Trujillo Restaurants and Dining

(Trujillo, La Libertad, Peru)

Over the years, many different cultures have settled in Trujillo and this part of north-western Peru, with the city's restaurants often reflecting the flavours and style of cooking brought with them. This means that tourists dining out in Trujillo can be assured of some very unique dishes at the city's multitude of restaurants, with notable African, Cantonese, Japanese and Spanish influences, such as rice and thinly sliced raw fish.

Lunch (almuerzo) is the main meal of the day in Trujillo served from 13:00 onwards, while restaurants and eateries open as late as 20:00 for evening dinner or thereabouts, and only really start to fill up around 21:00. Dining venues in Trujillo often specialise in seafood dishes, since the city is conveniently located on the Pacific coast and therefore able to take advantage of the ocean's bountiful harvest.

What to Eat, and Where

In the centre of Trujillo, restaurants are based around areas such as the Plaza de Armas and the Mercado Central, stretching along the streets of the Calle Ayacucho, the Bolivar, the Gamarra, the Junin, the Independencia and the Pizarro. For backpackers passing through, street vendors offer a cheap alternative to fine dining, with their tamales (boiled corn with meat or cheese) being especially popular.

One dish that you are likely to encounter time and time again at Trujillo's restaurants is 'shambar', a very traditional soup. Shambar is a blend of a variety of ingredients from the Andeans, Criollos and Spanish, being made of wheat, beans, chick peas and at least three different kinds of meats. Other dining experiences in Trujillo include 'cabrito' (roast goat kid), ceviche (seafood with onion and salad), 'cuy' (guinea pig) and 'sopa teologa' (rich soup with bread, potato and cheese).