Costa Rica Tours > Travel Guide > Restaurants > A World Class Peruvian Restaurant: Machu Picchu
A World Class Peruvian Restaurant: Machu Picchu
Peruvian food is featured in many Costa Rican restaurants, and Machu Picchu is one of the best in San Jose; it's as popular with locals as with tourists.
So much so that this Peruvian restaurant off Paseo Colon on the west side of town is often crowded and noisy during lunch hours. (We suggest dining from 7 PM on for the most pleasurable dining experience).
The cuisine centers around seafood, primarily corvina (sea bass), shrimp and lobster, several of which feature cheese sauces. Beef tenderloin and chicken dishes are also tasty, in particular the Lomito a lo Macho with its unique Peruvian seafood sauce (also served with a corvina entree). It's a great way to sample food from South America while on a Costa Rican vacation.
Corvina Machu Picchu is a baked sea bass fillet in sauce of white wine , paprika and cheese that is loaded with big shrimp and potato. It's a hallmark item on the menu, priced at about $12; (Most main dishes start at around $6.)
Other great corvina dishes are the baked Corvina Mantequilla Negra (black butter sauce). Corvina a la Florentina, also baked but in a white sauce with spinach, and Corvina rellena de camarones (sea bass stuffed with shrimp in sauce Americaine).
They also have several seafood and chicken platters that will feed several people. And no matter what you order, you will get a big portion that barely leaves room for dessert (try the suspiro limeño).
A wide assortment of appetizers display the Peruvian flair for making a masterpiece from a simple potato and other ingredients. Causa Limena, a cold appetizer with either shrimp or chicken, is flavored with spicy (but not hot) purple onions. Hot appetizers are also delightful, especially the Avocado Shrimp, a dishful of shrimp and avocado slices in a cheese sauce.
There's a wide selection of wine from Argentina, Chile, Peru, the USA and Europe. And the pisco sour, a brandy-based drink, is not to be missed. All beer lovers will want to at least say they have tried Cuzquena, a Peruvian beer.
There's a nonsmoking section in this four-room jewel of a restaurant, decorated with Peruvian tapestries. They added a spacious room with more upscale decor in February, 2006. It's closed from 3-6 PM.
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