Huacachina Restaurants

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Peru is famous throughout the world for the high quality of its national cuisine and it is famous in south america for the cheap prices of its gourmet food. This will not be obvious to you in Huacachina, where you will pay about twice as much for a meal as it will cost you 3 kilometers away in Ica. Is the price difference due to the added cost of transporting the food a few extra kilometers? Probably not. Is the cost due to a combination of high building rental prices in the tourist area, high prices for electricity, and restaurants happily overcharging visiting gringos? Definitely.

Each region of Peru has its own regional cuisine that is typical of the area. Ica has a very distinct type of cuisine, that causes people to either love it or hate it. Click here to read about the regional cuisine, ingredients, liquers, and desserts found in Ica.

Restaurants:

Huacachina Restaurants

Bamboo House - serves tasty international food, until 6 pm. Thai curry and Israeli falafel are popular dishes here. Also for sale are sandwhiches, crepes, deserts, and coffee. The owner is a friendly lady from England.

The House of Avinoam - a restaurant located inside the Carolas del Sur hostal, this funky restaurant is famous for its hippie vibe, interesting interior decoration, and its tasty thin-crust pizza. The House is very popular with Israeli tourists.

Desert Nights - tasty meals, cheap breakfasts. quite a few vegetarian options. Free WIFI for customers.

Mayo - Nothing fancy, but everything is tasty. An excellent option for typical peruvian food, such as ceviche and lomo saltado. The prices are reasonable.

The Pub - A new restaurant built by the same owner as Desert Nights.We expect the food should be quite good, and the prices high.

Trattoria el Farolito - We haven't eaten here yet. Their prices used to be high, but now they have some affordable options.

Where are these restaurants? Click here for our street map of Huacachina.

Restaurants in Ica

A great option for lunch is Soy Peru, Ica's gourmet seafood restaurant. There is no doubt that this restaurant has some of the tastiest food in Ica and unarguably the best presentation. It's ceviche and "arroz con mariscos" are quite delicious. The prices are very reasonable (most options will cost from 15 soles to 30 soles (from $5 to $10), although some of the portions are small. The restaurant features an open-air courtyard layout which makes it a refreshing place to eat when the weather is nice, but a bit chilly if the weather is poor. The restaurant is located on Calle Salavery, a couple of blocks from the Plaza de Armas, and half a block from the Posada de Sol hotel. Open during lunch times from noon to 4 PM every day, or with a special request for large groups they can open for dinner too. This is our favorite restaurant within 30 miles.

Popular with the gringo crowd, the restaurant "El Otro Peñoncito" is a small family-owned resaturant that offers Peruvian creole (comida criolla), fresh seafood, and international cuisine in a pleasant, upscale atmosphere. Hary Hernandez, the affable owner, continues a three-generations family tradition of restaurant ownership with friendly and highly personalized service. The prices are expensive by peruvian standards..The "first world" hygiene and pleasant decor make this an enjoyable destination for lunch or dinner. Located at Calle Bolviar 255, about half a block from the central plaza of Ica (the plaza de armas). This restaurant also has a bar that is open for clients during business hours, and Hary prepares a very good pisco sour.

Chifa Brillante, located on Avenida San Martin a couple of blocks before the Mormon church is perhaps Ica's best Chinese restaurant. Like almost all chifas - the Peruvian name for a chinese restaurant - the food isn't strictly Chinese, but rather a fusion of Peruvian flavors and ingredients with Chinese recipes.

An excellent choice for tourists looking to eat a tasty lunch without paying much, is McGrille on Avenida Cutervo. This restaurant serves cheap (7 soles) set meals at lunch time (from 12:40 to around 3 pm) every day, and lunches cost 9 soles on weekends and holidays. Each meal includes a starter plate (entrada), a main dish (segundo), and some kind of refreshment. The plates vary from day to day, and are usually tasty. Portion sizes are sufficient to satisfy an average tourist.

Near the plaza are a couple of vegetarian restaurants, who serve cheap and tasty vegetarian food at lunch time. Like most vegetarian restaurants in Peru, these veggie places are geared towards the wallet as well as the waistline, so the food will be affordable and healthy although unexciting and uninspiring.

On the plaza de armas, right next to Botica Libertad, there is a small restaurant that is well-liked by the Ican residents for its tasty fruit-flavored ice cream, made with a high content of exotic peruvian fruits such as lucuma, pecans, chocolate, passion fruit, coconut, strawberry, lime, etc. Two scoops on one cone will set you back just two soles, making this an excellent deal. It's pizza is 3 soles per large slice.

Restaurant Venezia, located on San Martin two or three blocks before the Mormon church, has tasty pasta and decent if uninspiring pizza. It is thicker crust than is available at Carola del Sur in Huacachina, but ounce for ounce costs about the same. For a tasty pasta dish that will definitely ruin a diet or two, try the tortellini with pecan sauce ( about $7). Next door is a small chocolate store to continue indulging. You are on vacation, right?

Grocery Stores and Supermarkets

Huacachina is too small to have any supermarkets, it does have a few tiny general stores such as the mini-market next to Casa de Arena. For your complete food shopping needs, we recommend stocking up at Tottus or Plaza Vea, two large, modern supermarkets in Ica. During the day, el Mercado Modelo is a great place to buy fresh fruits and vegetables at reasonable prices - however the area should be avoided at night.

There isn't any fruit or fresh vegetables available in Huacachina - so if you want these products, and plan on staying in Huacachina for a few days, buy them before coming here.

Bars

Bars in Huacachina

Most bars in Huacachina, like most discotecas, are connected to a specific hotel that owns them. A couple are independent establishments. A brief list follows:

• Casa de Arena Bar - a pool-side bar located in the Casa de Arena hostal, this is a great place to buy a cocktail or some beer and sit and talk for a few hours. This bar is usually open in the afternon, untiil 8 or 9 pm, when Casa de Arena's small dance club / bar opens.
• Da Silva's House - One of the only independent bars in Huacachina, this is a small, friendly and down-to-earth bar located next to the Casa de Arena hostal. It features an ever-changing selection of mixed drinks made from local ingredients such as pisco and algorrobina. With names like Fucking Huacachina and Sex on the Dunes, the drinks are clearly designed to attract the backpacker crowd. An average drink in this joint costs about 14 soles, but many nights have "happy hour" which features 2 drinks for 15 soles.
• Bolepo @ El Hospedaje del Barco - this restaurant located in the hostal seems to be pretty popular place to get a cocktail or a beer. There isn't dancing or music here, just eating and drinking.
• Mossone Hotel Bar - prepares a mean pisco sour
• The Pub - a new bar located right next to Da Silva House

Bars in Ica:

Most bars in Ica only sell beer, you will have no luck trying to buy a pisco sour or a cuba libre.

Barena - a bar that is popular with the locals, beers cost 5 soles. Located on Avenida San Martin and also on Calle Lima.

Karaoke Bars

There are various karaoke bars in Ica, including one in Norkys chicken. Most visitors here are locals. The location is about 20 meters from the Soyuz and Flores bus station, so if you arrive late at night with an irresistible urge to sing karaoke while drinking sangria or rum with coke, you now know where to go.

Dance Clubs

IMPORTANT NOTE: In Peru, when Peruvians use the English phrase "night club" it doesnt refer to a dance club, but clubs that feature strippers or prostitutes or both. If you are just looking to dance, and won't require the services of an employee of the sex industry, we recommend using the word "discoteca" which means dance club in spanish.

Discotecas in Huacachina:

There are no real discotecas in Huacachina. There are only small dance-club / bars, owned by specific hotels or hostals. These are used by members of that hostal although often non-guests are welcome to dance for free at the discoteca and are very welcome to purchase drinks. At these discotecas at least 95% of the patrons will be foreigners. A popular dance-club / bar is the one located inside Casa de Arena hostal.

Discotecas in Ica:

Ica has a much better selection of discotecas. Unsurprisingly, discotecas in Ica are visited primarily by peruvians and a small handful of foreign tourists. They are a great place to meet young Peruvian guys and girls, since discotecas are a major part of the dating scene in latin america. There are three main discotecas in Ica. They are likely to be very busy on Friday nights and Saturday nights:

The Who - entrance fee: 10 soles per person. Very popular with the locals, trendy. A place to "see and be seen". All types of music.

Oxygen - This bar is located on the road to Huacachina, just 5 minutes in car from Huacachina. So if you are craving a visit to a Peruvian discoteca, this will do the trick.

Efectos - entrance fee: 10 soles per person. Also quite popular. All types of music.

Barenna - entrance fee: 5 soles (includes small beer) A popular discoteca/bar on Calle Lima. Latin music.

Bogo - less popular, all types of music

Wineries and Bodegas

No section on drinking in Ica would be complete without a mention of the numerous bodegas and wineries in the area. These popular tourist destinations, and tours to visit them, are discussed in more detail in our Tours and Activities.