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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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
It's not always easy to find a great cup of coffee around Uvita, but the espresso here, brewed using organic coffee beans from the high-altitude Dota region, is excellent and ready by 7 am. Pair it with a homemade pastry for a heavenly morning. This hip café also serves salads, sandwiches, burgers, pizza, and divine desserts, including a tart lemon pie with clouds of perfect meringue topping. You also can buy Sibu's coffee beans to take home. Sit on the popular terrace and enjoy the free WI-Fi and laid-back vibe.
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