I’ve been spending a lot of time in central Lima recently, so naturally I have been using a significant amount of that time to eat. After serious study, I have come to the conclusion that the best place to eat in central Lima is… drum roll… El Fayke Piurano.

Just half a block along Jirón Huancavelica, turning off to the left from Jirón de la Union if walking towards the Plaza de Armas, El Fayke Piurano serves up some of the best seafood in Lima.

It doesn’t look much from the outside and it doesn’t appear all that different from the thousands of cheapish restaurants that line the beautiful but noisy old colonial streets of central Lima. Although, it’s true, you’ll eat amazing food in any of these places, El Fayke is something special.

The decoration is nothing special… this is a simple place for ordinary local people. While you’ll be wise to avoid seafood, particularly uncooked or room temperature fish in the more run down parts of town, El Fayke is pleasantly clean.

Peering into the small and very busy kitchen, there is food everywhere but the level of cleanliness is apparent.

The menu is long, and you can’t go wrong with your choice. From a ceviche de cojinova to a arroz con mariscos, the servings are just as huge as the list of dishes to try. Service is fast, and the staff attentive. Most importantly, the prices are fair – any good meal over 25 soles per person in Peru is probably paying too much. In El Fayke, you’ll leave food on your plate and often pay far less than that.

Grumo from Brooklyn posts on TripAdvisor:

Two different sources said that Fayke is the place to have ceviche in the central part of Lima. When first we heard about it from a tourist office, we became cynical about a such a straight-forward this-is-the-place-to-go referral. We walked into a fine hotel and asked where the desk person recommended and we again heard Fayke. So we figured that we should give it a try.

Fayke is not huge. When you first see it it does not seem to be a special place recommended by others. You can get a good ceviche for 18s and up. First of all the portions are big. Not that that is a reason to go to a restaurant, but neither of us could finish our plate.

I had a mixed ceviche for 20s that also was fun just to look at. There was a good variety of fish and seafood, including what I think was a crayfish to literally top it off. The dish was nicely set off with a chunk of beautifully orange sweet potato. There were two types of beans. I hate to admit how excited I was thinking I was having lima beans in Lima!

Well done tourist office! Lima is one of the world’s gastronomic hotspots and tourists should be encouraged to explore it’s out of the way high-quality traditional restaurants. Peru has the largest variety of dishes in the world, 468 according to the Guinness Book of Records, and most of them can be tried in Lima. If there is one thing tourists should do while in Lima it is eat.

Kirk knew this.

A few months back, the Missus and I decided on a trip to Peru. It was the perfect country for us…..a great combination of food, history, culture, and more food!

After checking in at our hotel, totally famished, we headed off for our first meal in Peru. I had intentionally made reservations at a hotel close to a restaurant I wanted to try….. yes, I know, a bit backwards……but since this was just a place to crash for evening….. Right around the block was El Fayke Piurano. Read the review »

I’m looking for another excuse to be in central Lima around lunch time.

Tags: arroz con mariscos, ceviche, el fayke piurano, food, lima, restaurant