Kusikuy
Pickled Onions and Peppers, Green Aji
Baked Moraya with Melted Cheese, Stewed Onions
Grilled Alpaca, Baked Yellow Potato, Milky Quinoa
Tallarines a la Huanciana with Onions, Peas, Peppers and Steak
Set to depart Cusco around 4:30pm, a mere thirty hours in town regrettably too few, it was down a steep flight of stairs that two diners descended to Kusikuy, the Restaurant’s cash-only policy limiting lunch more than one would have liked but the well-designed space and friendly service making up for the unexpected issue to a degree.
Celebrated for classic Peruvian plates and well-regarded despite a lack of Website, the owner actually living in an upstairs apartment from which birds can be heard chirping over light music, it was with good fortune that one guest fluent in Spanish was able to communicate with waiters while the other navigated a translated menu, several of the “Platos Tipicos” seen elsewhere but others novel and representative of what Staff describes as Andean Cuisine.
Open since 1989 and best known for whole fried Cuy presented not unlike Pig at a Luau, the local delicacy already tasted thrice elsewhere and thus having lost its novelty, it was instead on the owner’s recommendation that rehydrated Potatoes started the meal beneath a blanket of Onions, the light heat of Rocoto Peppers giving each bite added brightness though the Tuber itself was fairly bland.
Moving next to entrees, prices around $13-15USD not out of line considering portions and presentation, it was as one diner took a second look at Alpaca that the other enjoyed Baked Fettuccine served with Steak and Vegetables, the grilled Meats both tender and nicely seasoned though the highlight of the meal turned out to be “milky Quinoa” that tasted a lot like Italian-style Polenta with Mascarpone.
www.facebook.com/kusikuyrestaurante