The food and restaurants in Lima, such as the Restaurante Panchita, are simply marvelous and Limeños are obsessed with food. No wonder the capital of Peru has so many award-winning restaurants and such world-renowned cuisine. It’s good for the locals and even better for visitors.

One of the most famous chefs in the world has several restaurants in the capital. Gastón Acurio has certainly given a boost to Peruvian cuisine, and many visitors to Peru choose to spend a few days in the capital to try one of his several restaurants.

But Gastón’s restaurants aren’t the only good ones. There are many other restaurants and cafés serving delicious dishes and famous chefs who have established their restaurants here. There’s even a pedestrian mall showcasing fresh ingredients used in the dishes, called the Boulevard of Gastronomy.

In any case, Limeños really enjoy savoring their delicious cuisine at one of the many local and international restaurants in Peru’s capital … and foreigners follow their lead.

One thing that can’t be missed while tasting the food here is the national drink – Pisco. If you taste this alcoholic drink made from grapes in its pure form then you can feel the punch. It is better to try it with different flavors (passion fruit, chocolate, lemon, etc.). It looks like there’s at least one flavor that can match any appetizer.

Our experience at Restaurante Panchita Sazón Criolla

This time we visited the Restaurante Panchita. As we arrived we could already sense the welcoming environment in a big room with good music and friendly hosts.

A visitor who is not used to the names of the Peruvian dishes might feel a bit overwhelmed with the different options – that was what happened to us. Because of that, our friend Susana and our waiter Pepe helped us to choose options that turned out to be great for that evening. The maître d’ Walter had a chat with us and talked a bit about the restaurant too.

Our impression is that this is a restaurant that people living in Lima (from Lima or foreigners residing there) appreciate a lot. There are many large tables for big parties and some for families and couples. It was easy to feel the good vibe of the place.

I’m not even going to try to give a lecture about the local food as we don’t yet know it really well, but one thing we can say is that every dish is an explosion of flavors.

Our dishes at Restaurante Panchita

As starters we had a Pastel de Choclo, a creamy pie stuffed with minced beef, and a Causa Limeña, a mashed potato pie with chicken, avocado, eggs, tomatoes and mayonnaise. The latter is served cold and both were to our taste. Noah loves meat so he enjoyed the Pastel de Choclo more, but he also liked the other dish.

As a main course we went for the Lomo Saltado, with beef, fries and a delicious sauce. This was my favorite and Noah’s too, but we can’t deny that our second choice – rice with duck – was very good.

To finish, Noah, Ruth and Susana were stuffed. I was also full, but when Pepe gave me the option to try the vanilla ice cream with chantilly cream and a custard apple sauce (Chirimoya Merengada), I couldn’t say no …

Thanks to the excellent team from Restaurante Panchita for having us. We will certainly return in the future.