Peruvian restaurants (for locals) serve a daily special called the "Menu." They make a big pot of several dishes and serve them cheap. The "Menu" usually consists of an appetizer called "la entrada" and a main course called "el segundo" (for second course) or "plato de fondo" (main course). They usually throw in a free drink (watered-down juice or koolaid), but they often won't serve it if you order a soda or other drink. At nicer restaurants, the Menu will include a dessert as well.
In low rent restaurants, you have no choice regarding the Menu--you get what they made that day. Normally though, you get to choose amongst 2 or 3 appetizers and 2-5 main courses. The dessert, if included, is usually something cheap like "mazamorra," a fruit-flavored pudding thickened with potato flour.
On the low end, a Menu can be found for as little as three to four soles (a little over a buck). I guarantee you it will taste like someone's leftovers from 2 days ago. Normally, a decent Menu will cost around six to 10 soles, depending on location. At tourist traps like Aguas Calientes (or Machu Picchu Pueblo), Menus are double, averaging 20 soles.
If you don't want the Menu, you can always order a dish cooked to order (a la carta). Those are usually much more expensive, double or triple the Menu price. Even at budget places, a la carta offerings start at 15 soles a plate.
A word to the wise to those who are concerned about what they feed to their kids: ALL Peruvian restaurants load their food with MSG, known locally as "Ajinomoto" (the Japanese manufacturer of MSG). In fact, Peruvians buy MSG by the kilos and use it liberally. Sometimes, if the budget allows, I will order "a la carta" and ask for no salt and no "ajinomoto."
Why no salt? All Peruvian salt is fluoridated with 2 ppm fluoride. I'm not a big fluoride fan.
The prices I listed for the itineraries are for Menus in local eateries. For fancier restaurants and better quality dining, obviously, the budget has to be bigger.
Common Peruvian main dishes
Peruvians LOVE potatoes and rice, and often eat both together. Be prepared for a generous serving of carbohydrates with relatively little meat (compared to what North Americans are accustomed to). Here are a few dishes I would recommend trying to get a good sense of what Peruvian cuisine is like.
Ceviche
This is perhaps the national dish of Peru. It is raw fish chunks and other seafood cooked gently in lime juice, marinated with peppers and spices, served with toasted corn kernels and boiled yam. Absolutely delicious.
Anticucho
Beef heart kebabs served with potatoes. (Sometimes they make it with chicken.) Great food to go on sticks.
Seco de res / pollo / carnero
Meat (beef /chicken / lamb) stew with potatoes, carrots, and peas in green sauce (they call it "jugo") made of cilantro and spinach. Served with rice. Sometimes beans as well.
Estofado de res / pollo
Meat stew (beef / chicken) with potatoes, carrots, and peas in red sauce made with reddish pepper ("aji colorado," not spicy). Served with rice.
Cau-cau
Beef tripe stew with cubed potatoes in yellow sauce made with yellow Peruvian peppers ("aji amarillo"). Served with rice.
Sopa seca con Carapulcra
Peruvian spaghetti with chicken or pork in red sauce (annatto, panca). It is usually served with a side dish called Carapulcra, made of peanuts and dehydrated potatoes.
The list can go on, but those are quite representative of local cuisine.
Cusco
If staying in a reasonably priced place on Calle Nueva Baja near the Plaza de Armas, my favorite restaurant is on the corner of Nueva Baja and San Andres (I believe). It is a typical "menu" restaurant (6 soles a menu) where locals eat. But the prices are good, and the food isn't bad.
If possible, try to buy your bottled water in Cusco. The prices for the same bottles double once you get to Machu Picchu Pueblo.
Machu Picchu Pueblo (aka Aguas Calientes)
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| 2nd Floor of market: food stalls |
At the market stalls, a cup of delicious hot coffee is included in the 5 sol breakfasts. And refills are only 1 sol each. Contrast that with 20 sol breakfasts where they charge 3 sols for each refill. No, thanks.
While I am talking about the market, it is a good place to shop for the ingredients of your picnic lunch.
When going up to Machu Picchu, either take a picnic lunch, or plan to return for lunch. On top of the mountain, there are only two restaurants. The first is a US$35 buffet at Sanctuary Lodge, and the other is a hamburger booth that sells burgers and sandwiches for 15 to 20 soles. Now you're not allowed to eat at the ruins, so when you picnic, you need to come out of the park to eat. But there are benches near the hamburger joint. It is also a convenient time for a bathroom break.
Arequipa
Arequipa has a fairly large well-to-do population and a lot of fancy eateries. They also have to-die-for anticuchos. You can find Menu restaurants and Anticucherias all over the place.
But when I was last in Arequipa, I discovered my favorite restaurant in all of Peru. It is called "Picanteria El Misti." I forget the address, but all taxis know where it is. The food is expensive (24 to 50 soles a plate), but the portions are humongous. I kid you not. Hu-mon-gous. Order one dish for 2 or 3 people--or 4 people. Or be prepared to eat the leftovers for days. But gosh darn it, the food is like heaven, so I didn't mind eating leftovers for days.
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I know budget dining is not for everyone. But it is more than possible to spend only 20 soles ($7.5) a day per person on food, even while eating out three meals a day. Peru is one of the countries where food is exceptionally cheap compared to that in western countries.
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