Cusco's Plaza de Armas is one of the great main squares of the Americas — Inca walls below, colonial portales around, the Cathedral and the Compañía floodlit at night. The best seats in the city are the second-floor balconies above it. Here is how they work.
The balcony tradition
The colonial arcades around the square — Portal de Carnes, Portal Comercio, Portal de Panes — hide restaurants on their upper floors, and the oldest houses kept their wooden balconies. A table at one gives you the whole theater of the plaza: processions, festivals, evening light on the Cathedral's towers.
What to know before you go
- Balcony tables are scarce. Most houses have only a handful; they are assigned first to diners who reserved and asked.
- Book ahead and say it. Reserve online and write 'balcony table please' in the notes; confirm on arrival.
- Timing: lunch is relaxed; sunset (5:30–6:30 pm) is the photograph; 7–9 pm is peak demand.
- It gets cool after dark at 3,400 m — bring a layer even if the afternoon was warm.
Dinner over the square: LIMO
At LIMO peruano nikkei — Portal de Carnes 236, second floor — the balcony looks straight across the plaza to the Cathedral, and the kitchen serves Peruvian-Japanese cooking to match the view: ceviche nikkei, truffled trout nigiri, maki volcán and Nikkei Ramen (the sushi guide, and what nikkei means). Open every day 12:00 pm–10:00 pm; book online 24/7 and request the balcony.
Beyond the plaza
If you want the same quality without the square, the family's other houses cover the map — traditional Cusquenian in San Blas, chifa a block away, novoandina inside a museum — all linked from the reservation page footer.