English Bar at the Country Club Lima Hotel

The English Bar inside the Country Club Lima Hotel is the place to drink a pisco sour in an atmosphere of old Lima. The hotel opened in February 1927 as an exclusive country club, designed in a Californian colonial style by the American architect T.J. O'Brien, and for decades it was the meeting point of the city's elite and its British community, a history reflected in the bar's name. The hotel is recognised as a Peruvian national monument.

The bar's reputation rests above all on its pisco sour, Peru's national cocktail, and it has been named the best bar in Lima at the Summum awards three times, in 2012, 2013 and 2022. Order the classic first, then explore the rest of the menu. The hotel's guest list over the decades, from Ernest Hemingway and Ava Gardner to John Wayne and Mick Jagger, adds to the sense of history.

The surroundings are part of the pleasure. The hotel displays around 300 original works of art on loan from the Museo Pedro de Osma, so a drink here comes with a view of Peru's colonial art heritage. The hotel's Perroquet restaurant, which has won best hotel restaurant awards in international competitions, is in the same hotel if you want to turn a drink into dinner.

The bar suits couples, history lovers and anyone who prefers a traditional setting, and it is a good place to compare Lima's classic pisco sour with the inventive cocktails of the city's newer bars. It also works well for a pre-dinner drink before heading on to the restaurants of San Isidro, such as Astrid y Gastón at Casa Moreyra, or back to Miraflores.

The hotel is at Calle Los Eucaliptos 590 in San Isidro, a short taxi ride from Miraflores. The building itself was renovated between 2015 and 2017. Opening hours are not published in a form we could confirm, so call the hotel before making a special trip; the hotel's call centre number is listed on its website. As this is a hotel bar, it is also a practical choice for guests staying at the Country Club who want a nightcap without going out.