Our vote for best restaurant in Peru is Astrid y Gastón (Cantuarias 175, tel. 01/444-1496, 1–3 p.m. and 7:30–11:30 p.m. Mon.–Sat., US$30–35). This adventurous gourmet restaurant, set in an elegant Republican home, is the labor of love of a Peruvian-German couple who met at the Cordon Bleu in Paris. The evening begins with creative pisco drinks such as the aguaymanto sour, made with pisco puro and the tangy juice of aguaymanto fruit. Then, as diners watch through a glass wall, chefs concoct never-before-sampled entrées such as kid goat basted in algarroba honey and marinated in chicha de jora, or river prawns served with red curry, coconut milk, and jasmine rice. Save room; the desserts are the best part: blanco mousse with a sauce of sauco and blackberries.

You will not regret the cab ride to Pescados Capitales (La Mar 1337, tel. 01/421-8808, 12:30–5 p.m. Tues.–Sun., US$8), a witty play on words (pescados means fish but rhymes with pecados, or sins) that makes sense when you see the menu. Each dish is named for a virtue or sin; Diligence will bring you a ceviche of tuna and conchas negras, while Patience will bring you a ceviche of shrimps with curry and mango chutney.

With only 10 tables, the city’s most intimate seafood restaurant is probably El Kapallaq (Petit Thouars 4844, tel. 01/444-4149, noon–5 p.m. daily, US$12–17). The owner, of Basque descendence, throws in twists from his home country, dishing up favorites like marmitako (a seafood stew). But the Peruvian influence is just as strong, and classics like arroz con conchas y langostinos (rice with scallops and shrimp) and chita (Peruvian grunt fish) are also present. This classic restaurant is a lunch-only establishment.

With a steel bed on its entrance patio and a dining room full of round mirrors, Restaurante Rodrigo (Francisco de Paula Camino 231, tel. 01/446-0985, www.restauranterodrigo.com, 1–4 p.m. and 8 p.m.–midnight, US$20–25) is Lima’s chic and cosmopolitian, Basque-influenced restaurant. Here, the precursor to dinner is an appetizer sampler, each shot glass–sized, including spinch salad and pork mousse with applesauce. Dinner is calamari stuffed with rich risotto or halibut served over black rice.

The elegant Huaca Pucllana (General Borgoño block 8, tel. 01/445-4042, noon–4 p.m. and 7 p.m.–midnight daily, US$7–22) has a magical feel when the ruins of the same name, only six meters away, are lit up at night. Guests sit at linen-covered tables on an open-air patio next to the ruins and enjoy dishes such as grilled portobello mushroom salad with goat cheese, rabbit stewed in a red wine, mushroom sauce over polenta, and grilled lamb chops.

If you’re in the mood for Mediterranean, head to La Gloria (Atahualpa 201, tel. 01/446-6504, www.lagloriarestaurant.com, 1–4 p.m. and 8 p.m.–midnight Mon.–Sat., US$15). Especially good are the carpaccio de pescado with ginger and the seared tuna steaks.

Two restaurants are locked in battle for Lima’s best place for comida criolla. Brujas de Cachiche (Bolognesi 460, tel. 01/446-6536, www.brujasdecachiche.com.pe, noon–midnight Mon.–Sat., noon–4:30 p.m. Sun., US$20) has an extraordinary buffet every day of the week, except Sunday, that includes a tour de force of centuries of indigenous Peruvian cooking.

El Señorio de Sulco (Malecón Cisneros 1470, tel. 01/441-0389, www.senoriodesulco.com, noon–midnight Mon.–Sat., noon–5 p.m. Sun., US$8–16) also has an extravagant daily lunch buffet and a range of seafood plates. Try the chupe de camarones, a cream-based soup full of sea shrimp, yellow potatoes, and ají pepper.

We think Lima’s time-honored seaside gourmet restaurant, Rosa Naútica, is a bit faded. But a good contender, Costanera 700 (El Ejército 421, tel. 01/421-4635, noon–5 p.m. and 7–11 p.m. Mon.–Sat., noon–5 p.m. Sun., US$20), is gaining ground and has been repeatedly voted one of the best restaurants in Lima. This is a good place to come for an elegant array of both Peruvian and international cuisine.