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Count on finding lots of fresh fish and tropical fruits on the menu, whether at a roadside soda (casual eatery) serving comida tipica (typical food) or a sophisticated restaurant in Dominical or Ojochal. Up in the mountains, don't miss out on eating fresh, farmed trout. The food at most remote eco-lodges is excellent.
Tangy, tart, and refreshing, this ultrasophisticated restaurant lives up to its name, both in its daring decor and inventive fusion menu spanning the globe from the Far East, across the Mediterranean to chef Marcella Marciano's culinary homeland, France. The menu careens from classic French escargots and moules marinières to Japanese wasabi-spiced shrimp, to Indian chicken curry. Make a light meal of international tapas, say: Korean steamed kimchi-and-shiitake dumplings, Belgian cheese croquettes, or a duo of salmon and tuna tartare. Local seafood makes appearances as Greek-style fish fillet with almonds and caper butter or in a seafood-packed umami sushi bowl. The signature seafood platter reigns supreme with lobster, mussels, calamari, and shrimp bathed in a creamy lemon-and-garlic sauce. Craft beers are on tap, along with a wide-ranging wine list. Presentation is exquisite. Desserts are de rigueur; if you like chocolate, don't pass up the divine choco-choco flourless chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream. In the off season (December through March), it's open only 7--10 am.
Picture a dream location: a high headland jutting out into the sea with vistas up and down the coast, and throw in a breeze-swept terrace, polished service, a boat-shape bar, and some fine seaside cuisine, and you are at La Parcela. The turquoise and white decor is reminiscent of Greece, the sunsets are spectacular, and shrimp and lobster dishes are pricey but excellent. A perfect, but less expensive, light lunch is the beer-battered fish with crunchy carrot and cabbage salad, served with guacamole. Reasonably priced appetizers include ceviche, fried calamari, and clams in white-wine sauce. Desserts here are rich and substantial enough to share. If you're just passing through Dominical, this is a good place for a cold beer and an appetizer, or a naturale, a tall glass of freshly whipped fruit juice.
Head to this casually chic, open-air beachfront restaurant for the most upscale and memorable dining, with a dazzling, postcard-perfect beach view and the most sophisticated menu in the Puerto Jiménez area. Standouts on the tantalizing menu include a four-soup sampler: black bean with egg, avocado, and cilantro; warm carrot ginger with red-pepper coulis; and a cold, spicy gazpacho as well as a green version. Fish cakes with sesame-cabbage slaw and ginger marmalade come with heaps of homemade chips. Mahimahi can be prepared tropical style, with a spicy Veracruz sauce, or in garlic butter. Vegetarian options include vegetable stir-fry with tofu, vegetable burritos, and pasta puttanesca. Wines and craft beers, along with exotic fruit drinks, are on tap. Save room for homemade ice cream and brownies. Portions are huge and served with style. The restaurant is owned by Iguana Lodge and high standards of service apply at both. Tuesday is BBQ night; come early to watch the sunset. Be aware that menu prices do not include tax and service, which adds another 23%.
For consistently good American-style food, you can't beat this marina restaurant with a view of expensive yachts and sportfishing boats. Locals complain that the prices are high, but portions are hefty and include generous salads, sizzling hamburgers, and a delicious grilled dorado sandwich with a mountain of fries. Shrimp and fish plates are pricier ($15 to $22) but they couldn't be fresher, straight off the local boats. It's open for breakfast, too. While you're waiting for your order, take advantage of the free Wi-Fi.
Fortunately for food lovers, the "Good Luck Café" serves truly astonishing vegetarian food, along with intriguing exotic juices and thick fruit smoothies. The homemade yogurt is a revelation: light, almost fluffy, and full of flavor, served over a cornucopia of fruits, sprinkled with the café's own granola, and mixed into refreshing fruit-flavored lassis. Healthful sandwiches include excellent hummus, and hot daily specials might include curried hearts of palm or juicy veggie burgers. Their espresso machine makes a mean cup of joe and the cappuccino pairs perfectly with the fudgy brownie or brown-sugar oatmeal square for the road. Bring your laptop and use the Wi-Fi. It's open 8 to 5. Sometimes open for dinner in high season, April to July. Budget travelers might want to stay the night at their simple rooms.
Pull up a counter stool or sit at a table on the popular riverside terrace at this friendly café with creative vegetarian and gluten-free dishes, organic juices, local and imported craft beers on tap, kombuchas, and herbal teas. Desserts are not only gluten-free, they are addictive: the chocolate papaya pie combines dark chocolate with papaya to make a rich mousse filling for a date, almond, and coconut crust. For breakfast, try a hearty Tico plate chock-full of brown rice and pinto beans, topped by a mini-omelet with red peppers, spring onions, local cheeses, tomato, avocado, and plantains—with chipotle sauce on the side. A lighter option is smashed avocados on toast with goat cheese sprinkled with pink salt. It's open 6:30 am to 9 pm daily.
With a view over the Barú estuary, this open-air Japanese restaurant serves local seafood in all the usual rolls and sashimi, with some tropical twists, plus imported Sapporo beer, sake, or green tea. Dark bamboo furniture, Japanese lanterns, and colored globes set the modern, minimalist scene, while smooth, jazzy music sets a cool mood. Try the Tico Roll, with spicy shrimp, avocado, cucumber, and mango, wrapped in sweet plantain; or dig into the ahi poke salad, with cubes of raw tuna marinated in sesame oil, chili, and soy sauce, atop a Hawaiian salad sprinkled with peanuts or almonds. You can perch on a stool at the counter to watch the sushi chefs at work.
The kind of extraordinary restaurant you hope to stumble on in the most unlikely place, this intimate five-table wood-and-bamboo dining room is presided over by chef Esteban Acuña, whose family owns the attached small hotel. Drawing on his California training, Acuña gives local ingredients contemporary twists, flavored with herbs from the adjoining garden. Creamy soups are a meal in themselves. Trout, tuna, chicken, and tofu arrive in curry, vodka, red wine, and wasabi sauces. Desserts are delectable, so save some room.
Beer-battered onion rings, fresh hand-cut fries, and fried pickles have taken Dominical by storm at this laid-back alfresco kiosk in the Pueblo del Río complex on the riverfront. The fish tacos are outstanding—crispy beer-battered fish fillets accompanied by guacamole, red cabbage, and a spicy sauce are folded into a thin soft tortilla. You can substitute fried shrimp or go vegetarian with black beans and vegetables. The tortillas even come in a gluten-free version. Ultra-healthy grilled fish and vegetables are also on the menu, along with less healthy but delicious classic fish-and-chips. Beer, sodas, and fruit smoothies wash it all down. Seating is at wooden benches and tables on a covered wood patio.
Perched on the boulder-strewn bank of the rushing Savegre River, this handsome blond-wood-and-stone rancho specializes in serving up fresh trout in myriad ways at riverside tables, perfect for bird-watching. If you're not a fan of fish, try the kuku tamu, a chicken breast sandwich with chiverre (black seed squash) preserve, red onion, fresh cheese, mustard, and arugula. The coffee (kahawa in Swahili) is excellent, as are the fruit smoothies and craft beers.
This kitschy Italian spot within earshot of the surf serves savory bruschetta and 16 varieties of the town's most authentic pizza: crispy, with a thin crust, Neapolitan-style. The four-seasons pizza is a triumph, with thin, spicy pepperoni, flavorful ham, olives, eggplant, peppers, onion, and zucchini. The medium size is more than big enough for two. Save room for the knockout gnocchi, pillow-soft dumplings made with potatoes and cheese and bathed in olive oil and rosemary. Other choices include tortelloni in cream sauce and filet mignon. Tiramisu, piled high with whipped cream, and key lime pie do dessert duty. Japanese lanterns add a colorful touch, along with fuchsia and lime tablecloths. To find the place, look for the "La Piña" sign.
If you want to enjoy a little local atmosphere, join the anglers, families, and backpackers at this tiny restaurant that has spilled over into a large waterfront garden. You can spend $9 for a plate of grilled fish or $36 on lobster. The menu is truly vast, with more than 50 platos fuertes (main courses) that run the gamut from seafood rice to whole lobsters to sirloin steaks. Wash it down with the only draft beer served in town, including microbrews, and gaze out at the Golfo Dulce. Marking the center of the dining area is a massive tree growing through the rafters. An added bonus: there's free Wi-Fi.
A giant, colorful chorreador, the traditional wooden stand for making coffee with a socklike filter, marks the spot for this tiny but sophisticated café, a showplace for the award-winning, high-altitude coffee from the nearby Tarrazú coffee region. Watch barristas expertly concoct flavorful espresso and cappuccino, complete with artistic swirls in the milk foam.
Besides crusty baguettes, buttery croissants, and divine pastries to go, this French bakery near the entrance to Ojochal serves hearty breakfast omelets and light lunches of fish soup, sandwiches, quiches, crepes, salads, and mussels with French fries. Customers perch on high stools at tables and counters in this casual thatch-roof café, many with their laptops open, taking advantage of the free Wi-Fi. Take-out dishes (which are great for picnics) include pork rillettes, smoked trout and salmon, and stuffed crabs.
Spice up your day with skewers of Indonesian satays and generous bowls of peanutty pad Thai and red or green curry at this hip open-air caravansary under a high corrugated-metal green roof. The kitchen, in a gaily painted converted bus, turns out portions large enough to share. Craft beers are on tap, along with organic kombucha. Less healthy but also fruity is the signature cocktail, a jalapeño-spiced pineapple margarita; on Thursday, there are two-for-one daiquiris. Service is as polished and friendly as the long, wooden communal tables. It's open from 12:30 to 9 pm daily.
On a porch with a palm-fringed beach view, this thatch-roof restaurant is open year-round and has an eclectic menu ranging from spicy quesadillas and burritos to pizza and fresh fish. There's a touch of Thai here, too; one of the most popular dishes is mahimahi in a coconut-curry sauce. The hearty bar food includes chicken wings, and there are barbecue specials on Friday nights. Homemade desserts are decadent and delicious, including a standout carrot cake, and a rich dark-chocolate brownie. Breakfasts are huge and hearty, featuring giant burritos. Credit cards are accepted but incur an extra 5% fee.
Among the handful of sodas in town serving typical Costa Rican food, this one is notable for its affordably priced whole fish and hearty portions of seafood served on a breezy veranda. Stick to the desayuno típico for breakfast, with traditional rice and beans and eggs, starting at 7 am. The omelets are great, but they come with limp french fries, the bane of tico restaurants. There are three big TV screens to keep you company while you eat, and loud traditional music blaring from the rafters of the burlap-bag covered ceiling.
This simple alfresco restaurant in the heart of Puerto Jiménez is the most likely spot to meet locals and run into just about every visitor in town, making it a good place to pick up information. It serves decent comida típica, salads, pasta, reliably fresh seafood, and excellent fruit smoothies. For a taste of home, the menu has several "fast food" options ranging from burgers and hot dogs to tacos and chicken wings.
This pleasant terrace restaurant jutting out over the water has the best harbor view in Golfito, along with jaunty nautical decor and the coolest breezes in town. The seafood-heavy lineup includes grilled whole fish served in a variety of ways, including Caribbean style with coconut milk and a side of patacones (fried, mashed plantain). Tuna carpaccio and occasional sushi specials add a touch of sophistication. For a light lunch, the fish tacos are standouts—plenty of perfectly breaded and lightly fried fish plus fresh slaw and crispy calamari tossed on top. Salads are also on the menu, along with a few vegetarian dishes. The bar is a great place to hang out, particularly during televised sports events when fans gather to watch the two large flat-screen TVs. Grab a bucket of six beers for $12 all day long. Inexpensive, motel-style rooms and larger suites with the same view are available for rent.
This alfresco restaurant tucked beside a bona fide Boeing 727 (minus the engine) delivers generous portions of upscale pastas, succulent meats, and tasty fish and seafood, including Peruvian-style ceviches. During the day kids can frolic in the swimming pool and adults can order spicy tropical chicken wings. If you've had one too many cocktails, you can see if a room is available in the plane that operates as a BnB.
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