5 Best Restaurants in Huaraz, The North Coast and Northern Highlands

Café Andino

$ Fodor's choice

Equal parts funky and friendly, this café offers light snacks, hot and cold beverages, free Wi-Fi, and a seemingly endless supply of newspapers and books in English. Warm up by the fireplace on a cold night, or sit on the outdoor terrace with your laptop and sip a fresh-pressed cup of tea.

Don Cuy

$ Fodor's choice
To experience the Andean delicacies that huarasinos eat on special occasions, take a 10-minute taxi ride outside downtown to this excellent restaurante campestre (country restaurant beneath a trellised arbor). Here you'll find pachamanca (meats and vegetables cooked over coals in a pit), pork cooked in a cylindrical box, and yes, cuy, or guinea pig (it's actually scrumptious). The decor and service are hospitality personified, and the grilling is some of the most exquisite in the city.

Jama

$ Fodor's choice
With this intimate, five-table bistro, Peruvian cocina del autor comes to Huaraz. Young chef Junior Reymundo doesn't just provide exquisite takes on Peruvian classics: he tells stories. The first chapter might be a cebiche de mango, followed by washga gora, a soup of Andean vegetables. Or the narrative might start with an ají de gallina (nutty chicken stew) like none you've ever had before, with a denouement of exotic mountain fruits. The menu rotates, so you can enjoy this gifted cuisinier's culinary poems every day. It's simply exquisite.

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Chilli Heaven

$

An eclectic mix of Indian curries, Mexican burritos, and Thai favorites makes this cozy dining room a magnet for tourists seeking international edibles. The spicy concoctions are belly warming; a big beer selection helps put out the flames. The restaurant also bottles its own hot sauces.

Creperie Patrick

$$

With a breezy terrace upstairs and a cozy bistro downstairs, this French eatery covers a lot of bases. There are couscous and fondue, as well as hard-to-find local dishes such as grilled alpaca. Don't miss the sumptuous dessert crepes and good wine selection. Added plus: after three decades in Peru, chef and owner Patrick Bertrand now offers homemade goodies that you can take with you, including liquors, jams, mustards, granola, and more.