After my early afternoon spin through Cusco's primary archeological sites, I dropped my gear at the hotel and headed out to meet with a potential partner. But I was semi-starving and had some time, so I ducked into the Centro Artesanal Cusco Paccha to check it out and see what I could rustle up.
It doesn't look particularly charming from the outside.
But inside it's full of colorful stalls selling all the various Peruvian souvenirs you could imagine. Plus some cool murals.
I wasn't here to shop, though. Was just aiming to find maybe a couple of empanadas para llevar, as that had been a fairly trustworthy grab-and-go staple so far in Peru. However as I was approaching this place and scanning the menu, the señora in charge spotted me and gave me her pitch.
No empanadas, but I tell you that simple ham, cheese, and aguacate sandwich plus some fried plantains with that spicy Peruvian answer to pico de gallo HIT THE SPOT. It was comfortable and delicious.
Felt good to sit for 5 minutes, watch the kids of the mercado run around playing, and enjoy a modest, tasty, and filling late lunch. Simple pleasures in life.
So if you find yourself in the mercado scanning the souvenirs, don't hesitate to stop for a quick bite at Restaurant Clave del Sabor 2. You won't regret it.
After a looong morning at Machu Picchu I cleaned up with a shower and headed out for what I was hoping would be a substantial and tasty meal to refuel. The night before I was strolling along Avenida Pachacutec (the main east/west street on the north side of the river, but not the one that runs right alongside the river) and thought it would be a nice place to eat / drink / people watch. So that's where I pointed myself. I was there around 2pm, which is maybe a tweener kind of time. Late for lunch, early for happy hour. So most places were quiet. I saw that the terraza at El Museo de la Papa was open and planted myself there, anticipating a pleasant lunch al fresco.
Service was not exactly friendly. I think my timing coincided with staff lunch, so I was intruding on their quiet/together time. But soon enough I had a refreshing lemonade in hand. (Side note: Peru knows how to make a good lemonade. Enjoyed many and multiple flavors during this trip).
(Note: deliberately did not crop out the lady wondering why I was getting the low POV on my lemonade shot).
Snapped a couple of shots of their attractive but empty interior while waiting for my food.
Maybe 10 minutes later, my burger arrived. Looked okay, not great. Maybe it's because I know how it tasted, but looking at it again now I can see it's overcooked. But those fries were pretty good with the house salsa.
Looking back at their menu, I see a handful of things that maybe would have turned out better.
Quesadillas. Burritos. Grilled Chicken. All sound better to me right now. But it shouldn't be too much to expect a nice, juicy burger, right? Disappointing. Maybe I just had bad luck or timing. If you want a drink on the terraza where you can people watch, perhaps with some light snacks, I'd say give El Museo de la Papa a try. If you want a good burger after hiking around Machu Picchu for 5 hours, maybe Mary's Burger would be the better choice.
Through a combination of walking around eyeballing places that looked interesting and verifying via Google Maps that any candidates had decent reviews, my colleague and I landed on Ponchos Peruvian Kitchen for an early dinner / very late lunch in Machu Picchu Pueblo. It turned out to be a very good call. Based on our experience they deserve their 4.8/5.0 rating.
You can find them on the north side of the river on the main north / south drag running through the town (Imperio de los Incas). It has a relatively small-ish interior, but it is sharp, well-lit, and comfortable. Floor to ceiling exterior glass wall lets in light and allows you to keep an eye on the outside action if you like.
Service was friendly and attentive. I forgot to snap pics of the menu, but luckily Isamarie Alma uploaded a couple in her google review, so I will borrow hers. They have a solid range of options, but for me the choice was clear: Choclo con Queso.
Was delicious. And while I was disappointed that they were out of the porter listed in their beer menu, the IPA was a fine acompaniment. I was very happy with my order.
My colleague is a more adventurous diner than I am (but then, most people are), and she went for the alpaca skewers.
If I'm being honest I wasn't paying close attention to her order, so I was a little surprised when the server came out and set them on fire.
Fun stuff. And for the record, they met with the approval of my foodie companion.
Toward the end of the meal this fella curled up at the feet of the couple dining next to us. Guessing it wasn't his first time there.
Incredibly, I am 99% certain I saw the same dog the next morning up outside the entrance to Machu Picchu.
To sum up: Ponchos Peruvian Kitchen is worth your time. Would recommend.
After a pretty full day of exploring and touring, my colleague and I still rallied on our last night in Lima to visit the Barranco neighborhood for dinner and shopping. Barranco was not on my radar during previous visits to Peru (one in 2006 focused on Machu Picchu, the others quick business trips circa 2015 in a previous life chapter). But in my prep for this trip Barranco popped up multiple times as a 'must-visit', so I needed to check it out. Though I didn't have time for as full of an exploration as I'd like, based on my quick spin through the area it would definitely be my preferred base for any future stays in Lima.
Barranco lies along the coast just to the south of Miraflores and is known for being a bit more relaxed, bohemian, comfortable, and creative than its chic, busy neighbor to the north. This post from Tara at The Better Beyond provides a nice summary. And you can sift through various YouTube videos as well to get an idea of the vibes. From our location near Parque Kennedy (INNSiDE by Melia) it took roughly 15 minutes via Uber to arrive at the Parque Municipal de Barranco, which we used as our jumping off point to roam around.
My first target was La Feria Unión de Barranco, which closes at 9pm on Thursdays. I wanted time for a quick lap to see if there was anything I needed to bring home with me. It's a cool place with a variety of indie boutiques, cafés/food stalls, and stands selling elevated versions of traditional souvenirs.
My colleague (who is younger and cooler than I am) was pleased with what she was seeing, and picked up a sweater or scarf of something if I recall correctly. I found what I was looking for, too:
I have had my eyes peeled for a new mouse pad the past few trips I've taken but surprisingly didn't see anything. Guess mouse pad souvenirs are not in fashion anymore. But this trademark yellow Inca Cola number is now brightening up my office, replacing the dingy 2010-era Aol pad that was years past its expiration date.
Pleased with our market visit we followed the lights and murals over to the famous Bridge of Sighs.
El Tio Mario called to us like a beacon, so we allowed ourselves to be drawn in and enjoyed a traditional meal with friendly service.
While the food's appearance may be alarmingly simple, man it was tasty and hit the spot after a long day. Not pictured is the aji salsa I asked for to give it a little punch.
For dessert we tried the classic Suspiro de limeña which was delicious.
Bravo, El Tio Mario.
We walked the meal off taking in the sights for a few blocks heading north along Avenida San Martin before hopping an uber back to the hotel. Had a flight to the jungle at 10am the next morning. So that finished the evening. And I'll finish this post with a couple more vibe shots from our walkabout.
I recently spent two weeks touring through Peru, revisiting a few places (Lima, Aguascalientes, Machu Picchu, Cucso) and seeing some for the first time (Ollantaytambo, Puerto Manldonado / Tambopata, Puno / Lake Titicaca, and Arequipa). Like most trips to Peru mine started in Lima. And the agenda for my first full day on the ground was a combo food & history walking tour of Lima's centro (and the barrio chino to an extent). I love a good walking tour and street food, so I was looking forward to this. It did not disappoint.
Since the tour was in the centro and I was staying in Miraflores, I first had to take an uber downtown. The ride took about 45 minutes and my uber cost ~$10 USD. Not unlike what I'd probably be looking at for a ride into the centro area of la CDMX. I arrived with some time to spare before the tour so I did a lap around the blocks adjacent to the meeting point and perhaps unsurprisingly felt that the vibes of the area were familiar. Lot of traffic, lot of people, hole-in-the-wall food joints, and blocks of small businesses selling similar items, making it easier for shoppers to pick up all their lighting products on one street, musical instruments on another, packaging materials on a third, etc. Reminded me of home.
Once our group had assembled the guide kicked us off with some context of what lay ahead. It's a busy area and the atmosphere may not be everyone's comfort zone. If you embrace the chaos and realize that while the surroundings are modest they are not particularly dangerous, then you're on the path to enjoying your experience. Our group was pretty game. It was me and two couples in their early 30s if I had to guess. One from Holland and the other from Canada.
First stop was a classic: Choclo con queso.
It was from a little stand near the intersection of Jirón Cusco & Avenida Abancay that seemed to be doing pretty good business.
This was a simple, tasty way to begin. Describing food is not really my strong suit. If you haven't had Peruvian choclo I'd say it's like regular corn, but meatier. There is a density to it that you don't get with 'standard' corn, or even Mexican pozole corn best I can recall (side note: there was a period here where we binged pozole, as we lived around the corner from Potzocalli, but now it's been a few years since we've had a bowl. Maybe we're due. 'Winter' is starting, so the time is about right.) I did not snap a pic of the salsa picante they offered along with it, which was very nice. Had no problems getting salsas with heat and flavor as I traveled around Peru.
Our guide led us eastward on Cusco toward the next stop, which was for papa rellena.
Strong 1-2 punch to kick things off here, and right in my wheelhouse. The papa was filled with some carne, onions, olives, little huevo duro. Good stuff. And some salsa for extra flavor and moistness. Plus a touch of lettuce to keep things fresh.
With a nice base of choclo y papa in the first 15 minutes, we ventured further east into the market and the Chinatown area. Would have enjoyed some time browsing / shopping everything that was on offer, but had to settle for a few pics and video clips.
Our next destination was Restaurant Cevicheria Renzito. Very much a local place where most of the group enjoyed the ceviche. I chomped a few plantain chips with my chicha morada and let them split my share of the fish & crab.
From there we navigated deeper into Chinatown. First passing through an impressive indoor stretch of hardware, lighting, and other miscellaneous goods ...
... before emerging out on Jirón Paruro, which was lively.
Where we tried a ... min pao. Which is a type of dumpling that I think I have previously just referred to as 'dumplings'. I went with the pork option, which was a little dense and not super flavorful. Soy sauce saved it somewhat.
Maybe I ordered poorly and there were better options to be had. But for me this was a miss. Very cool exploring the area and whatnot. But from the food perspective, meh.
Onward to the Mercado Municipal, where we got some background on the mercado itself, the alcoholic chicha drink, and tasted a lucama smoothie before being released on our own to explore for 10-15 minutes. I took a few pics and found a coffee stall where I bought a medio kilo of what was supposedly the closest thing to a robust french roast.
I'm drinking the coffee now and it's a little milder than I expected, but pleasant. I'm happy with it. Those $/56 soles per kilo calculate out to about $280 MXN / kg, which I think is a touch higher than what you'd pay for something like the Cubano roast at El Jarocho, for example. But it was generally in line price-wise and my suitcase smelled of coffee for the rest of my trip. So I consider it a good purchase.
We exited the market out to the intersection of Jirón Huallaga & Jirón Ayacucho, where you'll find a slew of mobile food stands selling anticuchos, picarones, and more. Anticuchos refer broadly to Peru's answer to the kebab. But our tour was going to try the beef heart version specifically, so I passed. Did take a pic of the stand, though.
The picarones -- donut-like treats made from pumpkin and sweet potato dough! -- were more up my alley. Good stuff.
Our last stop was at Bar Cordano, where we enjoyed a fairly standard ham sandwich and some fruit that the guide had picked up back at the mercado.
It was a good stop to sit down, make use of the bathroom, and recap the day, which was overall a great and worthwhile experience. I continued on with the history-focused extension of the walking tour, which I'll probably just leave for a few pics on instagram. But I will include this snapshot of a dog snoozing comfortably in front of a government office.
