10 Traditional Dishes You Must Try When In Lima Peru

When visiting Lima, Peru’s culinary capital, your main activity will be eating, eating, and eating some more. From fresh seafood to classic criollo, here are the nine dishes you must try while in Lima.

Ceviche

Peru’s now world-famous dish was perfected in Lima and is one of the most delicious dishes to order. It’s made with fresh fish caught every morning that’s then marinated in limes and rocoto peppers, served with onions, corn, and sweet potatoes. Just remember to eat ceviche like a local: always spicy and never after lunch.

Ají de gallina

Anticuchos

Antichuchos are marinated cow hearts grilled to perfection and the hard part is eating only one. While typically sold on the streets outside of bars, they can also be ordered at restaurants.

Pollo a la brasa

This rotisserie chicken marinated in soy sauce with red peppers and garlic has become Lima’s—and Peru’s—most recent food obsession. You won’t find a city in Peru without a street featuring several restaurants serving this dish. Lines for lunch at restaurants that serve a traditional pollo a la brasa can get long, so make sure to arrive early.

Papas a la Huancaína

This creamy dish is always served as a starter wherever you decide to go in Lima. A spicy cheese sauce is drizzled over sliced potatoes and the dish itself can be very diverse, whether it’s sold as street food or served in Lima’s finest restaurants.

Lomo saltado

This is one of the most popular chifa dishes in all of Peru: a stir fry with marinated strips of meat and french fries.

Nikkei

Nikkei is a fusion of Peruvian and Japanese food using Japanese techniques with Peruvian ingredients, the result of which is nothing short of delicious. Just imagine sushi that is also served with rocoto peppers, corn, sweet potatoes, and yuca.

Chaufa

The main staple of all chifa (and Chinese food in general) is fried rice. This Peruvian take on fried rice is usually available at every restaurant in Lima and best eaten from a traditional chifa restaurant. In Peru, chaufa is not eaten as a side dish but served as an entrée, usually with chicken, seafood, or meat mixed in.

Conchas negras

Conchas negras (black clams) is a very popular variant on ceviche. Instead of fish—or in addition to fish—you’ll get a platter of conchas negras, which gives the ceviche a dark, blackish-purple color. You’ll find it is most consumed along the coast of Peru.

Jalea

Jalea is a platter of fried seafood and rivals ceviche in beach towns and Peru’s cities. It’s typically served with yuca and, if you’re lucky, french fries.

Since you are here, we would like to share our vision for the future of travel - and the direction Culture Trip is moving in.

Culture Trip launched in 2011 with a simple yet passionate mission: to inspire people to go beyond their boundaries and experience what makes a place, its people and its culture special and meaningful — and this is still in our DNA today. We are proud that, for more than a decade, millions like you have trusted our award-winning recommendations by people who deeply understand what makes certain places and communities so special.

Increasingly we believe the world needs more meaningful, real-life connections between curious travellers keen to explore the world in a more responsible way. That is why we have intensively curated a collection of premium small-group trips as an invitation to meet and connect with new, like-minded people for once-in-a-lifetime experiences in three categories: Culture Trips, Rail Trips and Private Trips. Our Trips are suitable for both solo travelers, couples and friends who want to explore the world together.

Culture Trips are deeply immersive 5 to 16 days itineraries, that combine authentic local experiences, exciting activities and 4-5* accommodation to look forward to at the end of each day. Our Rail Trips are our most planet-friendly itineraries that invite you to take the scenic route, relax whilst getting under the skin of a destination. Our Private Trips are fully tailored itineraries, curated by our Travel Experts specifically for you, your friends or your family.

We know that many of you worry about the environmental impact of travel and are looking for ways of expanding horizons in ways that do minimal harm - and may even bring benefits. We are committed to go as far as possible in curating our trips with care for the planet. That is why all of our trips are flightless in destination, fully carbon offset - and we have ambitious plans to be net zero in the very near future.