The ‘slow food’ concept of using local, organic ingredients that represent the local culture is found throughout the menu with the majority of all ingredients sourced from the locality. 90% of all dishes are made with organic ingredients sourced primarily from the Kusi Ñan organic farm project, a project founded and supported by owners Fielding and Roman along with local families through the Kusi Kawsay Association. The fresh trout is sourced from lakes in the region and the native potatoes and quinoa come from the surrounding Andean communities allowing visitors a true taste of the varied and nutritious Andean cuisine.

Chef Victor believes that one of the ways visitors can experience the local culture is through food and they encourage diners to immerse themselves in the Andean culture by trying some of the area’s finest ingredients and culinary creations.

Dishes include traditional Peruvian options like ‘lomo saltado’ or ‘aji de gallina’ as well as novo-Andean and international dishes. Our favourites dishes included the pepper alpaca steak with kiwicha mashed potatoes, the fillet of trout in orange and ginger sauce and the colourful Tika salad.

The setting of the restaurant itself is warm and cozy with a fire place lit each evening in the main restaurant or you can opt to sit outside in the patio which is filled with plants and flowers and a gas heater for chilly evenings. Cuchara de Palo is definitely one of the best restaurants in Pisac, in terms of the menu, service and ambience.

Best of Peru Travel Recommends:

• Try the refreshing, local drink ‘chicha morada’ which is made with purple corn from the Sacred Valley.

• Cuchara de Palo also does a breakfast menu served from 7.30 – 11.30 with dishes including kiwicha pancakes and omelettes.

• The Franco Salas family along with other local families are also wonderful musicians and have formed an authentic traditional Andean music and dance group called Wiñay Taki Ayllu.  You can find their CDs and hear their music at the restaurant.
  

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The café is located on the pedestrian Pardo street which has over the past few months become the ‘hip’ street in Pisac with lots of small stores selling interesting crafts and spiritual items. Ulrike’s is in the heart of it all and occupies a large two-storey building painted in Ulrike’s signature colourful style – with bright yellow and green walls and cozy sofas for lounging.

The vibe is casual, and the focus of the menu is home-style comfort food made with fresh, seasonal produce. The menu is a mix of Western-style food and local Peruvian dishes. The kitchen is headed up by Chef Tim who has cooked for many top restaurants in the United States as well for big names like the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan and the Red Hot Chili Peppers.  He knows everyone in town and from his perch in the patio he makes sure the kitchen runs like clockwork and that everyone leaves with a smile on their face!

This is a casual dining café/restaurant and some of our favourite menu options include the delicious alpaca sandwich – tender strips of alpaca served with red pepper, parsley and blue cheese on focaccia bread with salad or house fries and their house burger – it’s not the largest burger you will have ever tried but it is one of the best in the Sacred Valley!

If you’re looking for something a bit heartier try the vegetarian curry which is very popular or the more traditional ‘alpaca saltado’ which is a modern take on the traditional Peruvian dish ‘lomo saltado’ prepared with alpaca meat instead of beef.

For us, the dessert menu is where Ulrike’s really excels with her delicious chewy chocolate chip cookies and moist carrot cake – one of the best we have ever tasted, However, it has close competition from the decadent chocolate volcano cake served with ice-cream – well-worth the sugar rush!

Ulrike’s is one of the first breakfast places to open in town and probably has the best breakfast menu in Pisac at the moment with healthier options like chia porridge as well heartier options including a variety of eggs and a good rice, black bean and blue corn tortilla option which will definitely set you up for the day.

Ulrike has always wanted her café to be like a home away from home for travellers and the little touches like a book exchange, a notice board to let people know what’s on in town and great wifi means that you feel this as soon as you walk in the doors.

Our verdict: Simple, home-style tasty food in a comfortable atmosphere at a good price point.

Best of Peru Travel Recommends:

• They also do great wood-fired pizza baked fresh in their oven every day!

• Ulrike’s serves a daily menu which includes a starter, main and desert for 25 soles (Approx. US$9) which includes some of the café’s signature dishes like the quinoa soup. Stir-fried alpaca and carrot cake for those looking for a filling lunch or dinner.

• A great spot for families with kids with an upstairs play area that has games and drawing materials to keep them occupied.

Click here for more great places to eat in Pisac

Information on how to get to Pisac

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Doña Clorinda, a pisac local and the matriarch of the family is a living legend. She returned to Pisac from Lima aged 40 with her five children in tow and started selling empanadas (a type of stuffed pastry turnover that Pisac is now famous for) and stuffed potatoes in the Pisac market on the main square long before busloads of tourists started arriving in town.

Fast forward 25 years and by dint of hard work and sacrifice the restaurant is now housed in a purpose built restaurant where the family also live. Doña Clorinda serves typical Andean food and doesn’t try to be anything it isn’t. You won’t find fancy gourmet Peruvian fusion or elaborate presentation here. But you will find simple, local dishes made with fresh local ingredients.

The house specialties include the famous quinoa and vegetable soup, lomo saltado (stir-fried beef) the traditional Andean ‘capchi’ dish which is a mix of green beans and carrots with cheese and milk as well as excellent local trout.

Daughter Mati takes care of front of house with a permanent smile on her face and son Manuel is head Chef in the kitchen. The restaurant décor is old-school Peruvian but they have a lovely outdoor garden space which is the perfect place for kids to play and a great spot to enjoy your meal outdoors on a sunny day.

This is simple Andean food, made with love.

Best of Peru Travel Recommends:

• Try Doña Clorinda’s star dish – stuffed potatoes filled with raisins, meat, olive and egg.

• Juices are delicious. They are made fresh with 100% fruit and served tall.

Click here to see more great places to eat in Pisac

Info on great things to do in Pisac

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Run by Ernestina, her son Federico and daughter in law Scarlet, this is a family business with a love for local culture and traditions. The focus is on organic produce made with local ingredients and the house specialty is the empanada, a type of pastry turnover filled with a selection of sweet and savoury fillings cooked in a traditional clay oven.

This is the only ‘horno colonial’ or traditional oven in Pisac that mixes their own artisanal flours which come from the surrounding Andean communities. Their breads and empanadas are made up of a nutritious blend of seven different flours including quinoa, kiwicha and tarwi. Empanadas include the ‘Inti’ or ‘sun’ in quechua which is filled with cheese, tomato, onion, rosemary and hot pepper and the sweet ‘miski’ filled with apple, pineapple, papaya, banana, honey and cinnamon for those with a sweet tooth and are great options for a quick breakfast or mid-afternoon snack.

The location itself is designed to showcase different elements of local culture including stone statues of pumas, condors and an Incan cross and different outdoor and indoor relaxation areas where you can have a meal (they also offer a full menu with traditional local dishes including guinea pig) or enjoy a sweet drink made out of purple corn called ‘chicha morada’ and your empanada. Don’t miss taking a few photos of the colourful mural that decorates the front wall painted with symbols of the local culture and the guinea pig castle in the garden.

Ernestina is a real character and loves sharing her knowledge of the region with visitors. She also offers empanada making classes which are a nice breakfast option. Classes take an hour and include rolling the dough and preparing the filling before baking in the mud oven and then enjoying your creation.

 Best of Peru Travel Recommends:

• If travelling with kids, the empanada making classes are a great option to learn hands-on about Pisac’s empanada tradition.

• Pumachayoc is a great place to stop off for a quick breakfast or snack when hunger strikes!

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Their coffee is great, we reckon one of the best in Pisaq and the well-known mural artist from Lima, Isabel Decencierre painted all the murals in the Blue Llama giving it a colourful, fresh feel.

They also do a lunch and dinner menu including dishes like trout with black butter and caper sauce and pot roast with mashed potatoes. For starters or a light snack try the Blue llama snack – a selection of quinoa, olives, Andean cheese and corn or the wantan sticks stuffed with cheese and served with guacamole. Our suggestion is to head up to the terrace for a delicious breakfast or a mid-morning coffee and enjoy the bustle of Pisaq.

Best of Peru Travel Recommends:

• They also have quite a nice collection of unusual high-end Peruvian handcrafts for sale if you are looking for something a bit different to take home as gifts.

Click here for more great restaurants & cafes in Pisac

Information on how to get to Pisac

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Sapos was originally set up by local Jaime and his then Canadian partner Lori. After losing everything in the floods in 2010, they moved back to Canada and started saving to set up their new business in Pisac.  Lori is a chef by trade so taught Jaime about food and flavours which he combined with his own experience growing up with his mother who is a baker.

Sapos means ‘toad’ in English. Toads are traditionally known as the spirits of the rain and were placed on the mountains to call the rain with their songs. Jaime is very interested in his ancestral culture and always remembered the song of the toads from when he was a child so this was an obvious choice for the name when Sapos opened in 2012. It’s a theme throughout the restaurant with toads painted on the walls and toad ornaments displayed around the place.

The menu is simple and Sapos doesn’t try to be something they’re not. Their focus is pizza and salad. Pizzas are cooked in their toad-shaped wood-fired oven and are one of the better pizzas we have had in the valley with a thin base and good quality toppings.

The green salad is excellent with all organic greens that come from a local organic farm. The salad is a combination of chopped vegetables and lettuce with tasty vinaigrette served in an artistic presentation which we loved!

Sapos is a lively, cheerful option for good, simple Peruvian style pizza at a good price.

Best of Peru Travel Recommends:

• If you prefer a lighter pizza ask for less cheese as they do use lots of cheese.

• Try the freshly made mint lemonade for a refreshing drink with your pizza.

Click here for our favourite places to eat in Pisac

How to get to Pisac

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This isn’t a restaurant as such but more of a place to stop by for a quick snack or a quick photo of the oven. Decor is rustic with cement floors and basic tables and chairs but somehow it feels just right. The oven is also used as a community oven, so don’t be surprised to see locals popping in to cook cakes or plates of guinea pig alongside your empanada.

Buen provecho!

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The food served is a multi-cultural celebration, reflecting owner Josip’s own life experiences. Josip has always associated food with family, friends and sharing. Inspired by his mothers’ cooking and his own passion for travel and art in both South America and Asia all these factors have heavily influenced the menu at Mullu. Not a Chef by trade, Josip has created his menu by playfully harmonizing visual art and international flavours within the concept of local, global food made with  ingredients found locally in the Sacred Valley.

Asian (Balinese, Thai and Japanese inspired…) and traditional Andean dishes represent most of the starters and mains on this packed menu. Spices, herbs and local products are playfully mixed to create original recipes like the stuffed alpaca meat raviolis with a passion fruit sauce and the Mullu Fusion share plate.

The Chef’s suggestions section of the menu represents for us the highlights of the Mullu kitchen with excellent dishes including the stewed leg of lamb served in a secret sauce with arracacha tuber mash and pink mushrooms and the Escabeche de Mama Laura, a recipe inspired by Josep’s mother which is an explosion of crunchy, creamy, spicy and sweet textures and flavours in the form of panko breaded trout, purple potato cake with crab and wasabi filling and tiger’s milk.

The café itself is rustic with basic wooden furniture. When owner Josep is away we have noticed that the quality and service tends to slip but when Mullu is on its game the surprising food combinations, artfully decorated plates and excellent flavours make this one of our favourite places to eat in Pisac.

Best Of Cusco recommends:

• Visit Mullu’s Ethno Art Shop packed full of contemporary art objects just underneath the restaurant.

• Despite the simple nature of this restaurant they have a fairly decent wine list if you fancy a glass. .

Click here to see more great places to eat in Pisac

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