Review: Central, world’s best restaurant 2023, Lima (Peru)

Wednesday newsletters always feature a hotel or flight review.

Last summer, I enjoyed a terrific holiday in Peru in South America. Over the coming weeks, I’ll publish the following trip reports:

• Review: KLM (old) Business Class Boeing 777 from Amsterdam to Lima
• Review: Central, world’s best restaurant 2023, Lima
• Review: Cirqa, a Relais & Châteaux Hotel, Arequipa
• Review: Puqio Hotel, Colca Canyon
• Review: Titilaka, a Relais & Châteaux Hotel, Lake Titicaca
• Review: PeruRails Titicaca Luxury Train, from Puno to Cusco
• Review: Explora Valle Sagrado, Sacred Valley
• Review: Rio Sagrado, a Belmond Hotel, Sacred Valley
• Review: Hiram Bingham, a Belmond Train, from Cusco to Machu Picchu
• Review: Sanctuary Lodge, a Belmond Hotel, Machu Picchu
• Review: Inca trail to Machu Picchu
• Review: Fausto Hotel, Lima
• Review: KLM (new) Business Class Boeing 777 from Lima to Amsterdam

Today: Review of Central Restaurant in Lima, Peru

Last summer, I enjoyed a dinner at Central Restaurant in Lima, Peru. Central was elected the best restaurant in the world in 2023 on the annual World’s 50 Best Restaurants list. Past winners of the prestigious distinction include the legendary Noma in Denmark, the Fat Duck in the UK, and Osteria Francescana in Italy. I made a YouTube video about the dining experience in Central, which you can watch here:

In 2008, Virgilio Martínez opened Central in Lima with a vision to create a fine dining experience rooted in Peruvian ingredients and cooking techniques. Intrigued by what was then an extravagant idea, Pía León joined in 2009 – then went on to become Martínez’s head chef and wife, laying the foundations of what would become the Central experience.  In recent years, Martínez and León have become true global ambassadors of Peruvian cuisine with a string of new openings (besides Central). First was Mil (No.63 in the extended list of The World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2024) high up in the mountains near Cusco; then Maz in Tokyo; and the couple is always looking further afield. Each venue combines Peruvian and local produce into unique culinary experiences.

Central is housed in a spacious building – called Casa Tupac – in Lima’s trendiest neighbourhood, Barranco. Featuring a gated entrance, large courtyard garden, an investigation center, as well as León’s solo restaurant, Kjolle (No.16 in The World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2024) and the couple’s family home, Casa Tupac now the mecca of Peru’s gastronomic scene. A large table at the restaurant’s entrance displays the ingredients that are used in the dishes. Central’s dining room features a contemporary, minimalist and air décor with stone tables, verdant plants, tree trunks and floor-to-ceiling windows. At the heart of the restaurant is an open kitchen which is visible from most tables.

Central’s menu takes guests on a culinary journey through a myriad of different Peruvian ecosystems, categorised by altitude – from below sea level in the Pacific Ocean to the high peaks of the Andes. Each dish reflects the origin of its ingredients, from Dry Valley (shrimp, loche squash, avocado) to Amazonian Water (pacu fish, watermelon and coca leaf). Guests can choose from two set menu (same for lunch and dinner):

1. Mundo en Desnivel Experience (PEN 1630 per person). This menu conveys the philosophy pursued by Central and is particularly recommend for those who are visiting Central s for the first time.
2. Alturas Mater Vegetal Experience (PEN 1630 per person). This menu covers plant varieties from different life systems found in this mega-diverse geography.

I choose the 14 course Mundo en Desnivel experience, which offered the following courses:

Course number 1: sargassum, clams, squid (ecosystem: black rocks – 10 meters below sea level)

Course number 2: shrimp, loche squash, avocado (ecosystem: Dry Valley – 900 meters above sea level)

Course number 3: aguaje, yacon, hibiscus (ecosystem: Amazonian Savanna – 380 meters above sea level)

Course number 4: corn, kiwicha, sweet potato leaves (ecosystem: Extreme Altitude – 4200 meters above sea level)

Course number 5: grouper, arapaima, cassava (ecosystem: Warm Sea Current – 15 meters below sea level)

Course number 6: cecina, arapaima, cassava (ecosystem: Amazonian Connection – 148 meters above sea level)

Course number 7: scallops, yugo seaweed, cucumber (ecosystem: Blue-Green Ocean – 0 meters above sea level)

Course number 8: octopus, sea lettuce, codium (ecosystem: Sea Brain Algae – 5 meters below sea level)

Course number 9: native potato, chaco, high altitude leaves (ecosystem: Mil Centro – 3600 meters above sea level)

Course number 10 (served on a booklet): pacu, watermelon, Amazonian nut (ecosystem: Amazonian Water – 180 meters above sea level)

Course number 11: pork jowl, arracacha, broccoli (ecosystem: Andean Forest- 2700 meters above sea level)

Course number 12: chirimoya, Andean verbena, cauliflower (ecosystem: Sacred Valley – 2800 meters above sea level)

Course number 13: cabuya, muna leaf, qolle (ecosystem: Moray – 3600 meters above sea level)

Course number 14: mucilage, seeds, husk (ecosystem: Cacao Chuncho – 1800 meters above sea level)

When you dine at Central, you can expect course after course to be an aesthetic surprise. Each dish is meticulously prepared with different textures and artistically presented in original handcrafted utensils by local artists. For each dish, the attentive staff explains the original form of each ingredient used in the dish and how it’s being cooked. This might come with some surprises though like a display of piles of untreated seaweed, a plastic octopus and lacquered fish heads (which I was not a fan of).

Personally, I found the dishes beautifully presented and experimentally interesting with unheard of ingredients, but I wasn’t blow away by what I tasted (although that might just be a matter of personal preference). Even tough each course was creatively plated, the flavors of most dishes were not memorable, so the Central experience felt more like a feast for the eyes than a feast for the palates. That said, compared to other 3+ Michelin star restaurants and the World’s Best 50 Restaurants, Central fits right in (also price-wise, with menus starting at whooping $350 USD per person, excluding wine pairing).

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