Costa Rica Adventures

No visit to Costa Rica is complete without taking in a good sampling of the local food… don’t be one of those people affraid to try new stuff and eat only at the KFC (which by the way is rumored to have way better, plump juicy chicken compared to the stuff you get at a KFC in the states) or the Tony Romas in Escazu!

The food in Costa Rica isn’t extravagant or way out there as far as exotic food goes but its simple and tastes delicious. Often a meal will consist of rice and beans with some sort of protein (even at breakfast – they mix it with some sort of meat or sausage and call it pinto gallo) along with a side salad made from shredded lettuce with avocado… you will also find a good selection of fruit, plantain and yucca as well since they are big crops grown there. Yucca root is a starch sort of like a potatoe and is rather quite tastey when fried and plantain can be good too served as part of a meal or prepared with cinnamon as a dessert.

Again most food that is eatin by the locals are simple meals but very good and filling. The beef you find served in restraunts is not very fatty and not nearly as tender compared to what you will probably be used to eating so stick with the chicken which is typically served con salsa which is a mild sauce. The Costa Rican chicken by the way is much better than the chicken found in most of the US, I don’t know what they do to it but it just tastes better.

Anyhow,  on the Pacific Ocean side at Jaco Beach of course its a very touristy area (read lots of gringos) with lots of different activties like zip lines both the canopy tour through the rain forest or the superman style where you literally fly down the mountain side in a few seconds. You will also find gringo eating establishments like subway sandwiches at Jaco, but if you want good food all you need to do is just follow the locals at noon to a nearby soda.

Now soda’s are found all over Costa Rica and they offer cheap but good meals very quickly, sort of styled like a Mexican taqueria you see a lot in the states especially California. You will usually find the working tico’s eating at a soda for lunch… so at Jaco a good soda to eat at after your zipline adventures is called Soda la China, don’t let the drab green color of the building and the plastic chairs out front fool you. Soda la China is good and cheap and you will find locals eating there.

So remember to follow the crowd at chow time… don’t be a gringo and eat where the gringos eat, thats like going to a Red Lobster in Hawaii… it just wouldn’t make much sense. Get out and experience authentic Costa Rican food! Its generally very safe if you use common sense and follow good hygiene practices like washing your hands before eating.

Some Tico's getting food at a Jaco Beach soda in Costa Rica

Tags:   costa rica · costa rican food · jaco beach1 Comment