5 Best Restaurants in El Centro, Lima

Run by nuns who serve satisfying (though not extraordinary) French food and sing the "Ave Maria" nightly at 9, L'Eau Vive sits in a restored mansion across the street from Palacio Torre Tagle. Trout baked in cognac and duck in orange sauce are two dishes that bring the locals back time and again. The floors and furnishings do not do justice to the colonial architecture.

Hungry office workers crowd this excellent criollo restaurant every day at lunchtime for heaping plates of fettucinne a la huancaína (pasta in cheese sauce) and pescado a lo macho (fish topped with spicy seafood). The setting, looking out over Lima's old fortified walls, is one of the greenest you'll find downtown. Don't miss the lomo saltado (beef stir-fried with peppers and onions): Gastón Acurio himself has called it one of Lima's best.

A second, less-scenic branch can be found on the Plaza San Martín.

The best chifa in Chinatown, Wa Lok is known for such memorable dishes as calamares rellenos (shrimp-stuffed squid tempura), taipá (wok-fried chicken, pork, shrimp, and vegetables), and pato pekinés (Peking duck). It's best to go with a group and share, or ask for half orders. Vegetarians can choose from more than 30 dishes. The surrounding neighborhood is sketchy after dark, so at dinnertime you're better off heading to the Miraflores branch, on the corner of Avenida Angamos Oeste and Calle Arica.