Many guests, especially at the upscale accommodations in the region, dine at their hotels, and the major ones listed above (Casa Andina, Libertador, and Sonesta) all have very good restaurants. Perhaps best for drop-ins is the fine restaurant of Sol y Luna Lodge & Spa. Its Killa Wasi is a lovely two-story space with an open fireplace and pub on the second floor. The restaurant is open to nonguests, and it serves very nicely prepared criollo and Nouveau Andean specialties, including ají de gallina (spicy, creamy chicken) and stuffed river trout, as well as fresh pastas. Call for reservations because the restaurant is often full with hotel guests.
However, the best, newest, and coolest restaurant in Urubamba is El Huacatay, Jr. Arica 620 (tel. 084/201-790), which is popular with both upscale Peruvians and visiting gringos. A few blocks from the main square, this surprising gourmet restaurant, with a nice garden setting on an unassuming Urubamba street, is the perfect place for a long, relaxing lunch on the patio under bamboo shade or a more elegant dinner in the intimate dining room (which has only five tables). The chef-driven menu is a bit of a rarity in these parts, and it focuses on Andean specialties, such as quinoa soup, alpaca lasagna, and coca-infused (but street-legal!) gnocchi. Portions are large and attractively presented, as well as fairly priced for the setting, service, and quality. The restaurant, which is open Monday to Saturday from 2 to 10pm, accepts only cash and Visa cards; reservations are recommended.
Another unique Valle restaurant for fine dining is Huayoccari Hacienda Restaurant, Km 64, Carretera Cusco-Urubamba (tel. 084/962-2224, or 084/226-241 in Cusco), several miles southeast of Urubamba. The restaurant, in an exceedingly elegant farmhouse high in the hills above the Sacred Valley, is tough to make reservations at and hard to find. (It works almost exclusively with tour agencies such as Lima Tours, tel. 01/424-5110, to arrange lunches and dinners; if you're not with a group, it's worth having your hotel call to see if it's possible to get in and get directions.) The $35/£18 (cash) prix-fixe menu starts with a pisco sour in the antique-filled common room or out among the gardens. Then diners, who feel as though they belong to an exclusive club, are admitted to the wood-paneled dining room -- which has large picture windows framing views of the Andes -- for a simple but well-prepared meal of local vegetables, soups (such as crema de maiz), and fresh river trout. The place is rather emphatically designed to feel like one is a guest in the home of a local agricultural patron (and in fact, the home and restaurant belong to the Orihuela family, one of the valley's most distinguished, and oldest, families).
Several restaurants are scattered about the main valley highway and cater to groups that storm through the Sacred Valley three times a week on market day. Tunupa, Km 77 Carretera Pisaq-Ollantaytambo (on the left side of the road on the way to Ollanta; tel. 084/963-0206), owned by the same folks who own the restaurant of the same name in Cusco, is one of the most popular. In a massive, purpose-built hacienda with long corridors that form dining halls overlooking the Urubamba River, it's something akin to a Peruvian bierhall. It must seat at least 300 diners, and it's all buffet, all the time. Even though it can get crowded on market days at lunchtime, it's a fair value for an all-you-can-eat buffet for $15 (£7.50), including a pisco sour. Even better is Alhambra, Carretera Urubamba-Ollantaytambo s/n (near Hotel Sol y Luna; tel. 084/201-200), also a hacienda-style restaurant targeting bus tours, but in a more relaxed and intimate manner. The dining rooms are smaller, and there are tables outdoors under a thatched roof, with lovely garden and mountain views. Its buffets are only on market days (Tues, Thurs, and Sat). At other times, the three-course menú turístico ($10/£5) is excellent; choose main courses such as stuffed lake trout with quinoa in a nut sauce.
On the main road going toward Yucay, Quinta Los Geranios, Av. Cabo Conchatupa s/n (tel. 084/201-093), is a pretty good open-air restaurant set around a garden. It gets hit midday with tour buses but still manages to concoct fine versions of Peruvian standards such as rocoto relleno (stuffed hot peppers) and a number of indigenous soups. The three-course lunch menú is a good value. A similar tourist-group restaurant across the street is El Maizal, Av. Cabo Conchatupa s/n (tel. 084/201-054); it offers a buffet lunch and has both indoor and outdoor seating.
In Urubamba itself, La Casa de la Abuela, Bolívar 272 (tel. 084/622-975), is in a charming and sprawling house a couple of blocks from the Plaza de Armas. It specializes in pizzas from a wood-burning oven, pastas, and tasty home-cooked Peruvian dishes. The restaurant has terra-cotta walls, several dining rooms, and an inviting living room/bar area. It looks and feels like someone's house -- in fact, it is the house of the friendly owner's great-grandmother. The Muse Too, Plaza de Armas (at the corner of Comercio and Grau; tel. 084/201-280), a sister establishment of the San Blas bar The Muse in Cusco, is a low-key two-story pub/restaurant with a single corner balcony upstairs. It features good soups, sandwiches, and lasagna, as well as breakfast all day. At night, it operates more as a bar than restaurant, focusing on its long list of martinis and specialty drinks.
