Wallqa / Cordon Bleu Cooking School/ Miraflores

[RT Gooch]

Wallqa Restaurant (former name: El Taller)
in the Le Cordon Bleu Cooking School
Av. Vasco Núñez de Balboa 530
Miraflores - 617-8300 x8329 Reservations REQUIRED
Monday-Friday 1:00-3:00 and Monday-Saturday 8:00-10:30



RT here. Many people know of Le Cordon Bleu and its stellar reputation as a cooking school. But the fact that some of their schools -- including the one in Lima -- have a restaurant is a pretty well-kept secret.

Well, tell your friends... the restaurant in Miraflores (El Taller) is a great way to eat some high-quality food at a really, really reasonable price.

Reservations are required, and they are pretty good at dealing with bad Spanish over the phone.

Since they are in training, the staff there really cares. A lot. Maybe a little too much, but what can you do? Anyway, we arrived and were seated and greeted by a waiter, with the supervisor hovering nearby. The bartender stopped by, too, with his list of drinks, hoping that we would order something complicated. Sadly, we kept it simple, and he sulked away, back to the bar.

First they brought us a 'shot' of ceviche as a courtesia. (click on all photos to see a larger version)


Part of the fun is watching the students scurrying in the kitchen. The shot was the work of three people. For our appetizers, I had pasta with shrimp (I don't remember what the sauce was, but it was tasty), and my date had a Spanish Omelete (tortilla Espanola).


Our main dishes were a Lomo Saltado (I stick with the classics) and a Corvina for my amiga.

My lomo was delicious, and my date raved about her fish. She let me taste a little of her food, and I agree with her -- it was pretty awesome.

We had a hard time deciding on which dessert options to select, so the waiter offered to bring us small portions of all three.


They were all as good as they looked.

And to top it all off, the food there is pretty damn cheap, considering the quality. You can see the prices if you go to the school's website and nose around, but they did the menu one better: Any three course dinner (your choice from the menu) was just 25 soles. Drinks were extra (and they are normal-priced), and the price does not include the tip. But, we got out of there for way less than 80 soles for the entire meal, and I considered that a real bargain.


I will return to this restaurant. I already have four visits under my belt. The food is good, the prices are better, and it makes for a great date. Just don't tell anyone about it!

 

[RT Gooch]

Adapted from my March, 2011 Field Report

One of my favorite places lately is the El Taller restaurant at the Le Cordon Bleu cooking school in Miraflores (Av. Vasco Núñez de Balboa 530, reservations required: 617-8300 x8353). You get some real high-quality eats for virtually free. There’s the daily lunch menu for 17 soles, and for 25 soles at dinner, you get an appetizer, main dish and dessert, picking anything you would want off of the menu.

Between my amigo and myself, we had a salmon tartar, gazpacho, lasagna, some random fish dish, chocolate cake, and a creme brulee. Other than the cake being a little boring, everything was delicious. I had never eaten a gazpacho before, and I am not sure what I expected, but I enjoyed it a lot.

 

[RT Gooch]

RT here. I passed by the Cordon Bleu in the daytime, so I was able to get a shot of the building and street sign. (click on the photos for a larger view)



An added bonus was that a class was apparently just getting out, so I got to see a flock of pretty girls leaving the building. When I am not imagining these girls in bed, I am pretty much dreaming about them cooking for me, so this was an epic event!

 

[RT Gooch]

RT here.

The Cordon Bleu has taken over the out-of-business restaurant immediately to the right of their building, and the cooking school restaurant now has classier digs. It is larger, and has a much more 'restaurant-y' feel, including a bar and a lounge area if you are waiting on your friends.

They've changed the name from El Taller to Wallqa Restaurant. Also changed is the daily lunch special. According to the email I received from them today, their 30 Sol special (appetizer, main dish, dessert) is available both day and night. According to the manager/instructor/boss guy, they still do not take walk-ins, so call for a reserva. The school's website still reflects the old name and the lunch special.

I have updated the first post in this thread to reflect the update and changed the thread title. Click on the image below to see a larger version of their current menu.

 

[sierrabenz99]

I ate at el Taller (now Wallqa) twice last month -- the first time with friends, the second alone. Both times I had the shrimp satay as my appetizer (exccellent!), then fish as my main course the first time and lomo the second time (both excellent), followed by great desserts (forget what I had the first time, the second it was a mango jello over quinoa ice cream, which was outstanding). The first time about four other tables were occupied, but the second time there was 0nly one other table with four people. Always great to watch the students -- there are more people preparing and serving your meal than patrons. I counted thirteen students plus the instructor in the kitchen and three different people served me on my second visit. It's a little hard to find but absolutely worth the visit.

 

[RT Gooch]

RT here. The current dinner price at Wallqa is 30 soles, and it remains a bargain.

Here's what we enjoyed on our visit last week: A 'courtesa' sample of cebiche, a frozen limonada, meat cannellonis as an appetizer, A hefty piece of salmon wist curried rice, and for dessert... a brownie topped with ice crean with some chocolate syrup floating on top.

Delicious (and a bargain) as always. My date was a little out of her element, so she just had whatever I ordered, so we missed out on some extra photo opportunities.

 

[RT Gooch]

From February... Cannenoli and Pasta with shrimps and scallops.

They have a new deal: Appetizer and main course for 25 soles. Supposedly the special is lunch 0nly, but I walked in at dinnertime (without a reservation) and asked nicely, and they whipped up the daily special for me.

If you go to their website, you can sign up to receive the daily specials in time to make lunch plans.

 

[RT Gooch]

There's a nice write-up of Wallqa on the Peru this Week website.

 

[RT Gooch]

RT here. I edited the original post to reflect the restaurant's new, expanded hours, and I added a photo of the restaurant itself. It is directly to the right of the Cordon Bleu building. You can see the Cordon Bleu in the left-hand corner of the photo.

The daily lunch 'menu' special is 25 soles and it includes a soft drink. The special changes daily. At dinner, 55 soles gets you a welcome drink and three courses (your choice) off the regular menu, plus coffee or tea. A bargain at $20.

 

[RT Gooch]

Here's the business card for Wallqa. Click to enlarge.