4 Best Restaurants in Lima, Peru

Chalkboard menus, shelves piled to the ceiling with locally made wines and piscos, a worn wooden bar, and even a hand-cranked telephone give this venerable institution—a Lima mainstay since 1880—its nostalgic charm. The place serves delicious ham sandwiches smothered in zarza criolla and chilcanos made with pisco bottled in the factory next door.

Hungry office workers crowd this excellent criollo restaurant every day at lunchtime for heaping plates of fettucinne a la huancaína (pasta in cheese sauce) and pescado a lo macho (fish topped with spicy seafood). The setting, looking out over Lima's old fortified walls, is one of the greenest you'll find downtown. Don't miss the lomo saltado (beef stir-fried with peppers and onions): Gastón Acurio himself has called it one of Lima's best.

A second, less-scenic branch can be found on the Plaza San Martín.

This old-fashioned Swiss eatery first flung open its doors in 1936, and little has changed since. It still serves a selection of quality European and Peruvian cuisine in a refined atmosphere, with ornately painted wooden details on the doors and along the ceiling that evoke the Old Country. Rösti (grated potatoes with bacon and cheese) and three kinds of fondue are among the traditional Swiss options. The kitchen also offers three-course meals, and the glass case is filled with eye-popping pastries. The front terrace, which faces the busy Óvalo de Miraflores, is a great people-watching spot.