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Restaurant Recommendations for Cusco

Restaurant Recommendations for Cusco

Old Jun 13, 2016, 3:05 pm
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Restaurant Recommendations for Cusco

Chicha por Gaston Acurio
Tripadvisor Link

Restaurant Website
Menu: http://chicha.com.pe/menus/cusco_eng.pdf
Price Range: $9 - 17 USD
Wait time: 0 - 30 minutes, Reservations seem to be optional

Overall a great meal in Cuzco. Typically can't go wrong with a Gaston restaurant. Regional dishes with locally sourced ingredients. Beautiful views of the square from the balcony.


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Last edited by Astrophsx; Jul 27, 2016 at 1:48 pm
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Old Jun 13, 2016, 3:17 pm
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Cicciolina
Tripadvisor Link
Restaurant Website

Menu:
Price Range: $11 - 22 USD, $2.11 cover charge per person for the dining room
Wait time: I would recommend making a reservation at least several days in advance. The dinning room has 10 tables and was full minutes after the kitchen opened. I believe the bar area is first come, first severe.

Overall the most memorable meal we had in Cusco. Gnocchi was very rich and tasty. The beef fillet is a must. It features a sauce with a local berry and it is excellent. We started off with the Causa which was topped with a deboned Guinea Pig confit & caramelized apples which was excellent. We finished the meal with the dark chocolate mousse with Maras salt crystals and pureed lucuma.

A minor note is that the portion sizes are small by Peruvian standards and the service is very Peruvian (slow). It seems that there was not enough severs for the 10 tables.





The last image was borrowed from Theonlyperuguide.com
I have some videos that I will edit and upload in a few weeks.
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Last edited by Astrophsx; Jul 27, 2016 at 1:02 pm
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Old Jun 13, 2016, 3:32 pm
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Restaurant Sumaqcha
- Rated #4 by Tripadvisor
- Large portions
- Average Price
- A bit hard to find
- Known for this:


You will get mixed reviews on the taste of the guinea pig, but it the presentation of the meal is memorable. The anticucho de corazon (cow heart), fried stuffed hot peppers w/ meat, and aji de gallina were all tasty but overall just average. The avacado with potato and chicken salad was massive! It tasted amazing and could be a meal of it's own.
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Last edited by Astrophsx; Jul 27, 2016 at 1:12 pm
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Old Jun 13, 2016, 3:36 pm
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La Valeriana
- Cafe
- Breakfast

Down the street from Plaza de Armas this cafe is known for it's fresh juices, smoothies, and sweets. There was a large selection of empanadas to choose from. They seem to be cooked early in the morning and then reheated which leaves them a bit dry. Definitely try the aji de gallina empanada. They have a nice selection of breakfast options and even a coffee with pisco. The juices were quite popular and they seem to sell out early in the morning.
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Last edited by Astrophsx; Jul 27, 2016 at 2:00 pm
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Old Jun 13, 2016, 3:37 pm
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Republica Del Pisco
- Bar
- Dinner

By day/evening this is a restaurant and more of a bar with live music late at night. The prices here are very reasonable for both food and drink. There is an extensive list of Pisco drinks. The drinks are quite large and will definitely warm you up on a cold Cusco night. The drinks here were probably the best we had in Cusco (even better than some of the high end restaurants and Pisco Museum).

The menu featured a wide variety of Peruvian fusion dishes. I would highly recommend trying the Peruvian sushi. The service is rather slow and I assume it can get quite busy/loud when you arrive after 10pm with live music.
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Last edited by Astrophsx; Jul 27, 2016 at 2:18 pm
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Old Jun 13, 2016, 3:37 pm
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Fallen Angel
Website
- Bar
- Dinner
- Desert

Fallen Angel is in the same square as the Belmond Hotel Monasterio. The unique interior reminds me of a funky high end coffee house. While the service was the slowest we experienced in Cusco, it was a lot of fun. We had drinks and tried their deserts. They created a popsicle out of fresh fruit on top of ice cream and some sort of fresh out of the oven muffin. Very tasty, but it was at least a 30-40 minute wait just for one desert.

I would recommend Fallen Angel over Museo del Pisco for atmosphere. At the end of the meal they bring out the check in a coffin. A pretty unique place.
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Last edited by Astrophsx; Jul 27, 2016 at 2:44 pm
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Old Jul 11, 2016, 9:31 pm
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Good thread! Hope you can find the time to post a few more pics!
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Old Jul 19, 2016, 12:31 am
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Thanks for this!!! I will be using your guide in a couple of weeks...although, I don't know if I've convinced myself to eat Guinea Pig... Probably tastes like chicken
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Old Jul 19, 2016, 8:43 am
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Originally Posted by CalVol
Thanks for this!!! I will be using your guide in a couple of weeks...although, I don't know if I've convinced myself to eat Guinea Pig... Probably tastes like chicken
Actually, no, Cuy doesn't taste at all like chicken. I ate some on two occasions this past May, once in a family home and once in a restaurant. I thought it tastes a little "gamey" - very much like dark (thigh or drumstick) turkey meat although consistency-wise it reminded me of Cornish game hen due to the little bones.

Tasty but not likely to put a dent in Carl's Jr. sales....but Jack in the Box should start worrying.
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Old Jul 21, 2016, 8:17 pm
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Originally Posted by Astrophsx
Cicciolina
Tripadvisor Link
Restaurant Website

Menu:
Price Range: $11 - 22 USD, $2.11 cover charge per person for the dining room
Wait time: I would recommend making a reservation at least several days in advance. The dinning room has 10 tables and was full minutes after the kitchen opened. I believe the bar area is first come, first severe.

Overall the most memorable meal we had in Cusco. Gnocchi was very rich and tasty. The beef fillet is a must. It features a sauce with a local berry and it is excellent. We started off with the Causa which was topped with a deboned Guinea Pig confit & caramelized apples which was excellent. We finished the meal with the dark chocolate mousse with Maras salt crystals and pureed lucuma.

A minor note is that the portion sizes are small by Peruvian standards and the service is very Peruvian (slow). It seems that there was not enough severs for the 10 tables.





The last image was borrowed from Theonlyperuguide.com
I have some videos that I will edit and upload in a few weeks.
+1 My Peruvian wife booked this for my 30th birthday when we did Machu Picchu for my birthday last year. She says it's one of the best options in the city
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Old Jul 26, 2016, 9:46 am
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If you want to enjoy a folk show, Tunupa is an alternative, at the main square (Plaza de Armas). However the buffet is... just fine. I expected something better. If your main interest is the food itself, try the restaurants mentioned in the previous posts.

At Monasterio Hotel, Tupay restaurante offers opera performances with tenors and sopranos, on tuesday and thursday, but it's a very expensive restaurant compared with others in Cusco. I've never dined at Tupay but I share the info if somebody is interested.
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Old Jul 27, 2016, 2:52 pm
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Museo del Pisco

- Bar
- Restaurant (limited menu)


Just off the Plaza de Armas, Museo del Pisco is pretty easy to find. This seemed more of a tourist bar, but they had some pretty decent pisco sours and the other drinks were great as well.
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Old Jul 28, 2016, 12:35 am
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Old Jul 31, 2016, 12:50 am
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Nice job! Loved the food in Peru, especially, the guinea pig.
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Old Aug 12, 2016, 11:36 pm
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Chicha por Gaston was fabulous! I had the alpaca steak. My buddy had the Adobo...warning the pepper is pretty hot. The chocolate balloon was fun and tasty with a lot of different and complimentary elements...we actually shared one because the entree portions were more than ample. In fact, I didn't finish mine.

Bottom line? Do it!
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