La Cocina de la Senora Pu, Guatemala City

La Cocina de la Senora Pu (Mrs. Pu’s Kitchen) is one of a new wave of restaurants opening up in the historic Zone 1 of Guatemala City.

After years in the culinary wilderness, Zone 1 is making something of a comeback. On the same road as Senora Pu, as it known to locals, there are already three other new restaurants catering to the trendier crowd that has started to frequent the area.

Head chef Rosa Pu is an anthropologist by training who offers a modern twist on traditional Mayan dishes. In a tiny little restaurant, she whips up amazing food on a four-burner stove, just feet away from her guests.

To give you an idea of the size of the place, only 10 people can sit and eat at the same time. And that is a squeeze. However, at lunchtime Senora Pu is regularly full with office workers from the surrounding office blocks that have discovered this hidden gem, and in the evening it is the turn of curious trendy types to see what their favorite blogger has been talking about.

The variety of meats on offer ranges from chicken and duck to pigeon, rabbit and pig. In Mayan cooking, it is the sauce that is generally the highlight of the dish, and Senora Pu stays true to that tradition.

In fact, the entire menu takes the Mayan tradition and deconstructs it, pulling certain elements together in a truly original offering. If anyone told you that Guatemalan cooking was stodgy and meaty, take a trip to Senora Pu to have those expectations blown out of the water.

Main dishes range from $5–9 and a local beer will add an extra $3 to your bill. It’s not cheap by local standards, but it’s worth getting away from the norm for one night.

La Cocina de la Senora Pu

6a Avenida A

10-16 Zona 1

Guatemala City, Guatemala