Restaurant
Maido
Mitsuharu Tsumura's Nikkei restaurant in Miraflores, ranked first on The World's 50 Best Restaurants in 2025, serving a 12-course tasting menu that blends Peru and Japan.
Central
Virgilio Martínez and Pía León's tasting-menu restaurant in Barranco, named the world's best restaurant in 2023, built around ingredients from Peru's coast, Andes and Amazon.
At a glance
- Type
- Contemporary Peruvian tasting menu
- Area
- Barranco, Lima, Peru
- Price
- $$$$ · Luxury
- Official site
- centralrestaurante.com.pe
Good to know
- Tasting menu
- Online reservations
Why we recommend it
Central is the restaurant that put contemporary Peruvian cooking on the world map. Virgilio Martínez Véliz, the owner and head chef, opened it in 2008 in Miraflores, and it later moved to Barranco, where it now occupies a building on Avenida Pedro de Osma that it shares with Kjolle, the restaurant of his wife and chef de cuisine, Pía León. In 2023 Central was ranked number one on The World's 50 Best Restaurants list, after placing second in 2022, and it has been named the best restaurant in Latin America four times.
The kitchen works as a research workshop for little-known indigenous Peruvian ingredients from the coast, the Andes and the Amazon. The tasting experience is designed as a journey through Peru's different altitudes, in the restaurant's own words travelling from the depths of the sea to the Andean peaks, and it is served as a sequence of what Central calls immersions and tastings. Expect unfamiliar tubers, grains, herbs, fish and plants, many of which you will not find on menus elsewhere, presented with an explanation of where each comes from.
This is a special-occasion restaurant and it is priced accordingly, so it suits food lovers and couples marking a big trip rather than anyone wanting a quick dinner. Central serves lunch and dinner from Monday to Saturday, with lunch seatings between 12:45 and 13:30 and dinner seatings between 19:00 and 20:30, and it is closed on Sundays. Bookings are made online through the restaurant's reservation system; plan as far ahead of your trip as you can.
Tell the team about any allergies or dietary needs when you book, as the menu is fixed. The same group runs Kjolle in the same building in Barranco, MIL near Cusco and MAZ in Tokyo, so if Central is fully booked, Kjolle is the natural alternative.
The restaurant is on Avenida Pedro de Osma in Barranco, close to the Museo Pedro de Osma and a short walk from the Bridge of Sighs, which makes it easy to combine a late lunch with an afternoon in the district. For reservations and changes, the restaurant publishes a reservations email address and telephone numbers on its website.
Central FAQs
Where is Central?
At Av. Pedro de Osma 301 in Barranco, in the same building as Kjolle.
When is Central open?
Monday to Saturday, with lunch seatings from 12:45 to 13:30 and dinner seatings from 19:00 to 20:30. It is closed on Sundays.
How do I book?
Through the online reservation system linked from the restaurant's website, or by email at [email protected].
What kind of food does Central serve?
A tasting experience built around Peruvian ingredients from different altitudes, from the sea to the high Andes.
Who are the chefs?
Virgilio Martínez Véliz, the owner and head chef, and Pía León, the chef de cuisine.
What awards has it won?
It was No. 1 on The World's 50 Best Restaurants in 2023 and has been named Latin America's best restaurant four times.
Can dietary requirements be catered for?
Mention any allergies or requirements when booking, as the menu is a set sequence.
What if Central is fully booked?
Kjolle, Pía León's restaurant in the same building, is the obvious alternative.