Huánuco's food scene is centred on traditional Peruvian highland cooking. The local speciality is picante de cuy — guinea pig in a spiced peanut sauce — which appears on menus throughout the city. The market streets around the central market are the best place to eat cheaply: stalls serve heaping plates of caldo de gallina (hen broth with noodles and potatoes), lomo saltado, and ceviche of fresh river fish. Several restaurants on and near the Plaza de Armas serve a more formal menu turistico at lunchtime for a few soles.
Café-style places cluster around the plaza and along Jirón General Prado, serving coffee, fresh juices, and pastries. The coffee here is worth noting — this is a coffee-growing region, and local beans appear in some cafes at a quality significantly above what you'd expect in a provincial Andean city.