Trip Report: Eating Good In Cusco, Aguas Calientes and Lima in Peru

There are some places worth visiting in Cusco, Aguas Calientes and Lima aside from Machu Picchu, but these places are nothing to write home about if you are an avid world traveler. So I have decided to write about the good food we ate in these places instead.

Cusco sure has some great places to eat despite its size. We loved the following spots:

1. Granja Heidi, Cuesta San Blas 525, Cusco, Peru
A restaurant that serves up healthy dishes. Perfect spot for your first meal in Cusco as you are adjusting to the high altitude. Never eat too full will help.

2. LIMO Cocina Peruana & Pisco Bar, Portal de Carnes 236 | Second Floor, Cusco, Peru
They dish up great ceviche and believe it or not, decent sushi here. The ambiance is of a five star establishment in NYC but the price sure does not reflect that.

Being the capital of Peru, Lima sure has some world-class restaurants dishing up Peruvian and international dishes. We loved the following spots.

1. Alfresco, Malecon Balta 790, Miraflores, Lima, Peru
Seafood restaurant in Milaflores. Best are its ceviche and black ink squid risotto. The price won't break your bank.

2. Chifa International, Eleonor Roosvelt, Lima, Perú‎
There are at least 300 Chinese restaurants here in Lima since there are approximately a million Chinese living here. Many serve up the not so traditional dishes, but luckily for us, Chifa International whipped up some traditional ones like steamed fish and sauteed Chinese greens for us since we were craving Chinese badly. Yes we were hopeless (or at least I was!).

3. Palachinke Panqueques, Jr. Jr Schell 120 Int. 1, Miraflores, Lima, Perú‎
Website: http://palachinkepanqueques.com/
Great place for crepes. They dish up both sweet and savory ones. Warning - big portions!

4. Manolo's, Avenida Larco 608, Lima
Who doesn't love some churros dipped in hot chocolate? They seem to have the best ones here. They also serve other food like sandwiches and salads.

We ate at a few places in Aguas Caliente but found the best food at the restaurant of our hotel (Sumaq, http://www.sumaqhotelperu.com/). Sure we tried the CUY (guinea pig) and alpaca meat at another restaurant but find them rather disappointing.