Best of the Best

Maido

Maido

Lima

The 50
  • Accolades
  • The World’s Best Restaurant 2025, sponsored by S.Pellegrino & Acqua Panna

The history of Nikkei cuisine – the fusion of Peruvian and Japanese elements – cannot be told without recognising the importance of Maido and Mitsuharu 'Micha' Tsumura, the restaurant's ebullient head chef.

Tsumura – whose family arrived in Peru from Japan in 1889 – was born in Lima and later moved to the Rhode Island, US, to complete a culinary arts programme at Johnson & Wales University. Following this, he worked in Osaka, expanding his knowledge of Japanese food and techniques. A stint at Lima's Sheraton Hotel saw him return to his hometown, before he ventured out on his own, aged just 28, to open Maido.

When the restaurant opened, the menu drew more heavily from Tsumura's time in Japan, with Peruvian ingredients accenting the dishes. An early standout from the menu was the Nigiri à lo Pobre, which combined nigiri with the classic Peruvian dish of lomo a lo pobre, or beef 'poor man's style', with Angus skirt steak, plantain cream and a quail's egg sitting on top of sushi rice. Though the dish has evolved in the past 16 years and has migrated from the tasting menu to a la carte, it remains a restaurant staple.

Initially, Maido – which means 'welcome' or 'thanks for coming back' in Japanese – received little fanfare, but a turning point came during Lima's popular Mistura Food Festival in 2010. At the event, Tsumura served Tacuchaufa, his dish combining tacu-tacu (rice and beans), and chaufa, Chinese-Peruvian fried rice. The dish turned out to be Mistura's top-selling dish of the year, and Maido was officially on the radar of diners and the media alike.

Since then, awards and acclaim have been a near-constant in Maido's story. It appeared on the inaugural list of Latin America's 50 Best Restaurants in 2013, coming in at No.11, and won the title of Latin America's The Best Restaurant in Latin America in 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2023.

Additionally, Maido was named The Best Restaurant in South America, as part of The World's 50 Best Restaurants 2024, the same event at which the ever-popular Tsumura was voted by his peers as the winner of the Estrella Damm Chefs' Choice Award. These successes peaked in 2025, when Maido was announced as The World's Best Restaurant at the The World's 50 Best Restaurants at the awards ceremony, held in Turin, an achievement described by Tsumura as "a dream come true".

Tsumura is not the only member of the Maido team to have his moment in the spotlight. In 2023, Florencia Rey, Maido's head sommelier and liquid development director, was named the winner of Latin America's Best Sommelier Award. Under Rey, the beverage programme has evolved to encompass European and New World wines, sake, teas and other non-alcoholic drinks, with various pairings available with the 12-course tasting menu.

In 2024, Maido celebrated its 15-year anniversary by creating a tasting menu that featured one dish for each year of the restaurant's history. The menu revealed the kitchen's evolution, from incorporating Peruvian flavours into Japanese dishes to a more thorough investigation and integration of Peruvian culinary identity.

In recent years, Maido has increasingly referenced ingredients and traditions from the vast Peruvian Amazon, such as smoked pork, or cecina, which features in the restaurant's signature dish, asado de tiro 50 horas (short rib cooked for 50 hours and served with a sweet and savoury glaze, crispy garlic and a side of fried rice and cecina). Tsumura also frequently draws on the culinary traditions of Arequipa, a southern city near the border with Chile, incorporating traditional ingredients like mocontullo, a sun-dried bone used to add depth to stews and soups.

This ongoing creativity is supported by the work of Segundo Panduro, Maido's chief creative officer, whose role encompasses innovation in the restaurant's menu, service, presentation, design and more. Maido Hub, Tsumura's culinary research workshop, is located near the main restaurant and here, diners can enjoy an immersive dining experience, watching as the chefs work.

In 2026, Maido enters The 50 Best of the Best hall of fame, a fitting recognition for its 16 years of boundary pushing creativity.

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