The Seven Best Restaurants in Asunción
Where to eat well in Paraguay's capital: a 100% scientific guide.
Something’s happening with the foodie scene in Asunción: suddenly, there is one.
Maybe the winds of change are blowing from São Paulo or La Paz. Perhaps it’s a new generation of chefs that have trained in Lima and Mexico and brought back the vogue for small plates, emulsions and foam. It could simply be that Paraguay’s agro-export boom has created a small upper class able to splash out on fine dining.
Whatever it is, visitors to and residents of Paraguay’s capital need no longer subsist on mandioca, steak and more steak. Those with some spending money can now eat really well in the madre de ciudades. It’s hard to keep up with the new openings: a wildly popular Mexican-owned taco joint in Fernando de la Mora, sushi served omakase-style by a Japanese-Paraguayan chef in Luque.
But for me, the most interesting places are those revitalising Paraguay’s rich culinary heritage and native ingredients: not just corn a thousand ways, but apepu orange glaze on short ribs, earthy-sweet roast batata dipped in mayo with ky'ỹi pepper, cocktails the colour of imperial purple and infused with the Muscadine grape-like yvapurũ.
Here, I emphasise homegrown, single-location restaurants rather than foreign franchises — La Cabrera, for example — which get plenty of custom as it is. While the sector is booming, food and restaurant criticism remains in its infancy in Paraguay. The expectation, several proprietors have told me, is that restaurants will pay for coverage or provide the dining experience for free, and even furnish the quote-unquote journalist with chunks of pre-written text.
So, just for the avoidance of doubt, I haven’t accepted any freebies or cash bribes from anyone in exchange for a glowing write-up. These are simply places that I personally recommend and want to see continue to thrive. Buen provecho!
Óga
Full disclosure: since I featured Óga in my NYT guide to Asunción earlier this year, I’ve become friends with owner-chefs Romi and Beto. But even if I hated their guts, I would still recommend their unpretentious, quietly innovative restaurant on a quiet residential street on the edge of Las Mercedes. The menu evolves with the seasons and according to what’s available: think surubí ceviche; a crispy chipa guazú with confit cherries; and tapa cuadril seared to perfection on the grill. The creativity extends to the drinks — featuring combinations of national rum, naranja hai (bitter orange) and yerba mate syrups, and distilled mandioca spirit — and the desserts, with a modern take on kiveve (corn churros, cream and squash sorbet) currently on offer. For me, Óga is the standard-bearer of the New Paraguayan Cuisine.
Toro
In a crowded market for barbecue, Toro stands out for its superb beef, the relaxed-yet-attentive service, and the finely crafted extras on the menu. Some of the starters push the envelope — tongue a la parrilla; beef tartar with roast bone marrow; creamy sweetbreads — although there’s also pork sausage, and provolone with charred peppers and serrano ham. The tomahawk and prime rib steak are aged for at least thirty days at Señor Parrilla, Toro’s sister carnicería. The sides are solid and, rather than an afterthought, the desserts are an attraction in their own right: the deconstructed queso paraguay with dulce de mamón is one of the best postres I’ve had in years, and I’ve got my eye on the crêpe flambé with dulce de leche for next time.
Pez de Mar Dulce
This is Nikkei (Japanese-Peruvian fusion) with an almost imperceptible Paraguayan twist. Head chef and owner José Castro Mendivil — a leading figure in the culinary scenes of Lima and Buenos Aires — set up shop in Asunción in 2021, seeking to make sushi superstars out of the salmon and surubí that swim the Paraguay and Paraná rivers. The result is perhaps the most interesting gastronomic offering in the country, with maki, nigiri, anticuchos (beef heart skewers) and gallina chijaukai (hoisin chicken) jostling for space with pork crackling and avocado cubes dusted in togarashi (Japanese seven spice) and served in tiger milk. The restaurant, easily the best on the newly pedestrianised La Cuadrita, has just been made over and is very easy on the eye. Skip breakfast and book for the Sunday lunch buffet to try a little of everything.
1688
Created by Dani and Belén Fernández in 2015, 1688 — so named for its number on Calle Austria, not England’s Glorious Revolution — has gone from strength to strength in the past decade. The sisters acquired their love for indulgent stews and sauces around the kitchen table with their nonna, and successfully transmit that sense of abundance and comfort. There are some classic Italian/rioplatense dishes: lasagna, milanesa a la parmagiana, ossobuco, home-made tagliatelle al funghi porcini. But they also do a succulent tenderloin in shitake mushroom sauce, as well as braised lamb with guava and wild chili harvested by the Ayoreo people of the Chaco. Head upstairs for the intimate bar Mala Vecina, which takes mixology in intriguing directions and plates up first-rate pizza and bocaditos in its own right.
Casa Manolo
OK, I’m stretching the brief here. But Casa Manolo, a lunch spot in Areguá — technically within the outer limit of Gran Asunción — is worth the drive. Valencian owner-chef Manuel Fernández oversees the kitchen, situated inside a small, colonial-style home. He does few dishes, but does them very well: a fluffy tortilla española, prawns in garlic-infused oil that you’ll want to mop up with bread, traditional Valencian paella and the dark variety infused with cuttlefish ink, and a tasty flan to round things off. Fernández is nearly 80, and the servers are mostly local kids, so be patient: part of the appeal is sitting back in the garden and watching the birds swoop through the trees. They don’t take card, so bring cash or be ready to do a transfer.
Pakuri
Located in a collision of upcycled shipping containers, there’s also a Peruvian ying here to the Paraguayan yang. Sommelier José Miguel Burga (Peru) and Chef Sofía Pfannl (Paraguay) met while working at Central in Lima, named the World’s Best Restaurant in 2023. The result: Pakuri — named after a little-used, bittersweet fruit native to Paraguayan forests — which opened in 2017, one of the first high-end eateries to drizzle some stardust over Paraguay’s traditionally stolid fare. They do a mouthwatering costilla de cerdo hu’iti (crispy pork rib), and in May they debuted the VoriRamen: a union of Japanese broth-making techniques with vori-vori, the classic (and officially world-beating) Paraguayan cornmeal stew. The menu is entirely gluten-free, the wine selection is fantastic, and the restaurant is pet friendly: the couple’s cat roams freely in and out from the patio.
Táva Comedor
Though it started out in Hohenau, Itapúa, in November 2020, Táva was transplanted to the historic centre of Asunción at the start of this year. It’s fair to say it was a smart move. The menu skews towards Paraguayan soul food (bife koygua, piracaldo, out-of-this-world empanadas) with an Asian-fusion touch. Head chef Luis “Lucho” Paredes is a master of meat and fish, scouring the early-morning markets for lesser-known cuts and the catch of the day, which he smokes, slow-cooks, or stuffs into dumplings. Owner Matías Insaurralde — by day a software engineer, by night a jazz enthusiast — can often be found working the floor, pouring out fine Uruguayan wines and jamming with the guest musicians. The team have created a real sense of fun and community, and are re-opening later this month after an extensive refurb.
What do you make of my picks? Where would you take friends or family to show them the essence of Paraguayan cuisine? Should Sukiyaki, Gangnam, Mburicao, Cocina Clandestina or Shopping del Pescado be on this list? Am I unfairly ignoring some amazing Ethiopian place in Limpio? Hit the button to let me know: