Travels to Cuzco, Peru

Cuzco is a city in southeastern Peru, near the Urubamba Valley of the Andes mountain range. Cuzco was the site of the historic capital of the Inca Empire and was declared a World Heritage Site in 1983 by UNESCO. Known as the "gateway to Machu Picchu", Cuzco is a major tourist destination and receives almost 2 million visitors a year.  We flew to Cuzco from Lima, and enjoyed the more mountain-aspect of the country.

Travels to Lima, Peru

Lima is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín rivers, in the central coastal part of the country, overlooking the Pacific Ocean.  Once hailed as the "City of Kings" by Spanish conquistadors, Lima's historic streets are sprinkled with Spanish Colonial-style cafés, glass skyscrapers, and grand plazas. Lima is home to the oldest continuously functioning university in the Americas called the National University of San Marcos, founded in 1551 during Spanish colonial regime.

Chez Wong

***Special Post by Keith***
Of all the restaurants we planned to visit in Peru I was most excited to go to Chez Wong. Many claim that Chef Wong makes the best ceviche in the world right out of a small restaurant in his 'off the beaten path' house in the typically 'locals only' Lima neighborhood of La Victoria. If you want to eat at Chez Wong you have to email in advance or talk to your hotel concierge and cross your fingers. I emailed 3-4 weeks early and received a response a few days later that we were in!

Kusikuy

Kusikuy means happiness in the Quechuan indigenous language of Peru, and is also the name of a restaurant along the steps towards San Cristobal Church in Cuzco, Peru.But more intriguing is that they have cuy on the menu.  What is cuy? It is guinea pig, my friends, and a common protein eaten in this region of the world.  Of course, Keith had to try it.

Cicciolina

You will find Cicciolina on the second floor of an old colonial house in Cuzco, Peru. A restaurant with distinct ambience, Cicciolina is perfect for a glass of wine and tapas in the bar area, or for more formal dining in the comfort of the intimate restaurant.

Café Morena

Café Morena is located in the busy street of Plateros just off the Plaza de Armas in downtown Cuzco, Peru.  The staff is super-friendly and welcoming with a smile.  Serving fresh sandwiches, empanadas, desserts, juices and coffee to the Cuzco public and tourists from 8am to 8pm, this cafe is decorated with a modern feel.

Alma Restorante

Alma Restorante, located within the Casa Andina Private Collection Sacred Valley hotel in Urabamba, Peru offers a very wide variety of dishes with regional flavors. Breakfast buffet and a la carte lunch and dinner service are available.

Madam Tusan

Madam Tusan offers Peruvian-Chinese fusion by Gastón Acurio in the Miraflores district of Lima, Peru. This style of recipes, known as Chifa, arrived from the east during the 1940s and took new forms and flavors at the meeting of Peruvian ingredients. Chifas are overwhelmingly simple and generally inexpensive. While their influence on mainstream Peruvian cuisine is clearly evident, most Chifas serve what is for the most part standard Cantonese cuisine.

Pardo's Chicken

Pardo's Chicken offers Peru's most delicious and famous dishes, most notably the Pollo a la Brasa.  This chain has several locations, and we stopped at the one in Plaza Mayor in downtown Lima, Peru for lunch.

Central

Central offers avant-garde Peurvian cuisine and is one of the most celebrated restaurants in Peru. Fresh produce and an inexhaustible curiosity to discover and integrate new ingredients into the menu bring Peruvian cuisine to the forefront in the heart of the traditional district of Miraflores in Lima. Reservations should be made at least one month in advance online or by calling.  Only dinner is offered every day after 7:45pm except for Sundays.

La Mar Cebicheria

When in Lima, you have to immerse yourself in the genuine cebicheria experience – and there is nowhere better to do so than at Gaston Acurio’s hot spot, La Mar Cebicheria. Stylishly designed – with a striking concrete façade jutting onto the tree-lined avenue and a bamboo roof over the airy dining area – La Mar is full of fashionable young Limenos as well as curious out-of-towners.