Dining and Drinking

Arequipeños love food. Arequipa offers a wide variety of international and criollo restaurants. Southern Peru is also well known for its brandy, called pisco and distilled from the white muscat grapes grown in the coastal town of Pisco. It is often served with lime juice, syrup and egg whites in what is called a "pisco sour."

Indigenous foods, la comida criolla, rely heavily on meat. Peruvians are perhaps most famous for eating guinea pig, which are often served barbecued. There are several good barbecue restaurants in Arequipa, including El Viñedo, Argentino Grill. Another place to sample Southern Peru's indigenous foods, including mazamorra, a traditional pudding dessert, is Las Quenas, where the food is accompanied by live performances upon the Andean pan pipes.

Chinese and Peruvian cultures are famously integrated, and Peruvian Chinese restaurants, los chifas, are delicious evidence of this fusion. Ka Hing, the best chifa in Arequipa, offers Chinese classics as well as some Chinese-influenced criollo dishes such as tacu-tacu, lomo saltado, and arroz chaufa.

The Peruvian sea is one of richest on the planet, and while the northern coastal cities, such as Trujillo, are better known for their seafood restaurants, Arequipa's selection of seafood is formidable.Cebiche (a marinated seafood dish) eases the anxieties of strangers and locals alike. Also common are fried fish, steamed fish, black shells and fried calamari. Arequipa's seafood restaurants are often busiest during breakfast.

Despite their love of meat, more and more Arequipeños have opened vegetarian and health food restaurants in recent years. Noteworthy choices include Govinda and Lakshmivan.

The most picturesque restaurants in town are those on the Plaza de Armas. Several of these are located above ground-floor souvenir shops and tour agencies, and require patrons to hike up rickety staircases to reach them. However, they offer open-air balcony dining with stunning views of El Misti and the cathedral, and should not be missed.

Arequipa is one of the best places to enjoy Andean cuisine as well as international flavors. There are enough restaurants in the "White City" to satisfy every tourist and sportsmen looking to conquer El Misti.

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