Arequipa's best food for picky eaters.....

By Monica - January 16, 2019

So Peru boasts of it's amazing food, and rightly so. Each region has a number of yummy, and different typical dishes. I wish I could tell you that we have greatly expanded our palate during our stay in Peru, but I'll be honest, as a family we are pretty picky eaters....even though we did all try Guinea Pig in Tipon... Having said that, here are some of the best dishes we have tried in Arequipa, and where to find them.

1. Yakuza Sushi (Cayma) and El Buda Profano (Centro Historico).

Peru has the second largest ethnic Japanese population in South America (Brazil has the largest) and this community has made a significant cultural impact on the country since the Japanese first began to immigrate in the late 19th century. One of the most evident manifestations of their influence is of course Nikkei, the Japanese-Peruvian fusion food. Yakuza Restaurant had a nice base sushi with a lot of sauces to choose from, it was of course the sauces that made the difference.We can't wait to try to make some of these dishes when we get back home!

Behind me was a cool mural in Yakuza, not only good food, but good decor

The base of the sushi was all the same; avocado, breaded fish, and seaweed, the difference came in the sauce, this was Acevichado, and Diablo.

El Buda Profano was a vegan sushi place. I am the definition of anti-vegan, nothing against vegans, but I just eat WAY too much meat, but Wyatt (the healthy one in the family) kept eyeing this place every time we walked by, so finally he tried it out. They had mango, artichoke, and cucumber sushi, and according to Wyatt it was not only delicious, but he felt great after eating there.

Our family at El Buda Profano, apparently also a fun expat hangout in Arequipa

Vegan Sushi

2. La Panaderia en la Plaza de Cayma- We go to this place almost daily, they have wonderful bread. After Cusco I was questioning the good memories I had of bread in Peru. This Panaderia (Bakery) has restored my faith in Peruvian baking. They not only have great bread, but the owner is just the warmest, kindest lady. She has good suggestion for us of things to try, empanadas, saltenas(an empanada from Arequipa, I think?). and they always have new, and yummy sweets too; tres leches, crema volteada, pie de manzana and pie de limon, pastel de chocolate! Great! Now I am hungry again! Thanks to our baker friend we also finally learned the best time to go get bread in Peru...weird, but you have to go after 3 pm to get fresh bread, before that it is old bread, too much later than that, and all the bread is gone!

The front of our favorite Panaderia in Plaza Cayma.

Torta de manzana, pastel de chocolate, y crema volteada! Que rico!

3. Picarones in Plaza Yanahuara- Right next to Plaza Yanahuara there are a couple of places selling picarones (a Peruvian type doughnut). The funny thing was only one of the places had customers. We took a stroll down the street, and then decided to follow the crowd, the picarones were delicious...however, everyone agrees Tia Ivy's are still the best!

4. Our Home! Here in Cayma we are close to a couple of super mercados, and so we have been experimenting with different salads, and new things at the grocery store. Wyatt loves Peruvian corn, the kernels are much larger than the Taber corn we are used to, and more savory as well. I am not saying one is better then the other, simply different. Anyway, corn salad with a garlic vinaigrette is delicious, and fresh produces are usually fairly cheap here.

And while we are in the topic of food, we have yet to try food at the Mercado....but we did go exploring there, and found you can get food in all stages there....oh Peru, how I love thee!