices of soups, salads, crepes, meat, and vegetarian plates. Save room for one of the yummy desserts and coffee.
Although there are plenty of vegetarian options elsewhere, here vegetarians and vegans can order anything with a clear, animal-loving conscience. You can even have your coffee with nut milk. The menu of the day (S/22), which includes salad, soup, main course, dessert, and a drink, is one of the best deals in town and one many nonvegans flock to as well. You can also pick up some of that nondairy goodness to go, as well as a variety of fresh breads.
Serving delicious dishes that you can feel good about eating, too, this restaurant's use of top-quality, locally produced, and organic ingredients makes it the go-to place in town. Whether you are a carnivore or a vegetarian, you'll find options to make your mouth water and ensure you leave satisfied. The organic offerings even extend to beer and wine. It also serves one of the better breakfasts in town.
On the corner just before you turn to go down to the train station, Hearts Café offers tasty, down-home soups, sandwiches, baked goods, and fresh juices. This is the place to come if you're craving comfort food like pancakes, French toast, chicken burgers, or birthday cakes made to order. Besides the food, they dish up a hearty serving of humanitarian aid, as a share of the profits go to fund a variety of educational and support programs.
The empanadas are fantastic, but that's not the only reason to stop by at this classic empanada place. The real hook is a "cuy castle," a sort of Barbie mansion for guinea pigs. But rest assured, there are no cuy empanadas on the menu.
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