Recommendation : Las Velas – Isla del Sol

Las Velas, or translated as “The Candles” is located in Yumani and serves organic food cooked by a gourmet chef.  It is called Las Velas because at night, the place is only lit by candlelight.

Along with a couple of other travellers I had met in Isla del Sol, we decided to have dinner in this quaint little restaurant, nestled within the Eucalyptus forest and next to a wonderful view of Lake Titicaca. 

There isn’t an extensive selection in their menu.  Other than vegetarian pizza, spaghetti, cannelloni and 1 other pasta dish, their main house specialty would be the trout baked in white wine and vegetables in an aluminium foil. 

Unlike all the other restaurants that one can find in Yumani, chef Pablo takes effort in preparing your dish and is prepared only upon order, thus we waited for about 45 mins before our trout was ready.  The wait was worth it, as this was probably the best trout I had so far in South America, considering that all other places would generally be frying it. 

The trout was served with a good sized portion of quinoa (perfect for soaking up the gravy from the trout!) and steamed vegetables.

Considering that Pablo was the only person in the restaurant at the time, and doing all the preparation, cooking, serving etc., he actually took time to talk to us after our meal was served on table. 

We ended the meal with a house drink made up of some local liqueur that was served hot.  This was apparently an extremely good drink for creating warmth within the body, due to the high alcohol level in the drink.  Perfect for a night cap in the chilly Isla del Sol!

Recommended to bring a headlamp or a torchlight if having a meal at night since there are no lighted pathways around the restaurant, and toilet usage is Inca style among the Eucalyptus forest!

Great place for not only seeing the sunset, but also for star gazing as it was in total darkness when we left Las Velas and the night sky was covered with stars.  We ended up being mesmerised by the stars in the sky for quite some time before we finally made a move!