Puno | Cafe Bar de la Casa del corregidor: bar food and best coffee in the world

Let’s say that the first impact with Puno was not the most exciting one.

When we realized that our pick up missed our arrival at the bus terminal at 6am - after a long drive/rally from Cuzco- we decided to take the opportunity to walk around and get to the hotel.

Imagine a modern, fancy little town... well, Puno is exactly the opposite. Old, poor, not pretty.

But the reason why many tourists visit this place every year is because it sits on the Peruvian side of the Titicaca lake, the highest navigable lake in the world, extending in-between Peru and Bolivia. The lake hosts the Uros, an indigenous population living on artificial floating islands.

Another reason that makes Puno somehow attractive to tourists is the fact of being the Peruvian capital of folklore and, if you are lucky enough, you will end up in the main square surrounded by people dancing in traditional dresses, fireworks and Cusquena beer.

While it’s the night keeping the fun, the day goes by slowly if you choose Puno as the town for a recovery day while touring around Peru.

After a few Netflix hours, we decided to abandon the laziness and walk around the center, before grabbing a bite at the Cafe Bar of La Casa del corregidor, one of the oldest building in Puno, dating 17th-century, and now a small fair-trade arts-and-crafts store and a cafe.

The bar serves very good bar food, with fried queso peruano coated in quinoa, as well as homemade nachos (ticker and doughy compared to the Mexican version) served with fresh guacamole.

Ps. As Puno region is home of one of the best coffees in the world, drop the beer (at this altitude it would not be pleasant anyhow) and get yourself a nice cup of it!