Living in Peru : your everyday companion

By Levi Novey

About three weeks ago Kilimanjaro Restaurant Café opened in the Lima district of Surco. Decorated like a rainforest, Kilimanjaro Restaurant Café is a thrill for kids. Its large interior features numerous life-size animatronic animals that periodically come to life and put on a show. 

My wife and I decided to take our 2 year old daughter this past weekend to check it out. After some early trepidation, our daughter became less nervous and fully embraced the experience (as did many other children). One of the best features of the experience from her point of view had to have been the specially designed animal seats. They aren’t your typical booster seats for children. They allow kids to sit up higher than usual to watch the action. During the show, our daughter got a little scared with the thunder of the simulated rainstorm, but otherwise really enjoyed watching the big animals move and roar. They include a crocodile, giraffe, butterfly, elephants, snake, tiger, gorillas, and monkeys.

The menu offers a range of traditional Peruvian dishes like lomo saltado and ají de gallina, as well as hamburgers, sandwiches, pastas, salads, and desserts. The food options are extremely kid friendly and a kids’ combo meal was available. The prices for meals ranged from 20 to 40 soles, with most falling in the 30 to 40 sol category. The service was good and the food came fast.

One thing I should note for adults is that during the lunchtime hours we were there, children were going nuts, running around, and enjoying themselves a lot. I’m not sure if this would be the case at dinner time, but I suspect it would be similar. So if you don’t enjoy kids, this might not be a good restaurant choice for you. Or you might want to hang out closer to the restaurant’s bar.

I couldn’t help but personally wonder if  Kilimanjaro Restaurant Café will be able to sustain its business in the long-term after the novelty wears off for Lima’s residents and visitors. My wife disagrees and thinks it will be a big hit for a long time to come. I must also admit that I was a little disappointed that the restaurant has so far made no effort to take advantage of the opportunity to at least provide some token educational information about Mt. Kilimanjaro or the animals in the restaurant. Granted, the mission of the restaurant is to entertain and be profitable, but even some basic conservation information would be nice when so many of these animals are endangered. Maybe these kinds of materials are in the works for the future.

While Lima has many great options for eating out, if you have kids or just like cool experiences, I think you will have a good time at the Kilimanjaro Restaurant Café . It is located at La Avenida Primavera 464 in Surco and can be reached by telephone at 372-7985.
 

tags : Kilimanjaro restaurant café kids Surco Lima

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8 Comments

# Randu says :
22 December, 2009 [ 12:09 ]

Que rico, ahora me voy a poder comer un elefante a la brasa...

# fabio says :
15 January, 2010 [ 01:53 ]

Actually, they've recently added some information about the Kilimanjaro and the animals that serve as attractions, as you said, it's very basic, but it's a nice touch.

# rafael espinoza says :
28 January, 2010 [ 10:04 ]

esta muy bonito el restaurant

# Jay says :
14 March, 2010 [ 08:35 ]

Hey, I want to know more about this restaurant? Are expensive prices really worthy? 

Is it always open? 

It seems to be nice, but really, is it?

Please give me more info! I want to go!

Thanks!

# ROCIO ESPINOZA says :
26 April, 2010 [ 12:59 ]

I visited the restaurant with a friend and our 5 year-olds. The kids were just thrilled! It is really a good option in Lima, since there are few educational places to visit. The "tree" at the entrance does provide info about ecology, which my son found interesting. I agree with Levy in which I doubt this would be a good choice after some months; it will wear out eventually when the novelty becomes too expected, but for the time being, let us enjoy it!!! 

# cliente insatisfecho says :
1 May, 2010 [ 03:32 ]

I´ts a copy of Rainforest cafe, thats it, a COPY

# Maria says :
5 October, 2010 [ 04:14 ]

Kids friendly restaurants rarely go out of business. ChucknCheese and Dandy Bear in Miami are almost always full to capacity on the weekends.

# Sandra Estremadoyro says :
19 January, 2011 [ 07:21 ]

KIlimanjaro es excatamente la copia del Rainforest, pero me parece que es una buena alternativa para Lima, algo totalmente diferente, me gusta !!!

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