Lima and Cusco, Peru: Day Four (4/16)

Day Four (4/16) transit from Lima to Cusco

We started out early with no breakfast but a warm goodbye from all the hotel staff and driver. We said our goodbye, took final pictures and were off on our way in Willy's capable hands. A 45 minute drive later, we were at the airport in Lima ready for our flight to Cusco. The hardest part was the anticipation that we were one step closer to our final destination, Machu Picchu.

A quick one and a half hour flight later, we arrived in Cusco. Cusco was much higher and in the mountains so it was cold and the first breathes of air were sharp and cold not what my delicate San Francisco lungs were used to. After finding our driver, we were off to our hotel, Tierra Viva Saphi. I would highly recommend Tierra Viva Saphi. Our first room, 207 was cozy and nice. The only problem I had with the room was that the window faced the street so we heard some street noise. It seems like double paned windows are not common in Peru. Our second room, 103 was amazing. It was much larger overall (about 1.5 time larger than our previous room), had a sitting area, larger bathroom, in the shower the water heated up in seconds (versus 10 minutes in our old room), super quiet and warmer (no need for a second blanket). Our room was past the courtyard, up a flight of stairs in the back. Don't let the room number fool you. Location wise, it was about 5-8 minutes walking to the heart of Cusco. They are also super safe and locked the doors once the sun sets so that the guests are nice and secure. The hotel staff were helpful in greeting us, opening doors, etc. but I wouldn't say they bent over backwards to ensure a nice stay. For the price and location, I would highly recommend Tierra Viva Saphi and don't confuse it with their other location that is closer but much older and more costly.

After checking in to our wonderful and cozy hotel, we decided to explore the town of Cusco.

Realizing that we were starving, we headed to lunch for some much needed nourishment. Our first place that we ate at in Cusco was Deva. It has a lot of great vegetarian options and everything is organic and grown in the Andean mountains. The best part of the meal was the lesson on Andean agriculture after the meal. Our first course was a complimentary mixed roasted corn with Andean cheese. The different varieties of corn were flavorful and not greasy not popcorn in the US. In addition, despite being roasted they did not pop and maintained their shape as a whole kernel. The Andean cheese was similar to the one I had in Lima for breakfast at my hotel but much more firm and salty. It was a nice balance with the dry roasted corn.

Next I ordered the vegetarian corn soup with huacatay butter served with grated Andean cheese. My friend ordered the hen broth with tubers and rice. I really loved the flavors, lightness and richness of both soups. There were the perfect start to our stay in Cusco.

For our main courses we ordered Andean trout (trunca) and bone marrow stew. Both were served with potatoes and steamed vegetables. The trout was grilled on the meat side and not the skin side to add texture. It also had fava beans which are one of my favorite vegetables. The bone marrow stew was the best I have had. The bone marrow was so soft it literally melted in your mouth. It was served with a salty brown sauce that seemed to have a soy sauce base that was perfect with rice. Both dishes were perfectly cooked and perfectly seasoned. I would highly recommend this place to anyone traveling through Cusco as a must stop place.

Below are some pictures from our lesson in Andean agriculture of its native staples in its raw form.

Afterwards we spent the rest of the afternoon buying knick knacks at the local market.

With a quick stop at the JW Marriott to buy a nail clipper, which the hotel staff gave me for free. Again, I am touched by the Peruvian hospitality. BTW here is a picture of real dried coca leaves to make mate tea.

After a quick rest, as the high altitude really makes you slow and tired, we were headed off to fancy dinner at Le Soleil. Le Soleil is a French restaurant in the middle of Peru. We decided to do the 5 course tasting menu as it featured foie gras which is now sadly, banned in San Francisco.

Here we go with Course 1, escargots cooked in parsley and butter. I loved this dish. I loved the fact that is was not served in the shell and that you could just pluck the buttery pieces of escargot out of the dish and pop it in your mouth. Afterwards you could use some bread to soak up some of the buttery goodness left on the plate. Yum.

Course 2/3, foie gras with onion marmalade and nuts and fruits served with a glass of Sauterne. This was my favorite dish because I am a foie gras fan. It was perfectly smooth with no disgusting chunks of veins. You can tell they put great care in cleaning the liver before making the pate. It was served with crustless french bread, assorted nuts and fruits. It was a generous size portion which I could have had with just the escargots and have been satisfied. It was definitely my favorite course. The glass of Sauterne that was paired with it was not to my liking. It was over sticky sweet that overpowered the delicate creaminess of the foie gras. I think if the foie gras was paired with a slightly sweet but crisp sauvignon blanc, the creaminess of the foie gras would have been enhanced versus covered up.

Course 4, neck of duck confit stuffed with 3 kinds of meat (beef, duck and pork) and foie gras good but the portion was way too big for my taste. Given that we had such a generous portion of foie gras I think 2 less slices of the confit sausage would have been perfect. The light salad on the side helped to balance the saltiness and heaviness of the meat.

Course 5, chocolate and coffee mousse was the least favorite course of my meal. The chocolate wasn't sweet, bitter or flavorful. This dessert tasted like a bland sponge cake dusted with dark chocolate cocoa powder with a hint of coffee. It was a beautiful presentation but terrible execution.

To top the whole meal off, they were rather sneaky about the billing. We ordered still water which came in a carafe. I prefer bottled water, yet we were charged $10 USD for this boiled water. Then when the waiter asked us if we wanted coffee, we assumed it was included in the meal as we didn't realize the glass of wine was a course and the chocolate dessert had coffee in it not that it came with a cup of coffee. This mistake costed us another $12 USD. When we brought this up with the owner, he made apologies and explained the menu but made no move to rectify the error. I think he assumed since we were tourists and not regulars who cares what we think or if we gave just one bad review. For this reason alone, I would not recommend this restaurant. I want to go to a place that the staff and esp. the owner have pride in the food, quality and service that they provided even if we are only here one time. I think that esp. when one travels and comes to experience the food, bad service can ruin the entire meal. Heads up, Frenchie this is probably why your restaurant wasn't full the entire night and you only have one seating!

After dinner, it was a short walk through the main square plaza to enjoy the night view of Cusco before calling it a night.