Editor Pick
Alhambra Restaurant
- July 17, 2009
- Rated 4 of 5 by
LenR from Townsville, Australia
From Pisac, following the Vilcanota River towards the west, the narrow route between the river and the hills passes through the towns of Calca, Yucay and Urubamba before arriving at Ollantaytambo. Yucay is associated with some important events in Incan and colonial history. In the spacious Plaza de Armas there is a beautiful, impressive tree, the pisonay, whose leafy branches and beautiful flowers grant the town an air of festivity and elegance. The ruins of the Palace of the Inca Huayna Capac can also be found in this area.
Urubamba, located 78km from Cusco via Pisac and 57km via Chinchero, is not located far from here. It was one of the main agricultural centers of the Inca empire. Like many places along the valley, Urubamba is in a fine setting with snow-capped peaks as a background. It has many restaurants and pleasant dining areas with reasonable prices. The nearby White Mountain range provides the area with scenery of extraordinary beauty. The town offers the visitor a wide range of possibilities for rest and lodging, and includes a number of hotels and other lodging houses.
We stopped for lunch here at the very interesting Alhambra Restaurant. This is on the edge of town and just a short way off the main road. The restaurant obviously caters for tour buses doing a one-day Sacred Valley trip from Cusco but independent travellers are welcome as well. This is a hacienda-style restaurant with a surprising relaxed and intimate manner and 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 is said to excellent; choose main courses such as stuffed lake trout with quinoa in a nut sauce.
Lunch was a buffet affair when we visited with a good range of choice. It is served in a large pavilion but you eat in small thatch covered huts or outside in the garden. Despite the number of people, the atmosphere was pleasant. A live band played Peruvian music and also international hits with a local instrument flavour. They were quite a professional group and offered CD’s to anyone who was interested. My wife ended up with two!!
Lunch started with soup and moved on to several local and international cold dishes. For the main course there was a choice of fish, lamb or beef with warm vegetables. There were several salads or you could make your own from the vegetables plates. Several desserts were available as was tea and coffee. Drinks were ordered from waiters. It was quite a professional operation and we enjoyed it.
From journal The Sacred Valley, Peru