Restaurants in Lima

Ranked #55 on the World's 50 Best in 2024 and #6 in OAD's South America list for 2025, Mérito is one of Lima's most consistently recognised kitchens. Chef Juan Luis Martínez blends Venezuelan instincts with Peruvian ingredients at a technical level that justifies the booking difficulty. Reserve well ahead and request the chef's counter.

Pía León's solo restaurant in Barranco ranks #16 on the World's 50 Best (2024) and earns every point of its near-impossible booking difficulty. The tasting menu covers Peru's most unfamiliar ingredients with precision and a fully plant-based option that holds its own at this level. If you are serious about eating in Lima, this is a priority booking — plan two to three months ahead.

A World's 50 Best fixture (ranked #32 in 2022, #41 in 2024) with La Liste recognition and a 5th Radish for its plant-based program, Mayta is one of Lima's most consistently credentialed modern Peruvian restaurants. Chef Jaime Pesaque's nine-course tasting menu draws on indigenous ingredients across Peru's ecosystems. Book six to eight weeks ahead — tables are genuinely difficult to secure.

Named the World's Best Restaurant 2025 and a perennial Top 10 fixture at the World's 50 Best, Maido is Lima's hardest table to book and, for Nikkei cuisine, its most compelling. Chef Mitsuharu Tsumura's tasting menu draws on seasonal Peruvian ingredients — increasingly Amazonian — executed with Japanese precision. Book 2 to 3 months out minimum, and treat this as a full-evening commitment.

One of Lima's most credentialed Modern Peruvian restaurants, Astrid & Gastón operates from a 17th-century hacienda in San Isidro and delivers a tasting menu built around Peruvian biodiversity. It ranked 9th in South America in 2025 and peaked at #14 in the World's 50 Best. Book three weeks out minimum for dinner; lunch offers a marginally easier window and better light through the courtyard.