45 Best Restaurants in Lima, Peru

ámaZ

$$$ | Miraflores Fodor's choice
Chef Pedro Miguel Schiaffino (of Malabar fame) spent years exploring the Peruvian Amazon and experimenting with its ingredients before opening this low-key Miraflores bistro. The result is a world-class eatery that lets you experience the flavors of the rainforest without leaving the urban jungle. His versions of traditional dishes such as patarashca (catfish fillet cooked in a bijau leaf) or tacacho (fried plantain-and-smoked-pork balls) are excellent but so are inventions like chunks of paiche (an Amazon fish) stewed in coconut milk. Choose between the dark dining room in back or a brighter front room hemmed by foliage and tropical colors.
Peruvian Lunch Dinner $$$ Fodor's Choice
Av. La Paz 1079, Lima, Lima, 18, Peru
01-221–9393
amaz.com.pe
Known For
  • inventive Amazonian dishes
  • nine-dish "abruta fiesta" menu
  • upscale, eclectic environment
Restaurants Details
Rate Includes: No dinner Sun.

Amoramar

$$$ | Barranco Fodor's choice

Amoramar doesn't look like much from the street, but step through the door, and you'll discover an oasis of poinciana trees in a restored adobe house. Seafood dominates the menu, with a selection ranging from the traditional pulpo a la parrilla to creative recipes such as atún saltado (tuna strips sautéed with onions and aji peppers), chaufa de quinua (vegetarian stir-fry with quinoa), and canilla de cordero (roast lamb in a mild chili sauce).

Arrive and leave by taxi at night.

Peruvian Lunch Dinner $$$ Fodor's Choice
Jr. García y García 175, Lima, Lima, 04, Peru
01-619–9595
www.amoramar.com
Known For
  • excellent seafood
  • eclectic dining setting
  • scrumptious pastel de choclo con mariscos (corn pudding with seafood)
Restaurants Details
Rate Includes: Closed 4–8 pm. No dinner Sun.

Astrid y Gastón Casa Moreyra

$$$$ Fodor's choice

The flagship restaurant of Peru's most celebrated chefs, spouses Gastón Acurio and Astrid Gutsche, occupies a meticulously restored colonial mansion named Casa Moreyra. Dishes are available à la carte, but the big event here is the 16-course, prix-fixe tasting menu, which takes you on a journey through Peru's culinary regions in the span of two hours. The menu changes with the seasons to ensure fresh ingredients, but expect a good mix of meat and seafood, plus a chocolate apocalypse at the end. Reserve tables at least two weeks ahead of time.

Even if you don't have a reservation, you can try to get a table on the patio, where you can order from the à la carte menu.

Recommended Fodor's Video

Central

$$$$ | Barranco Fodor's choice

After years working in some of the best kitchens of Europe and Asia, superstar cuisinier Virgilio Martínez returned to Lima to launch this chic, airy venue for his culinary talents—and quickly garnered a reputation as one of Latin America's best chefs. He and his wife, María Pía Leon, change their menu every six months, but each iteration celebrates the country's edible biodiversity with fresh and often organic ingredients. They offer eight- and 16-course menus, which take your taste buds on a journey through Peru's coastal, Andean, and Amazon regions. The restaurant's new incarnation in Barranco is in every way worthy of its past.

This is currently Lima's hottest restaurant, so reserve tables at least a month in advance.

Peruvian Lunch Dinner $$$$ Fodor's Choice Prix-Fixe
Av. Pedro de Osma 301, Lima, Lima, 18, Peru
01-242–8515
www.centralrestaurante.com.pe
Known For
  • exquisite gastronomic experimentation with multicourse menus
  • coastal, Andean, and Amazonian cuisine
  • one of Lima's hottest restaurants (reserve at least a month ahead)
Restaurants Details
Rate Includes: Closed Sun. No lunch Sat., Reservations essential

El Bodegón

$$ | Miraflores Fodor's choice
Just when you thought Gastón Acurio couldn't possibly do anything more for his country's gastronomy, he opens this nostalgic homenaje to Peru's home cooking of yesteryear. In a corner tavern filled with dark wood and old photos, he polls his customers on their favorite dishes from their childhoods, and then makes them new. Cebiche-style chicken with papa a la huancaína, arroz con chancho (pork with rice): it's all here. This is his love letter to Peru's common people, at prices everyone can afford.

El Bolivariano

$$ | Pueblo Libre Fodor's choice
Set in a colonial finca (farm house) that dates from 1780, this Lima institution offers some of the heartiest down-home cooking in the entire capital. Criollo classics such as seco de cabrito and costillas de cerdo con tacu-tacu (ribs with pan-fried rice and beans) are especially well done, but you'd be hard-pressed to find a weak spot anywhere on the extensive menu. After 11 pm on weekends, the back room turns into a festive dance hall.

La Mar

$$$ | Miraflores Fodor's choice

Chef Gastón Acurio's reinvention of the traditional cebichería is one of Lima's most popular lunch spots. The décor is minimal, but the menu offers a kaleidoscopic selection of delectable seafood dishes. Start by sharing a degustación de cebiche (various types of fish or seafood marinated in lime juice) or a chalana de causas (various mashed-potato appetizers with seafood-and-mayonnaise fillings). Then try the picante de mariscos (sautéed seafood in a spicy cream sauce) or one of the catches of the day. The servings tend to be large, so you may want to share.

The place doesn't take reservations, so arrive before 1 or you'll wait an hour for a table.

Seafood Lunch $$$ Fodor's Choice
Av. La Mar 770, Lima, Lima, 18, Peru
01-421–3365
www.lamarcebicheria.com
Known For
  • amazing seafood
  • bustling atmosphere
  • large shareable portions
Restaurants Details
Rate Includes: No dinner, Credit cards accepted, Reservations not accepted

Maido

$$$$ | Miraflores Fodor's choice
Mitsuharu Tsumura is one of Lima's most innovative chefs, and his exquisite Nikkei (Japanese-Peruvian) creations have garnered for Maido the top slot on San Pellegrino's Best Latin American Restaurants list for three years running (be sure to reserve at least three months in advance). Tsumura changes things up frequently, but his menus always include cebiches and nigiris (sushi with Peruvian flavors), plus cooked dishes such as asado de tira mitsuke (braised short ribs with pickled ginger and fried rice), cod misayaki (marinated in miso with sweet potato and Brazil nuts), and sanguichitas (a plate of unique sandwiches). Seating is on the second floor, at wooden tables beneath hundreds of hanging ropes, plus a few spots at the sushi bar.

Malabar

$$$$ Fodor's choice

Chef-owner Pedro Miguel Schiaffino travels the Peruvian Andes and Amazon in search of weird and unfamiliar ingredients that most cooks—and locals—overlook, and then incorporates them into the menu at Malabar. His list of dishes changes several times a year to ensure fresh ingredients, but most of them are organic and free-range. The restaurant offers both à la carte selections and multi-course set meals that combine foods from the coast, mountains, and jungle. Added plus: the bar here, run by Schiaffino's father, has some of the best cocktails in Lima.

Peruvian Lunch Dinner $$$$ Fodor's Choice
Av. Camino Real 101, San Isidro, Lima, 27, Peru
01-440–5200
malabar.com.pe
Known For
  • true foodie experience
  • exotic ingredients
  • jungle-themed cuisine
Restaurants Details
Rate Includes: Closed Sun, Reservations essential

Titi

$$ Fodor's choice
Chifa, Peru's version of Chinese food, is ubiquitous in Lima, with cheapo order-by-number establishments on practically every corner. In this glutted market, Titi towers above the competition, with a kitchen that works magic with even the simplest ingredients. Tallarín saltado with chicken and pork is subtly smoky and crackling with fresh vegetables, while kru yoc, the kitchen’s most requested plate, dresses crisp pork slices with a delicately sweet glaze. Chinese immigrants to Peru say the cooking here holds its own against heavy-hitters in Beijing and Shanghai.
Chinese Fusion Lunch Dinner $$ Fodor's Choice
Av. Javier Prado Este 1212, San Isidro, Lima, Peru
01-224–8189
chifatiti.com
Known For
  • best Chinese cooking in Lima
  • scrumptious suckling pig on Friday
  • super-fresh ingredients
Restaurants Details
Rate Includes: No dinner Sun.

Antica Pizzeria

$$ | Barranco

This Italian eatery is the place to head on a cool night, offering a rustic but warm ambience and great food. The extensive menu includes a wide array of salads and fresh pastas served with your choice of a dozen sauces, but Antica is best known for its pizza: more than 50 different kinds baked in a wood-fired oven.

The San Isidro branch of this restaurant, located on Avenida Dos de Mayo, offers an even cozier atmosphere.

Italian Lunch Dinner $$
Av. Prolongación San Martín 201, Lima, Lima, 04, Peru
01-247–3443
www.anticapizzeria.com.pe
Known For
  • super-thin-crust pizza
  • rustic ambience
  • excellent salsa arrabiata
Restaurants Details
Rate Includes: Credit cards accepted

Antigua Taberna Queirolo

$ | Pueblo Libre

Chalkboard menus, shelves piled to the ceiling with locally made wines and piscos, a worn wooden bar, and even a hand-cranked telephone give this venerable institution—a Lima mainstay since 1880—its nostalgic charm. The place serves delicious ham sandwiches smothered in zarza criolla and chilcanos made with pisco bottled in the factory next door.

Bar-Restaurante Cordano

$ | El Centro
Dating from 1905, this venerable Lima institution has served up ham sandwiches and pisco sours to Peru's presidents for over a century. Every inch of the décor—the worn wooden bar, the old black-and-white photos, the well-stocked saloon shelves and cabinets—oozes history. Try the butifarra (marinated pork with zarza criolla on a homemade roll), or, if you're famished, the bistec con tacu-tacu (steak with pan-fried rice and beans).

Brujas de Cachiche

$$$ | Miraflores

Though its name evokes folklore, "Witches of Cachiche" is an elegant, modern spot that offers variations on traditional Peruvian cuisine. Delicacies include as corvina en salsa de camarones (sea bass in a roasted-crayfish sauce) or cabrito a la norteña (stewed kid). The lunch buffet is an opportunity to sample an array of local dishes. An extensive wine list features top South American vintages.

The cozy bar in back is a good spot for appetizers or a light meal in the early evening, when most restaurants are closed.

Café del Museo

$$ | Pueblo Libre

Sequestered inside the walls of the colonial palace that houses the Museo Larco, this is one of the most charming places in Lima to enjoy a meal. The Peruvian-fusion menu offers everything from empanadas to ravioli stuffed with squash to seco de cordero (stewed lamb) served with rice and beans. Tables on the terrace overlook a lush garden with blazing bougainvillea, ancient statues, and amphorae.

Cala

$$$ | Barranco

One of Lima's surprisingly few waterfront dining options, Cala has an impressive selection of dishes to complement its ocean vistas. The Peruvian-fusion cuisine ranges from crab ravioli in seafood soup to quinoa-crusted salmon and tenderloin with mushrooms, quinoa, and spinach. You can also order from the sushi bar. The dining room is upstairs, with a wall of glass on the ocean side and tables on a narrow balcony above the rocky beach.

Lunch Dinner $$$ Seafood
Circuito de las Playas, Lima, Lima, 04, Peru
01-477–2020
www.calarestaurante.com
Known For
  • great seafood and sushi bar
  • ocean vistas
  • well-stocked bar
Restaurants Details
Rate Includes: No dinner Sun., Reservations essential

Chifa Chung Yion

$$ | Barranco
Don't let the unremarkable facade fool you: the food at this historic chifa can hold its own with the best in Lima's Barrio Chino. Soups are a standout, as are delicacies such as chancho asado (roast pork) and pato al ajo (garlic duck). Locals typically refer to this joint as "Chifa Unión," after the street on which it's located.

Como Agua Para Chocolate

$

One of Lima's few Mexican restaurants, this colorful spot near Parque El Olivar serves some innovative dishes as well as the usual tacos and enchiladas. The house specialties are barbacoa de cordero (lamb grilled in avocado leaves), pescado a la veracruzana (fish in a slightly spicy tomato sauce), and albóndigas al chipotle (spicy meatballs served with yellow rice), but you can also get fajitas and good quesadillas.

Mexican Lunch Dinner $
Cl. Pancho Fierro 108, San Isidro, Lima, 27, Peru
01-222–0174
Known For
  • great margaritas
  • traditional Mexican fare
  • super-friendly owners
Restaurants Details
Rate Includes: Closed Sun., Credit cards accepted

El Fayke Piurano

$$ | El Centro
This bustling two-story eatery specializes in comida norteña—northern cooking from the city of Piura. That means delicious grouper cebiche,seco de cabrito (goat stew), and green tamales—all in gut-busting portions. This is a classic example of what Peruvians call a huarique: a hole-in-the-wall restaurant where in-the-know locals go for homestyle cooking—at prices that won't break the bank.

El Mercado

$$$ | Miraflores
Cebiches and tiraditos made with sustainably sourced fish are the focus at this hot new seafood emporium from Rafael Osterling (of Rafael fame). The open kitchen and interior-patio design complement the lightness of the recipes, which frequently incorporate Asian accents. Don't overlook the cooked dishes: the pulpo a la parrilla (grilled octopus) is ridiculously good.

El Señorío de Sulco

$$$ | Miraflores

Owner Isabel Álvarez has authored several cookbooks on traditional Peruvian cuisine, which is the specialty here. Start with one of various cebiches or chupe de camarones (a creamy river-prawn soup) if in season, then move on to arroz con pato (rice and duck with a splash of dark beer) or huatia sulcana (a traditional beef stew).

Weekend lunch buffets offer an excellent opportunity to sample a variety of Peruvian dishes.

Peruvian Lunch Dinner $$$
Malecón Cisneros 1470, Lima, Lima, 18, Peru
01-441–0389
www.senoriodesulco.com
Known For
  • cebiche
  • traditional food
  • good service
Restaurants Details
Rate Includes: No dinner Sun., Credit cards accepted

Huaca Pucllana Restaurante

$$$ | Miraflores

The view of the adjacent, 1,500-year-old, pre-Inca ruins is reason enough to dine at Huaca Pucllana, but the sumptuous Peruvian and international cuisine is a close second. The best tables are outside, with a view of the ruins, which are spectacularly floodlit at night.

You can combine dinner with a 40-minute guided tour of the pyramids from 7 to 10 pm, except on Tuesday.

The Peruvian-fusion menu includes treats such as grilled alpaca in a mustard sauce with corn soufflé and paiche (an Amazon fish) with Brazil-nut flakes and a spicy cocona (jungle fruit) sauce.

Peruvian Lunch Dinner $$$
Cl. General Borgoño at Cl. Ayacucho, Lima, Lima, 18, Peru
01-445–4042
www.resthuacapucllana.com
Known For
  • priceless view of pre-Inca ruins
  • quality Peruvian cuisine
  • yummy desserts
Restaurants Details
Rate Includes: Closed 4–7 pm, Credit cards accepted, Reservations essential

Isolina Taberna Peruana

$$$ | Barranco
Meat lovers wait in line here for a chance to savor chef José del Castillo's slow-cooked osso buco, seco de asado de tira (short-rib stew), or costillar de cerdo a la chorrillana (crispy pork ribs with tomatoes and onions). It's the kind of food Peruvians have eaten for centuries, impeccably prepared and served in a tavern setting. The menu also includes sangrecita (blood sausage), hígado (liver), mondonguito (tripe stew), and other delicacies. Most plates hold enough food for several people, so share or order a half portion. Starters include some tasty seafood dishes.
Peruvian Lunch Dinner $$$
Av. San Martín 101, Lima, Lima, 04, Peru
01-247–5075
isolina.pe
Known For
  • traditional meat dishes
  • big portions
  • great lomo saltado
Restaurants Details
Rate Includes: No dinner Sun.

L'Eau Vive

$$ | El Centro

Run by nuns who serve satisfying (though not extraordinary) French food and sing the "Ave Maria" nightly at 9, L'Eau Vive sits in a restored mansion across the street from Palacio Torre Tagle. Trout baked in cognac and duck in orange sauce are two dishes that bring the locals back time and again. The floors and furnishings do not do justice to the colonial architecture.

Lunch Dinner $$ French Fusion
Jr. Ucayali 370, Lima, Lima, 01, Peru
01-427–5612
Known For
  • singing nuns
  • inexpensive three-course lunches
  • solid French cooking
Restaurants Details
Rate Includes: Closed 3:30–7:30 and Sun, Credit cards accepted

La Bodega Verde

$ | Barranco

With its flagstone path and leafy lucuma tree dappling a quiet patio with shade, this green café is an oasis. The gourmet teas and coffees, artisanal sandwiches, and fruity milk shakes rejuvenate even the most worn-out traveler.

La Muralla

$$ | El Centro

Hungry office workers crowd this excellent criollo restaurant every day at lunchtime for heaping plates of fettucinne a la huancaína (pasta in cheese sauce) and pescado a lo macho (fish topped with spicy seafood). The setting, looking out over Lima's old fortified walls, is one of the greenest you'll find downtown. Don't miss the lomo saltado (beef stir-fried with peppers and onions): Gastón Acurio himself has called it one of Lima's best.

A second, less-scenic branch can be found on the Plaza San Martín.

La Picantería

$$$ | Miraflores
Located just steps outside Miraflores near the Mercado No. 1 in Surquillo, this rustic tavern harkens back to Peru's picanterías (country restaurants) of old. The drill is simple: you sit down on one of the wooden benches, you choose your fish (or shellfish), and you tell the waiter how you want it prepared. Fried, grilled, as a cebiche, or as a delicious sudado (soup) or estofado (stew): it's all good. The menu has a few landlubber entrees, but make no mistake: it's the seafood that makes this joint a regular on 50 Best lists.
Peruvian Lunch $$$
Cl. Francisco Moreno 388, Lima, Lima, Peru
01-241–6676
www.picanteriasdelperu.com
Known For
  • fresh-off-the-dock seafood
  • traditional country hospitality
  • great beef ribs
Restaurants Details
Rate Includes: No dinner. Closed Sun.

La Rosa Náutica

$$$$ | Miraflores

This rambling, Victorian-style complex perched over the Pacific at the end of a breakwater serves up quality seafood with spectacular views, complete with surfers riding the waves as the sun goes down. Signature dishes include a mixed fish, scallops, and octopus cebiche, and grilled corvina (sea bass) with a leek fondue sauce. There's also a small but decent selection of meat dishes.

On a sunny afternoon, the restaurant is a great place to watch the sunset.

Seafood Lunch Dinner $$$$
Circuito de Playas, Lima, Lima, 18, Peru
01-445–0149
www.larosanautica.com
Known For
  • great ocean views
  • various cebiche options
  • elegant service
Restaurants Details
Rate Includes: Credit cards accepted

La Tiendecita Blanca

$$$ | Miraflores

This old-fashioned Swiss eatery first flung open its doors in 1936, and little has changed since. It still serves a selection of quality European and Peruvian cuisine in a refined atmosphere, with ornately painted wooden details on the doors and along the ceiling that evoke the Old Country. Rösti (grated potatoes with bacon and cheese) and three kinds of fondue are among the traditional Swiss options. The kitchen also offers three-course meals, and the glass case is filled with eye-popping pastries. The front terrace, which faces the busy Óvalo de Miraflores, is a great people-watching spot.

La Trattoria di Mambrino

$$ | Miraflores

After a quarter-century in business, this remains one of Lima's best Italian restaurants. The proof is on the plate: dishes such as artichoke ravioli and fettuccine magnífico (with a prosciutto, Parmesan, and white-truffle sauce) are perennial favorites. Be sure to save room for dessert: co-owner Sandra Plevisani is one of the country's most famous pastry chefs. This is one of the few Lima restaurants that serve dinner on Sundays.

Italian Lunch Dinner $$
Malecón de la Reserva 610, Lima, Lima, 18, Peru
01-447–5941
www.latrattoriadimambrino.com
Known For
  • homemade pastas
  • world-class desserts
  • unhurried customer service
Restaurants Details
Rate Includes: Credit cards accepted