Review: McDonald's vs KFC showdown, Cusco

Whenever I'm in a foreign land and come across McDonald's, I just have to drop by and take a look.

Peru is no different.  I was delighted to discover a McDonald's by the Plaza de Armas.  Yaaaay!  It goes without saying that I have to order something from the menu that I couldn't find at home.  That was easy. There is  large poster with "Pollo Crujiente" on it (crispy chicken).  Fried chicken? Done!  

One we got our order, I headed to the condiments area where I saw that you can choose from a variety of sauces - there was the (empty) chimichurri, red aji limo, yellow salsa de aji, and my favourite orange aji amarillo.  Wow!  So many choices.  And they all seem better than the usual boring ketchup & mustard.

The chicken was pretty good - crispy and flavourful.  Not bad! 

Next up - KFC.  A convenient 5 minutes away from McDonalds.  There we also ordered the crispy chicken - of course, otherwise how could we compare right?  We got the order, and wow it was also pretty good.  Maybe it's the chicken quality in Peru or something, but BOTH were equally delicious. The only thing was that I found the KFC chicken to be smaller in size.

I suppose I could only declare a winner base on other factors, such as the seating environment.  To this point, MCD definitely have a more pleasant dining environment.  You are right off the plaza square with plenty of natural light.  Add on to those crazy new sauces and the larger pieces, I will have to declare the winner to be - MCD!

If you're heading to Cusco, try both MCD and KFC and let me know what you think! Do you have a preference?

MCD 

MCD

MCD 

KFC

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Review: Dinner @ Uchu Peruvian Steakhouse, Cusco

Once back at Cusco, our G Adventures guide took us to Uchu, a Peruvian Steakhouse.  It was a busy place, and the first thing that you noticed when you enter the restaurant is being hit by a wall of smoke.  Because the restaurant is a cook-at-your-table concept, and there isn't quite enough ventilation, there is a constant plum of smoke circling round.

Our guide had pre-ordered us the Peruvian delicacy… roasted guinea pig (aka "guy").  Once we sat down we were presented with what looks like a small suckling pig with a cherry tomato to act as a helmet.  Cute!  The taste though wasn't that great.  The meat is similar to chicken, but tougher and gamier.  I'm not entirely sure if I'm supposed to eat the skin, but it was tough enough that I left it alone.  Oh well, at least now I can say I have tried Guinea Pig AND Alpaca meat!

I still wasn't feeling too good from my food poisoning from PapaCho's, so opted for one of their broths for dinner.  I ordered the Sopa Criolla de Costilla, which is essentially lamb rib stock with spaghetti.  It was surprisingly delicious, deep with flavour, and presented in a stone bowl, which reminded me of Korean hot stone bowls (dolsot).  Mmmm this meal really hit the spot for me.

Summary

• The Bottom Line: along with Aguamente, this is one of my top restaurants in Cusco!  A must try.
• Score: 9.8/10
• 5/5 for food
• 5/5 for value (S.25 for the soup)
• 2/2 for service
• 1.75/2 for seating environment
• 1/1 for hitting the spot

Guy, aka guinea pig

Sopa Criolla de Costilla

Anticuchera

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Review: Dinner @ PaPaCho's Burger Restaurant, Cusco

Ok, so first off, I'm pretty sure the burger here got me sick. How do I know?  Because the 4 people in our group that had the burger got bad food poisoning the very next morning.

Other than that, the restaurant is decent.  Nice seating environment, although no locals here, all tourists.  The chicken wings here are pretty tasty, just … avoid the Asiu Mai burger.  Either the uncooked pork patty or the chinese mayonnaise resulted in our group being violently ill.  We all had to see a doctor and end up with antibiotics and anti parasite pills, was definitely not fun.

What was ordered

• 4/5 Good
• Charapitas wings - "bathed in the Amazon's most sinful flavors"
• 1/5 Avoid!
• Asiu Mai burger - "pork and chicken burger siu mei flavour"

Summary

• The Bottom Line: I would never ever go back, the burger here gave my group bad food poisoning for the next 3 days.
• Score: 4.0/10
• 0/5 for food
• 2/5 for value
• 2/2 for service
• 2/2 for seating environment
• 0/1 for hitting the spot

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Lunch @ Aguaymanto Resto Bar, Cusco

Aji Gallina

This is probably one of my favourite restaurants in Peru! The restaurant was a bit hard to find.  It's on the second floor of some alleyway.  We were brought in by our guide.

We had the Aji Gallina (shredded chicken in huancaina sauce made from roasted peanuts, lightly spicy yellow peppers cheese and garlic) with brown rice and wedge potatoes, and the alpaca burger. For drinks, we ordered the Inca Cola, which is a sweet fruity flavour pop, now acquired by Coca-Cola.

What was ordered

• 5/5 Excellent
• Aji Gallina
• 4/5 Good
• Inca Cola
• 3/5 Average
• Apaca Burger

Summary

• Bottom Line: Delicious Peruvian food.  Best Aji Gallina I've had.
• Score: 9.0/10
• 4.5/5 for food
• 4/5 for value
• 2/2 for seating environment
• 2/2 for service
• 1/1 for hitting the spot
• Address: Hatun Rumiyoc 487 | Second Floor, Cusco

Apaca Burger

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Review: San Pedro Market, Cusco

We visited the San Pedro Market near the end of day, so most stalls were already closed by the time we arrived.  

We have heard many good things about the market, but I was too hesitant to try any of the food, for fear of food poisoning.  It turns out that it didn't matter in the end, because I got food poisoning anyways.  

There are homemade cheeses, freshly boiled corn with giant kernels, and juice stalls. Unfortunately because of the timing, we missed the more popular sights like pig's head and whole roasted guinea pigs.

I would recommend visiting the market, but maybe only buy packaged goods there… since our North American stomachs are generally more sensitive and is not used to the food there.

Summary

• The Bottom Line: Good authentic Peruvian market.
• Score: 7/10
• 2/5 for experience
• 5/5 for value (free)

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Review: Drinks @ Starbucks, Cusco

This Starbucks is located within the Plaza de Armas, on the second storey.  Because Starbucks is a large multinational corporation that pretty much standardized all their locations, there isn't much difference between the stores here versus the ones in North America.

The prices are comparable to North America, which pretty means that only ex-pats or tourists would be able to afford a drink at this place.  You won't find any locals here.  

Summary

• Bottom Line: Nice place to get a coffee if you have a craving, but I would opt to go authentic and go for Peruvian cuisine.
• Score: 7.7/10
• 4/5 for food
• 2.5/5 for value
• 2/2 for seating environment
• 2/2 for service
• 1/1 for hitting the spot

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Review: Plaza de Armas, Cusco

After we were picked up by our tour guide from the Cusco airport, he took us to our hotel, and then off for a quick tour of Plaza de Armas.  There happens to be a parade there that day, sort of a graduation ceremony for university students, so the square were full of locals.

Plaza de Armas

• The Plaza is dominated by 2 churches.
• A statue of Pachacutec is in the city centre, pointing in the direction of old Inca fortress Sacsayhuaman.
• The Catedral de Cusco is the first Christian church in Cusco.

Summary

• Bottom Line: Worth a visit. It's the centre of Cusco.
• Score: 9/10
• 4/5 experience
• 5/5 value (it's free)

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Review: Qorikancha and Santa Domingo, Cusco

Coricancha (Qorikancha) is the sun temple of the Inca, and is one of the most famous sites in Cusco.

• The building symbolizes the Spanish conquest over the Inca culture, a convent was built directly on top of the Inca's most important Cusco temple.
• For the longest time the Inca architecture was hidden beneath the Spanish over structure, until in 1950 an earthquake cause the convent wall to collapse, exposing the original Inca walls.
• The walls of the temple were originally covered in gold, but the gold plates were taken away by the Spanish when they took over the city.

We visited this on the first day of arrival at Cusco, and even with the high altitude pills, you really could feel the dizziness.  Go slow, and enjoy church.  It offers an great view of the city, if nothing else.

Summary

• Bottom Line: Offers great view of the city. Spend a few hours here.
• Score: 9/10
• 4.5/5 for experience
• 4.5/5 for price ($6)

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• In Incan language, translates to "navel of the world".
• Ancient capital of the Inca.
• Highlighted by both Hispanic and Inca architecture.
• Heart of Cusco is the Plaza de Armas.

Toronto to Lima