SIGNATURE DISHES
Want to work up an appetite and still get your fill of history? Visit Pachacamac, an archeological site 30 miles south-east of the city, where you will visit sun temple ruins and learn about the ancient residents of Lima, from Wari through to Inca.
Back in the city centre, the bohemian neighbourhood of Barranco is home to street art, colourful mansions and kooky shops. Look out for the unusually shaped pink library in the main square and hold your breath when crossing the Puente de los Suspiros – the Bridge of Sighs – to make your wishes come true.
From Barranco, walk down the steps leading to the seafront for views right up the coast. On clear days, you may spot paragliders jumping from the cliffs above in the trendy district of Miraflores.
It’s in Miraflores that you’ll find Latin America’s top female chef, Pía León, who runs Kjolle restaurant. Pía uses yuca, cherimoya fruit and Amazonian honey to create dishes that exude passion and love.
Equally as exciting is Barra Khuda, a restaurant that serves visually stunning dishes, akin to works of art. Here, try the seafood and plates of ceviche and tiradito.
Ceviche, the national dish of Peru, uses lime juice to ‘cook’ pieces of raw fish, while tiradito fuses Japanese and Peruvian methods by thinly slicing the fish in a manner similar to sashimi. Some of Barra Khuda’s tiradito dishes come topped with hormigas culonas (edible ants!).
Huancahuasi, a restaurant north of Miraflores, serves Andean dishes, using ingredients from the highlands such as grain, corn, herbs, meat and sweet potato. Also on the menu is chicha morada. It’s a must-try drink, made from boiling purple corn with pineapple skin, cinnamon and cloves. Like its alcoholic counterpart, chicha de jora (a type of corn beer), chicha morada is a cultural institution throughout the whole of the country.
Slightly stronger is pisco, a grape brandy synonymous with Peru. Hotel B, a 20th-century restored mansion in the district of Barranco, holds mixology classes, where you can learn how to create pisco-based cocktails. You’ll learn about the pisco-producing regions, mix drinks and enjoy them alongside small plates of satay skewers and banana rum cheesecake. In Miraflores, Aloft Lima offers a more affordable option, with modern rooms, right next door to the best restaurants of the city.
Finally, a trip to Peru wouldn’t be complete without sampling the coffee beans and cacao it’s famous for.
Silvana Quintero and Harry Neira are helping transform the coffee and chocolate scene in Lima with organic chocolate brand, Conciencia, and coffee shop Neira Café Lab. Socially responsible Conciencia makes raw organic chocolate that incorporates Peruvian superfoods, like yellow pepper and turmeric. Neira Café Lab serves amazing coffee, but also offers workshops that can turn you into a coffee bean aficionado.
When the caffeine high starts to fade, the memories of Lima’s fabulous food will always be there to perk you up.