Hotel restaurants often claim to offer ‘haute cuisine’ which in fact turns out to be very ordinary food at extraordinary prices. The Qunuq Restaurant Machu Picchu is part of the luxury Sumaq Hotel located at the edge of town and we were very pleasantly surprised by the standard of their cuisine.
Qunuq has a well-rounded if not traditional menu offering a nice selection of novo-andean and Peruvian cuisine. For starters we had the chicken causa, a modern take on the traditional Peruvian potato based dish served with crispy breaded chicken which was ever so slightly over-cooked but saved by a bed of perfectly cooked potato and tasty avocado sauce. The traditional Peruvian ceviche was deliciously fresh and made with local trout marinated in lime juice.
For mains Qunuq offers a good range of typical dishes like the grilled alpaca fillet in a béarnaise sauce. My server suggested eating the steak rare to appreciate the full flavours of the meat which was both tender and full of flavor. They also have a few modern twists on traditional Peruvian recipes such as the ravioli filled with three types of Andean potatoes and the Andean trout served with chimichurri sauce and purple potato puree.
Desserts are also given a twist with the typical Peruvian rice pudding served with raisins ‘drunk’ with pisco, adding a kick to this creamy cinnamon treat accompanied with an innovative and refreshing purple corn sorbet. We also enjoyed the very sweet traditional ‘suspiro a la Limeña’ desert, a tasty treat made with meringue and caramel.
The restaurant itself is more formal than most restaurants in Machu Picchu and service is defintiely on the higher end of the scale of what you find in town. Wait staff are very efficient and the restaurant favours a slightly older crowd who are staying in the hotel. The restaurant has recently been re-modelled with leather seats and crisp white table linen for a modern, minimalist feel.
The menu uses local, fresh produce like quinoa, corn, trout and the many local potato varieties as much as possible allowing visitors to get a real feel for Andean food and flavours.
If you’re looking for a higher-end hotel-style dining experience this is one of our top picks for restaurants in Machu Picchu.
