La Chola

One of the best gourmet restaurants in Cusco is tucked in a cozy room off the courtyard of the boutique hotel Casa Cartagena. Having only sixteen tables, the dining room feels like a secret club far from the tourist crowds only blocks away (they also offer seating outside in the courtyard, perfect for a romantic dinner under the full moon). Sophisticated contemporary Peruvian dishes, such as a salad of mixed greens with duck prosciutto and a praline of Chulpi corn, alpaca kebab with a creamy red pepper on three mini causas (yellow potatoes), and lamb ribs on fava beans with vegetables and a chimichurri sauce with olives, are accompanied by wines from a 100-bottle-strong cellar.