My sister and I had planned a trip to Puno, a city in the mountains where Lake Titicaca (the highest sailable lake in the world) is. Unfortunately, she wasn’t feeling okay, so I went alone. Before heading to the airport I made myself breakfast: 3 fried eggs, half an avocado, some botija olives and Vital Greens.

Breakfast

It was good to have a nice filling breakfast, because, as expected, the snack in the Lima – Juliaca flight was full of gluten: a small sandwich and a piece of cake.

The plane arrived at the Juliaca airport, where someone was waiting for me. He drove me to Casona Plaza Hotel in Puno, where I met the lady from the tour agency. She was very friendly and suggested me some restaurants, one of which was my lunch destination.

At Tulipan’s I ordered a mate de coca (coca leaf tea), which is good for fighting altitude sickness, and grilled trout with vegetables.

Mate de coca (S/. 3, a bit over $1)

The mate warmed me up and helped me a bit with the headache that had already started to bother me. The trout was delicious and the dish felt easy to digest.

Grilled trout with vegetables (S/. 26, around $9.50)

In the afternoon I went to a half-day tour to Sillustani, site of pre-Inca and Inca tombs.

A few hours later, back in Puno, I asked the tour guide where to find good guinea pig for dinner. He recommended La Casona, which had some good online reviews as well.

As usual, I ordered a mate de coca, which arrived before the complimentary bread, butter and cancha. Cancha is a type of corn that is fried and served as a nibble.

Mate de coca (S/. 4, around $1.50)

Bread, butter and cancha

This was the first time I was faced with bread from the highlands, which I used to love, but I had already decided to stay gluten-free during the whole trip, so I skipped it. I did have some cancha, but I was there to try the cuy (guinea pig). I ordered the cuy chajtado de la casa, crispy fried guinea pig in house seasoning, served with browned potatoes and vegetables with cream. I asked for no cream to avoid digestion issues, but unfortunately that wasn’t enough; the guinea pig and the potatoes were very greasy and didn’t sit well in my stomach.

Cuy chajtado de la casa (S/. 42, around $15.50)

Cuy mini ribs

Tulipan’s Restaurant Bar
Jirón Lima 394
Puno, Perú

La Casona Restaurant
Jirón Lima 423 (upstairs)
Puno, Perú
35-1108
info@lacasona-restaurant.com
www.lacasona-restaurant.com