Bar at Cicciolina, Cusco, Peru

Cicciolina

Like so many great neighborhood eateries, Cicciolina provides delicious food from sunrise to sunset. It’s the best bakery in town, offering fresh breads and pastries and excellent coffee served from 8 a.m. The upstairs restaurant serves lunch and at dinner draws locals and travelers with its lively bar scene and tapas-heavy menu.

Bar at Illariy Restaurant,  Cusco, Peru

Illariy Restaurant

There is no more romantic setting for a meal in Cusco than the flower-filled courtyard of the Hotel Monasterio or beneath its arches in the Illariy restaurant. As clouds drift over the terracotta-tiled roof and you hear the adjacent church’s bells chime, don’t be surprised if a hint of celestial calm moves you to a state of higher serenity familiar to the monks who once inhabited these halls.

In the tradition of the best hotel dining rooms (like those at its sister properties the Cipriani, in Venice, and the Copacabana, in Rio), the Illariy delivers old-world, formal service that includes uniformed waiters carrying silver trays and leather-bound menus. Everything from the basket of fresh-baked breads to the homemade sorbets is first-rate. Though you will find such familiar standbys as steak and delicious pastas, you can also sample Peruvian dishes, like cuy, or guinea pig (roasted or deep-fried), and lomo saltado, stir-fried beef with onions, ginger, chilies, tomatoes, potatoes and rice.

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Dinning Area at Inka Grill, Cusco, Peru

Inka Grill

Under the arches in the Plaza de Armas, Cusco’s main square, you’ll find the entry to Inka Grill. Yes, the large two-story dining room teems with well-heeled tourists, not locals, but for those who want to be surrounded by the sights and sounds of the Andes and feel as comfortable as they might at a good restaurant in L.A. or D.C., Inka Grill does it well. The ancient space has been outfitted with all the modern amenities and warmed up with Inca pottery and Andean textiles and artwork. There’s even a table piled with baskets of vegetables that evokes local markets. Start with one of the samplers (Creole, Thai or nouveau Andean) or delicious soups (Andean chicken soup with quinoa or chicken or Thai coconut-milk soup). The main courses include many Peruvian classics as well as pizzas, pastas, steak and sandwiches, making it a safe bet for a varied group. The best tables are those by the window, which look out onto the square.

Jack’s Café

This joint is one of those local hangouts that bring together a widely diverse crowd, from backpackers and bankers to scientists and scenesters, who come to linger over a newspaper or the town’s best lattes. It’s a landmark that everyone knows, so it’s a popular meeting point or place to pass the time. Part of the lure may be the comfort of familiar food for travelers, like pancakes for breakfast, sandwiches for lunch and casseroles for dinner, and even milkshakes. Cash only.

Food at La Chola, Cusco, Peru

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.

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Limo

One of Cusco’s newer hot spots, Limo is a great Japanese fusion restaurant. The décor is contemporary chic with wood floors, red walls and views of the bustling Plaza Armas square below. (The best tables are on the balconies outside.) The name comes from the ingredient that is essential to both ceviche and Pisco Sours but there is a distinct Japanese influence to the menu. Stop at Limo for lunch after visiting the Cathedral.

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MAP Café

This incredibly stylish restaurant is set in a glass cube in the courtyard of the grand Casa Cabera, now the Museum of Pre-Columbian Art. (The name MAP comes from the Spanish name, Museo de Arte Precolombino). As appealing as the atmosphere is, though, the food is why it is widely considered the best restaurant in town. The three-course prix-fixe dinner menu includes such creative Andean dishes as fava-bean-and-Andean-mushroom medley, tabbouleh of fresh trout tartare with quinoa and avocado, and crayfish-and-yellow-potato gnocchi with creamy rocoto-chili-pepper sauce. Even the desserts, like roasted pineapple volador with manjarblanco custard foam and vanilla ice cream and quinoa cannoli with lucuma mousse and Quillabamba chocolate ice cream, emphasize mixing local products with cosmopolitan traditions. With only fourteen tables, the restaurant books up, so reserve in advance. The museum stays open until 10 p.m., so you can plan your meal before or after a visit.

Editors' Picks
Food at Pachapapa, Cusco, Peru

Pachapapa

A laid-back Peruvian restaurant on San Blas Square, Pachapapa draws residents and tourists in equal measure. Whether you eat indoors, where the walls are painted in warm ocher and burnt-orange and hung with Andean textiles, or outside under an umbrella in the courtyard, you will sit at wooden tables and dine on very good Peruvian food. You’ll find guinea pig and alpaca on the menu, along with salads, soups and pizzas. Among the house specialties are clay-pot stews, such as lamb stewed with beer, onions, chili and cilantro, and shredded chicken in a creamy yellow chili sauce with nuts and parmesan cheese.

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