Traditional centers of eating excellence -- London, New York, Paris, Copenhagen, and Tokyo regularly garner multiple awards each year for the quality of their restaurants.
This year - 2017 - New York had three restaurants in the top 50 and the #1 rated restaurant in the world - a meal for two with paired wines for each course tops $1,000 at "Eleven Madison Park". Paris had 5 restaurants in the top 50, London - 3, Tokyo - 2, and Copenhagen, 2. Not one of these cities however had two restaurants in the top 10 but Lima, Peru had #5 - "Central" and #8 "Maido" on this coveted annual list. Along with "Astrid" at #33 making 3 in the top 50 in Lima, the overall average ranking for Lima's internationally known restaurants is the best in the world this year - 15 vs 19 for NY, Paris - 27, London - 29, Copenhagen - 29, and Tokyo - 31.
I'd like to say we knew all this before we arrived in Lima - we didn't and ultimately, if Andrea at the Belmond Miraflores hadn't called in some favors, we wouldn't have been able to eat in any of Lima's finest restaurants who are often booked 3-4 months in advance. But we managed to squeak into Central Restaurant and spent 3 hours in the afternoon savoring 17 individual courses of epicurean delight originating from 10 meters below to 4100 meters above sea level.
I won't say that we raved about each and every course - but the ingenuity in preparation and presentation of each course was amazing - and as we were to find out repeatedly during our time in Peru - the value proposition is incredible. Our total bill including wine and a nice tip on our American Express Platinum (keep those points rolling...) was a dollar or two over $500, roughly half what we'd pay for a meal at an equivalent restaurant in New York or a third of the same meal in London, Paris, Tokyo, or Copenhagen.
Service for each and every course was exquisite - as each course was presented, a side display dish representing the area from which the course came was presented as well. When it came time for our dessert course, our waiter swooped in and using two spoons as "chopsticks", pulled our soiled napkins up and laid out new napkins for each of us using the same spoons - a very nice touch.
So I'll close on our afternoon at Central on the following theme - this was bar none, the best dining experience we've ever had. The price, while more than I've ever paid for a meal for two with only one bottle of medium priced wine, is probably half or one third of what we would pay in any other capital's finest restaurant for a three hour exploration of some of the world's most innovative cuisine. If you are a foodie and haven't been to Peru, you must put Lima on your itinerary. I suspect each of the three "Top 50" restaurants in Lima are worthy and undoubtedly driving each to still greater innovation in both ingredients and presentation.
Now, having paid homage to one of the world's finest restaurants, I'll state unequivocally that this was not our best "eating" meal in Peru, we'll talk about that when we write about our time in Cusco so stayed tuned...
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| Our Central Menu |
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| Our romantic table for two at Central |
In addition to amazing breakfasts at the Belmond, and our ne plus ultra dining experience at Central, we also ate at another restaurant during our time in Lima, Fiesta Chiclayo Gourmet.
A short ten minute taxi ride from our hotel, Fiesta Gourmet followed the trend we'd observed at Central - i.e. there isn't a fancy sign proclaiming the name out front - in fact, there isn't any name out front and if you didn't know where you were going, you wouldn't know you were there - just a nondescript doorway with a few cars parked out in front.
We'd had a long day - up at 4am to get ready for our MIA to LIM plane so figured we'd have Andrea from the Belmond ask for a 7:30pm reservation for us. No problem - we were the only folks in the restaurant when we arrived in a nicely decorated restaurant with "Reserved" signs on almost every table but times at 8 or 8:30pm for the most part. By the time we left about 9:15, the restaurant was essentially full - so clearly this is a popular establishment for dinner on a Tuesday night.
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| Our table at Fiesta Gourmet |
Overall, we had a very nice experience, choosing a shared appetizer, a seafood dish, and a beef dish. The food was well prepared, tasty, expertly presented and served. Entree prices were between $20 and $35 US so while considered an upscale restaurant, very comparable in price to equivalent US restaurants. We also noted a continuing trend throughout all our meals throughout Peru - local, fresh ingredients are the basis for all the meals we ate. We had no idea about the diversity and quality of Peru's agricultural production but the proof was on our table, morning, noon, and night each day. |
| Our Ceviche appetizer - Yumm! |
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| Entrance - without a sign |
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| Signature Lobster dish |
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| Table side service |
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| The "Turf" to our "Surf" |
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| Busy Tuesday Evening |
Just when you thought all we saw in Lima were hotels, malls, and restaurants, our next post on the cultural highlights of Lima will change things up...
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