Food
What Should I Eat in Costa Rica?
Costa Rican food is simple, fresh and regional. Here is what to order, where to order it, and what surprises most first-time visitors.
The dishes to try
- Gallo pinto — rice and beans with coriander and Salsa Lizano, the national breakfast.
- Casado — the everyday lunch plate: rice, beans, salad, plantain and a protein.
- Chifrijo — rice, beans, fried pork and pico de gallo, usually a bar snack.
- Olla de carne — slow beef and root-vegetable stew, best in the highlands on a cool day.
- Ceviche — usually corvina or tilapia, lime-cured, often served with soda crackers.
- Patacones — twice-fried green plantain, salty and addictive.
- Chorreadas — sweetcorn pancakes with sour cream, common in Guanacaste.
- Caribbean rice and beans — cooked in coconut milk with thyme and chilli, a completely different cuisine from the Central Valley.
- Rondón — slow-cooked coconut seafood stew on the Caribbean coast, usually order-ahead.
Coffee and fruit
- Costa Rican coffee is largely arabica grown at altitude; the best cafés now serve single-farm roasts.
- Ask for cafe chorreado — coffee poured through a cloth sock filter.
- Try guanabana, cas, mamon chino and pejibaye at markets — none of them taste like anything at home.
Where to eat
- Sodas are small family restaurants with a set daily plate. They are the best value in the country and where you will eat best.
- Ferias (farmers markets) run on weekend mornings in most towns.
- San Jose"s Barrio Escalante has the country"s densest modern restaurant scene.
Practical notes
- Tap water is safe to drink in most of the country, including San Jose, Arenal and Monteverde.
- A 10% service charge is usually already included on the bill.
- Vegetarians do fine: casados are easily made without meat, and beans are everywhere.