10 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.
Av. La Paz 1079, Lima, Lima, 18, Peru
01-221–9393
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.

Jr. García y García 175, Lima, Lima, 04, Peru
01-619–9595
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.

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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.

Av. Pedro de Osma 301, Lima, Lima, 18, Peru
01-242–8515
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.

Av. La Mar 770, Lima, Lima, 18, Peru
01-421–3365
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.

Av. Camino Real 101, San Isidro, Lima, 27, Peru
01-440–5200
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.
Av. Javier Prado Este 1212, San Isidro, Lima, Peru
01-224–8189
Known For
  • best Chinese cooking in Lima
  • scrumptious suckling pig on Friday
  • super-fresh ingredients
Restaurants Details
Rate Includes: No dinner Sun.