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Restaurant · Lima, Peru
Central
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Written by RuinMyTrip Editorial from published research and official sources, not from a personal trip. It is not a traveler review and is never counted in the community rating. How we research.
What it is
A tasting-menu restaurant in Barranco, Lima, whose courses are organised by the altitude their ingredients come from, spanning Peruvian ecosystems from the ocean floor to the high Andes.
Why travelers eat here
For ingredients that do not travel and a structure that teaches you something about the country while you eat. It is the most ambitious restaurant in South America and it earns the description.
What is genuinely good
An idea followed through completely, ingredients unavailable anywhere else, tightly run services, and a Barranco setting worth arriving early for.
Downsides
Months-ahead booking. Narrow fixed seatings. Very expensive. The concept is delivered with some ceremony.
Best for
Anyone building a trip around food, and anyone curious about Peru beyond ceviche and pisco sours.
Consider eating elsewhere if
You cannot book far ahead, or you would rather eat at five cevicherias for the same money, which is a completely defensible choice in Lima.
Practical advice
Book months in advance, and take lunch if you would rather have the afternoon than the evening. Arrive inside the seating window, because it is enforced. Walk Barranco before or after; it is the reason to be in that part of the city.
Prices and reservations
Tasting menu with optional pairings, booked online. Services are Monday to Saturday only, lunch 12:45 to 13:30 and dinner 19:00 to 20:30.
Getting there
A taxi from Miraflores takes about ten minutes and from central Lima about thirty. Use an app taxi rather than the street.
Where it sits
Barranco, the coastal bohemian district south of Miraflores, with cliffs over the Pacific, street art and the best bar scene in the city.
How long to allow
Three hours.
The RuinMyTrip verdict
Book months ahead or do not plan on it. The most interesting meal in South America, and lunch is the easier service to get.
Sources
Every figure above was checked against these before publication. If one has since changed, tell us and we will correct it.
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Lunch service runs Monday to Saturday from 12:45 to 13:30. source
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Dinner service runs from 19:00 to 20:30. source
From the RuinMyTrip team
Written by RuinMyTrip Editorial from published research and official sources, not from a personal trip. It is not a traveler review and is never counted in the community rating. How we research.
Central serves Monday to Saturday, lunch from 12:45 to 13:30 and dinner from 19:00 to 20:30. Those windows are seating times, not opening hours: you arrive inside them or you do not eat. The restaurant is organised by altitude. Each course comes from a specific elevation of Peru, from below sea level to high Andes, and the menu is presented as a vertical cross-section of the country. It is a conceit that could be…
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