On our first night in Lima we decided to visit Astrid & Gaston for dinner. I had made reservations here given these guys were known for bringing Peruvian cuisine onto the world stage and the founder of Central had worked in their restaurants for 10 years .

We took an Uber to the restaurant from our hotel by the water . Uber is a really great option and very affordable in Peru . It helps if you know a bit of Spanish but even if you don’t you can survive!

The restaurant is located in a beautiful property and there were many people around to greet and take care of you .

We were about thirty minutes early for our reservation and they made us wait thirty minutes. So no point going early . We waited by the bar and had cocktails. The cocktails were delicious!

Once we were seated a lady who spoke English helped us with suggestions for appetizers and mains based on our dietary restrictions.

I tend to only eat chicken, cooked fish and shrimp. Which is not a good fit for Peruvian cooking! They tend to be very adventurous with their food . My friend has higher tolerance for different kind of meat types so it was more suited for his appetite.

Bread

The bread that was served was freshly baked and delicious. It was accompanied by three different butters . This was our favourite part of the meal .

Appetizers

We had four appetizers. I skipped mains and had appetizers for my meal . First one was the ceviche and it was delicious . Second was river shrimp with tamale and this was not very good . The flavours simply didn’t come together. The third was pumpkin ravioli and for this dish the pasta was poorly made . I expected better technique and execution from a top restaurant in the world . The fourth was chicken dumpling. Again the flavours were poor and the dish lacked technique. Overall we were supper disappointed!

Main

We had a beef and potato dish for the main . This dish was delicious. Sauce had excellent flavour and overall dish delicious.

Dessert

We skipped dessert given our experience with the appetizers.

Cost

The meal cost us $170 CAD for two people .

Recommendation

We had high hopes for Astrid & Gaston and it simply failed to deliver . Sadly this was our first meal in Peru and it was a disappointing one . Maybe it was the dishes we ordered or they were having an off day . Based on my experience I would have to recommend against visiting this restaurant!