Food of Costa Rica Vacation.

I'm thinking of writing about this trip in separate categories to assist in vacation planning for others. Mostly because Debi's and Devon's posts were enlightening and certainly helped us in figuring out what to do for the 10 day trip. But also because I've clumped those categories in my brain already.

So, without further ado, here's some info about our dining experience in CR!

We went with bottled water or bottled soda (or beer) without ice for as much of the trip as possible. "Sin hielo" came in handy. Brushed our teeth with bottled water for 10 days to take extra precaution! Especially when I reread devon's post about Patrick + Montezuma. We stocked up on some Tums, Pepto, Immodium, and Levaquin (antibiotic). Ya, we HATE diarrhea. :)

Most of our foodstuffs were just ok and I feel lucky to not ever be tired of a sweet plantain "banana". Yummy, always, mmmmm.

Typical Costa Rican meal = Casado.
"Casado" literally means married.
As in this is the meal you'd be fed if married to a CR woman.

Another typical meal.
Arroz con Pollo = Rice with Chicken

A "vegetarian" casado = a hunk of cheese instead of meat.

Birthday breakfast.
Seeing a theme here?
Lots of beans+rice (gallo pinto).

Produce section in a grocery store.
There's chayote (yum), plantains (yum), yuca (yuck), and other unidentifiables.

My favorite chip brand, but I prefer the plantain chips by Liliana.
Also, my name in high school spanish class (liliana, not plantain).

And for future travelers!

La Fortuna (found zero dessert items that were tasty):

• Anch'io - woodfired pizza with fresh basil (albahaca). nice ambiance and adjoining one of the only european breakfast places we saw (crepes!). looked good. The pizza was thin and crusty and fresh. Great the next day too after an overnight jaunt in our hotel mini fridge. Not good banana cake. $$
  
• Los Tucanes @ Tabacon Resort - overpriced fine dining, but convenient and no need for reservation during green season. Gross dessert. $$$$
  
• Soda La Parada - Huge portions, cheap. Don't get the vegetarian casado here. $
  
• Restaurante Que Rico - "Specializes" in pasta aka spaghetti. I got the chicken fajitas and they were consumed rapidly. Jamie got the spaghetti bolagnese and it was too sweet for me. Disgusting coffee flan. $$
  
• Choza de Laurel - v. touristy spot with plenty of parking. We think tour buses must stop here too because of its enormity and "authentic" feel. Big chicken rotisserie that slow cooks the meat and bunches of plantains hanging from the rafters. Food was fine, prices were better. $
  

Monteverde:

• Restaurant De Lucia - Recommended by a co-worker. Isolated from central triangle of town, we were the only people here for dinner so we got pretty chummy with our server (fun!). They humored my broken Spanish and I was pleasantly surprised by my meal. Orange chicken for me and chicken lasagne for Jamie. No dessert. $
  
• Restaurant @ Hotel Fonda Vela - Creepy hotel ala the Hotel Wayne in Honesdale, PA. For non-camp people, this was the hotel the camp dumped off the fired staffers. For camp people, definitely click on the two links I provided above - kinda funny. Anyway, the breakfast here was fine and the restaurant was better than the rooms (although still creepy in its own right). $
  

Manual Antonio Area:

• El Avion - Big a$$ airplane that was involved in the Iran-Contra scandal, bought for $3000, and built into a 3 story restaurant. Weird, huh? Awesome chicken nachos that quelled our post-swim/beach hunger. Decent chocolate cake, but gross ice cream. Actually, I think the CR ice cream just doesn't suit my palate (too much sugar?). $
• Rico Tico Bar @ Si Como No Hotel - Listen to howler monkeys yelp and crash through the forest while grabbing some sandwiches and drinks at the swim up bar. I got the veggie club and Jamie enjoyed his grilled chicken on focaccia. Spend 5,000 colones (about $10) at the hotel and get free admission to the 8:30pm movie playing every night in the 47 seat movie "theater". They ran the Bourne movies when we were there - awesome! Perfectly fine breakfast buffet spread in the morning, included in some reservation rates. $$
  
• Cafe Milagro - More sandwiches and on Fridays, order 2 sandwiches and get a free issue of Tico Times (local paper). "Known" for their coffee roasting and successful exportation. I got the Mono Loco drink (crazy monkey) which was blended coffee, chocolate, and banana. Pretty good. $
  

Jaco + Esterillos Oeste:

• Lemon Zest (Jaco) - The chef here is TOTALLY full of himself, but his food kinda warrants it. Amongst the limited cuisine options that CR had offered so far, the meal we had here shot directly to the top of the list. Robert Lemon adds creative flair to the traditional CR meal and tops it off with a modern, more international twist. He ran a restaurant in Miami forever so some of his stuff is even Cuban by design. Yum-o. A group of us split the ahi sashimi, lobster soup, goat cheese salad, lobster quesadilla, pork chops, and chicken milenese (his wife's fave). Chocolate molten lava cake was small and just ok, but ice cream was much better. I'd certainly return here! $$$
  
• Los Amigos (Jaco) - Definite tourist trap, but 2 for 1 "bigass smoothies" and their black bean and chicken quesadillas were tasty. Jamie got a BBQ chicken wrap and enjoyed. Don't be fooled by the traveling musicians though! Once they play for you, it's 2,000 colones they request ($4) and they don't accept coins. $$
  
• Anfiteatro @ Villa Calletas Resort (Herradura) - Super expensive for what you get. Worth taking the detour for the Pacific Ocean view, but I certainly would select other restaurants before this one. $$$$
  
• Poolside @ Marriott Los Suenos Resort (Herradura) - Yummy pina coladas and strawberry smoothies. In-n-out style french fries accompanied the kid's hot dog and the chicken quesadillas were the best on the entire trip (and you know we ate a lot of chicken quesadillas). Decent prices. $$
  
• L'Almentria (sp? Esterillos Oeste) - Owned by friends of Jamie's brother. Run for about a year, specializing in caribbean style seafood. The ingredients are mostly shopped for each morning (fish, veggies, etc.) and Karen prepares a set number of each item so get there earlier in the evening for more selection. Decent prices. $$
  
• Apartmentos Iguanas (Esterillos Oeste) - Buddy up to the owners during your stay and they might have you join their ocean view veranda for some home-cooked meals in gigantic portions. Tasty, tasty dinners with local flair and amazing breakfasts (french toast, garlicky bkfst potatoes, latkes). Ok, so maybe they pulled out all the stops because this place is run by Jamie's brother's family and his in-laws. $ <--free! :)