Places to eat in Peru

Manolo Cafe is mentioned in many tourist guidebook and for good reason. It is a great place for an afternoon coffee and churros rellenos. Each afternoon after sightseeing and shopping we would stop here and refuel. The churros with manjar blanca (caramel) filling are delectable. After about three of them with a tea or coffee, I was ready to go. The cafe has a full menu for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
The cafe spills out on the street so good people watching is always available.

Favorite Dish: Churros rellenos con manjar blanca

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I was walking about Barranco and literally under "el puente de los suspiros" saw this restaurant that looked like an oasis in the middle of a few tacky places. It has an open bar facing a zen garden and the dining room structure is separated from the bar. It is was done by feng-shui experts and it is zen.

The bar has couches and it is just nice to look at. It has a glass ceiling so you can see outside or the bridge or the garden.

The chef is well known (maria julia visso) and the food is spectacular. haut cuisine without the haut prices and attitude. very laid bar. full wine list and is not cheap. but, it aint expensive either compared to astrid & gaston which puts too many airs for my taste.

servers manage to speak english. the chef is bilingual. the site is www.restaurantevida.com

Favorite Dish: "shaken, but not stirred" is a martini of sole, prawns, calamari that is just right. very fresh (they go to the market every morning) and super light.

also, had the magret in a borgoña grape sauce with latkes of all things. magret is hard to make, but the chef has the upper hand on this one.

The Inka Grill was one of the nicest restaurants we ate at while in Cusco. It's a very stylish, contemporary restaurant for the area we were in. The food was elegantly prepared and plated and was extremely tastey. The ambience and the service were really good. We would have thought we were dining in a NYC restaurant if we didn't know any better! There was also live music the night we were there, but I think they have it every night. Great wine selection too! We had a whole meal, including a great bottle of Chilean wine and dessert and the bill only came to $68 US total! We were stunned :)

Favorite Dish: I had a traditional Peruvian chicken dish called Aji de Gallina which was very tastey (reminded me vaguely of the inside of a chicken pot pie, but slightly more flavorful). My husband also had a traditional Peruvian dish of Grilled Alpaca. Alpaca is actually very tastey and should be on your list of things to try while in Peru (if you're not a vegetarian).

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Stumbled upon this great place on 176 Moore. The Chef, Milenka Zapata literally translated the whole menu to us. Now we were the first 2 people there so he had the time to do it. He had suggestions but we chose the ceviche. Fish was perfect and tender. The ceviche broth was pleasantly spicy. The fondue of 3 mixed cheeses and tiny crusts of bread was yummy. I'm not a fan of pork belly or sweet potatoes but OMG!!!! The sweet mashed sweet potatoes that went with the pork belly's was to die for. Third photo, I asked the chef to let me take a picture of his name on his chef coat so I wouldn't forget. Thanks Milenka!!!

Favorite Dish: Sweet potatoes and the ceviche.

Fallen Angels ~ Good food, strange owner (who apparently grows his own salads). Good Ambience.

Paddy's Bar ~ Massive burger and chips

Favorite Dish: The starter of Salmon with a home made pesto sauce. Lovely !

Also a lovely beef casserole. Everything was good.

I have eaten cuy 5 times and in each it was very different. The most dramatic was in Urubamba where is was served whole, stuffed with herbs and dramatically presented. It was crisp on the outside, with lots of tender meat and then the flavor of the herbs. The second time it was just the very tasty meat of a stew, and the third time in Chupay it was a small little roasted animal kind of looking like a quail after cooking with about the same amount of meat. The last two times were in Equador where I learned there is a small and a large variety. Obviously there is a lot more meat on a large one than a small one.

Favorite Dish: The first time was the best, both exotic and flavorful. The second was probably the most acceptable to the western palate, and the third was kind of disappointing after the first two experiences. The last two times it was just good meat.

I do not have a picture, but the taste remains a memory. This is a picture from the corner steps of the cathedral side of the main plaza in in Lima. If you take the street the little yellow taxi is going on for a block (or it could be 2) you will come to an old place with authentic churros from Spain. There are cheaper imitations on the same street, but buy the best. (These are not Mexican churros.) The history and pride of the lady who owns this shop is wonderful.

On my return visit in 2010, the churros were just as good as I remembered them from 6 years before.

Favorite Dish: Churros famous and fresh made from the best ingredients.

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Toqoqachi Restauarant is great value. An excellent set lunch of quinhua soup, grilled trout and a pisco sour cost just S/.10. I ate lunch here nearly every day I was in Cuzco. It's a small, cosy family restaurant and the staff are really friendly.