Can anyone tell me the dress code for restaurants in Lima? We will only be there 2 nights and were not going to bring sports jackets or dress pants. Can we go to most restaurants in nice jeans and nice dress shirt? Can we dress this way to Astrid and Gaston?
Thanks.

Hi,

I haven't been to Astrid and Gaston, but I've heard the reviews to be excellent. When I was in Lima a year ago, I had dinner at a few nice restaurants, and I was not wearing a sports coat. A nice casual dress seemed to fit in fine. I ate at La Rosa Nautica, which is a nice restaurant on the ocean that has a great view, especially around sunset when I was there. While I definitely remember people dressed more formal, there seemed to be enough people in a more casual attire. You can check out their website for more information. I also had dinner at the Marriot Hotel while staying there, and a casual dress was fine. During your stay, I would certainly recommend making a reservation at some of the nicer restaurants.

What's a must-eat restaurant in Lima then?

I've read about the great restaurant scenes in Lima, and would like to try out at least one of the top ones. Peruvian cuisine is supposedly to be one of the best in the world I hear.

Thanks!

One of the top restaurants in South America is Astrid & Gaston in Lima - and it is fabulous!

We were there at the end of March, and even though we were dressed a 'lttle bit', we were not what you would call 'dressed up'. Jim, my husband wears Tilley's exclusively, so he had on a pair of khaki pants & just a regular cool-max shirt, while I had a pair of black pants, and a red top that would have been considered 'business casual'. We didn't feel out of place, but I can't say I would wear my convertibles there either. I think nice jeans and a nice shirt would be fine, I can't imagine any of the staff saying anything. The ceviche was incredible by the way!

Also try the following:

La Rosa Nautica as suggested by navigator, it is wonderful food, good service and a great atmoshere. It's at the end of a pier on the ocean. We did that one for lunch on a Sat., it was lots of fun watching the surfers. There were definitely people in jeans there when we went. We had the mixed grill here, along with some fabulous appetizers - mmmm good.

Costa Verde is right on the ocean, just down a bit towards Baranco from La rosa Nautica. Itw as incredible, and cheap! We had steak and lobster here, and again did this for lunch so that we could enjoy people watching & the ocean from our table. Best key lime pie I have tasted outside of Florida.

Another one to try, although we didn't (ran out of meals!) is the the one at the Huaca in Miraflores. name escapes me at the moment, I can post when I get home tonight the name of it. They light up the huaca at night, so this would be best at night.

We also did a lunch as Pescades Capitales, but this will be hard to find (unless you have a driver, let me know if you need one - or a tour guide - as we had a car, driver and tour guide). It was really good, but I came away hungry, I just had scallop ceviche & should have had another dish. Guess I was so used to big lunches by then!!

I think Lynda is referring to Huaca Pucllana. My husband and I had a late lunch there in early January. It is beautiful - sitting outside with a view of the ruins. If they light it up at night, that would be even better. Either way great restaurant. The food is top class, waiters are attentive, and the pisco sours were very good also. It was our priciest meal on the vacation, but no regrets.

By far the best Chef in Lima (recognized worldwide) is Gaston Acurio. "Google him"

Apart from owning, Astrid and Gaston, he owns La Mar, a cevicheria open only for Lunch. There you can sample also some mini tapas style of other dishes.

The dress code:
Lunch: Jeans okay with a nice top. Men can wear a shirt with sleeves rolled. Some people go from work to lunch and they are wearing suits.

Evening: You can't miss with slacks and shirt and a sports jacket.

Please keep the Tennis Shoes at the hotel !

We ended up going to Astrid and Gaston on the last night of our trip to Peru. We were dressed very casually (no heels for me or sports jacket for my husband) on a Saturday evening albeit early. People were very dressed up and I actually felt a bit uncomfortable getting up to leave and walking by all these beautifully dressed people in our causual garb. The staff didnt blink an eye and we had wonderful service and were treated just fine. I certainly wouldn't drag along a sports jacket or dress pants just to go to dinner there. And I also wouldn't miss dining there because I was dressed more casually them the other diners.

We ate at Huaca Pucllana at the beginning of the trip and acutally enjoyed our meal there more. Dressing casual was the norm there.

I'm from Lima and a foodie . I just came back from Lima last week and I'd recommend you don't miss

- Astrid & Gaston (enough said in previous postings)

- La Mar (seafood - for a wonderful lunch)

- La Rosa Nautica (great food with a view)

- Pescados Capitales (seafood - another great and yummy lunch)

- Rafael (in Miraflores, Peruvian gourmet - for me the best one in Lima)

hope this helps, and I can offer more

We just got back from Peru.

A warning to future travelers as we didn't know the hours of the restaurants and thus missed out on the ones we wanted to try:

Astrid & Gaston is open for dinner at 7:30 p.m.! We got there hoping to eat at 6 p.m. before going to the airport on our last night, but it was closed.

And most of the recommended cebiche places are only open for lunch. We went to Miraflores hoping to eat cebiches for dinner, but couldn't find anything decent. Ended up eating at a restaurant called A Mar something in the Lacomar shopping mall. It's right at the edge of the cliff with the ocean view and cool decor, etc. but we didn't find the food to be too good. Our seafood was overcooked, etc.

So, plan according to the restaurant hours.