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Restaurant Fallen Angel is according to its owner Andrés Zuniga a place where the most interesting people from Cusco meet. This is not a modest statement at all. Anyhow, I have to say that in this restaurant I enjoyed myself the best out of all restaurants I visited during my stay in Cusco. This place had its specific spirit, hard to describe, something like “genius loci”. The restaurant is situated in center of Cusco on Plaza Nazarenas. It is located in an old colonial house with a courtyard. On the first floor there are five rooms furnished in style of contemporary eclectic design. It is a tiny little luxurious hotel. However, I don’t like to use the word luxurious. I spare it for stronger moments. I shouldn’t call it “hotel” either, because it is just an accommodation. Regardless, the owner describes it as a “small luxury guesthouse“, and I think the description is accurate. On the ground floor besides restaurant there is a bar and an office.
Smiling half-Indian Frida walked us to our table. We walked through interior that even museum of modern arts wouldn’t be ashamed of. There are paintings on the wall, statues and different decorations all around. They are mostly angels and spiritual motives in modern style. Tables made of old bathtubs with fishes inside seemed very artful to me. There are cushions everywhere so that guests feel comfortable. The ambience was heightened by music mixed on LPs by a DJ. We were seated outside. I was glad, because the weather was nice and I could enjoy the music. DJ played perfectly. In the courtyard dominates a supersized statue of an angel. We thought that if there were aliens they would probably look like this statue.

The menu was a blend of modern trends and traditional local products. The owner puts great emphasis on top quality organic products, such as beef and meat of lama from a nearby farm, where cattle graze all life-long, or trout from local river. No other than bio vegetables are used here. Maybe that is why the salads here taste fresh and delicious. With steaks we could choose out of 15 kinds of their own sauces. Home-made pasta is a matter of course as well as juice of fresh fruits used for tasty and refreshing Daiquiri, Margarita or Caipirinha served on bar.  I missed broader choice of Peruvian wines, though. Unfortunately, this fact is typical for all restaurants I visited in Peru.

The fact that we were hungry and ate only a light ceviche reflects our choice: salad, fish and roasted meat. Little Frida thought we were expecting someone else and assumed we couldn’t eat everything by ourselves.
Shortly we got our starter, salad from Andes. They pointed out freshness and organic quality of vegetables, excellent quality of salmon and avocado. The core of this salad was a local crop, quinoa. Quinoa was grown already by Inks. For Peruvians it is something like wheat for us. There were different kinds of quinoa in this salad. It was delicious. The whole salad was made very well, light and tasty. It was a very good start.

During the whole stay I ate raw fish in ceviche. Ceviche is a typical Peruvian dish. There are different kinds of ceviche, but basically it is a cocktail of freshwater fish (mostly trout), sea fish or other seafood (such as shrimps) seasoned with lime or vinegar.

It is usually served in a small bowl and decorated with onion slices, coriander, etc. This time I wanted to try cooked fish. The swordfish was nicely arranged. Potatoes and legume were a side dish. Potatoes are a solo chapter in Peruvians' lives. They have hundreds of kinds of potatoes, prepare them in many different ways and they eat them always and with anything. My dish smelled nicely. Swordfish was roasted precisely and sweet potatoes and fresh herbs went well with it. Crunchy half raw legume supplemented the whole experience. I realized that I wouldn’t be able to eat the third course, I had hungry eyes.
Luckily they let us rest for longer time before the main course. We were drinking Peruvian white wine. It was quite uniformed and not special at all. What a pity. They didn’t have any other local white wine and I didn’t want to drink Chilean wine. Main course came. I had a steak of lama. I ordered a glass of the only Peruvian red wine they offered. I looked at my steak carefully. It looked like from a textbook. It was even cut through. I assumed it was cut not only for esthetic but also for practical reason. Cook knew he prepared a perfect medium rare steak. Nice smell was spread all around. I got my wine. It was better than the white one, but I wouldn’t pee my pants for it. However, after I tried the lama steak, I almost peed myself. It was excellent. I didn’t expect that. It tasted great, the meat was good and it was grilled well, too. I ate it slowly and enjoyed it. I wasn’t hungry anymore. And so I tasted pork tenderloin with chilli sauce just out of curiosity. Beautiful! Chilli sauce was pleasant, hot but let the meat excel. I was satisfied and had to give up my dessert this time.
Served food completed the above mentioned spirit of this place. Artistic inclination of the owner was omnipresent. The fact that he comes from a bohemian quarter San Blas affirms that. Cherry on top are exhibition openings of famous artists such as Carlos Bardales, Richard Peralta, Edwin Quispecuro Nina and concerts or other events that take place here. Fallen Angel wants to show a modern face of historic city.

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My rating:

The author does not visit rated restaurants at the invitation, but chooses them himself. Impressions and evaluation are based on single one visit. All expenses are covered by the author.

Text and photos: Dodi Fodor