Cusco
Dining And Drinking

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Almost all restaurants in Cusco offer local, creole and international cuisine. During your stay, you should try a few of the typical dishes, such as alpaca meat cooked in various ways, fresh corn pie, or simply a delicious corn-on-the-cob with cheese. If you are looking for a nice warm place to have a coffee or an aperitif, there are plenty such places in Cusco.

Centro de Cusco

Many good restaurants can be found around the Plaza de Armas, such as the Inka Grill, the Tunupa or the Rapsodia, which with the recent popularity of Novo-Andean food, offer different recipes using local ingredients like alpaca meat, aguaimanto and quinoa. There are also many fine restaurants offering local and international cuisine, such as Los Portales, El Patio,El Paititi and El Arriero Churrasqueria.

To watch, from behind a good cup of coffee, the routine of a city and its inhabitants, is one of the prerogatives and pleasures of the traveler. In Cusco, there are ample places to do this: if you prefer a quiet conservative ambiance, you can sit down at the Plus Café, or the Varayoc, located in the Plaza de Armas. You can have a good breakfast there and then pass the time away with an aperitif. Near the square, in Calle Plateros, are Pucara and El Fogón. In Calle Procuradores, you can get Mexican food at El Cuate and East Indian food at Paloma India, which also offers a take-away service. Chezz Maggi La Antigua serves good pizzas.

If you want to be around people, there are Macondo Café-Restaurante, the Cross Keys and Norton Rat's Tavern bars, all of them with a very special atmosphere. Good places to meet local people are the Extra, the haunt of Cusco´s intellectuals; or the Kusikuy, in front of the Casa Garcilaso. Ukuku's Pub Cultural is a good place to surf the internet and enjoy some local Peruvian beer and Trotamundos, in which they exhibit different works from local and international artists.

San Blas

Beyond the square, there are places with Asian cuisine, such as Al Grano and Green's, in the charming neighborhood of San Blas. There is Japanese and vegetarian food in Calle Heladeros, at the little restaurant Kin Taro, and also Chinese food at Chifa Tai Won, in Avenida El Sol.

Some restaurants also feature shows with typical Cuscan dance and music, as at the El Truco in the Plaza Regocijo, and the already mentioned Inka Grill and Tunupa. And despite the abundance of meats that are served in restaurants, for the vegetarian, go to Moni Cafe Restaurant, where the ingredients are fresh and are meticulously prepared.

Urubamba

Urubamba is the biggest town outside of Cusco and the gateway to the Sacred Valley of the Incas. There are some pretty decent dining establishments here, in addition to the local markets that sell street food. One such place is Pachapapa, where you can taste traditional Peruvian food and wash it down with a hearty, Chilean red or if you wish, some Pisco. Another restaurant in this area is the Map Café, housed on the patio of the Pre-Columbian Art Museum, this cafe has an extensive wine list and also prepares rich, Andean dishes. For a meal fit for a king or queen, you must stop by Killa Wasi, which means House of the Moon in Quecha. The cuisine hear blends an amalgam of local dishes alongside ingredients with an international flair.