The national dish of Costa Rica is rice and beans aka gallo pinto. The beans are small and black and the dish is delicious if a little samey after a while. No problem for vegetarians, it is always on the menu! We have eaten a couple of other unusual foods.....cassava*, and plantain**. Both delicious in small doses!
We've had a pipas (madafu/green coconut) each in Tortaguero and lots and lots of delicious coffee. In the Tree House*** as in other places they decorated the top with patterns and pictures. A gin and tonic always goes down very well and the Tom Collins I had in the Volcano Lodge at La Fortuna was sublime. Less exciting was the blue cocktail sipped in Turtle Beach Lodge. The local cerveza called Imperial is very palatable. And not forgetting the local rum we had in the hot springs.
Costa Rica isn't known for gastronomic delights and the hotel food has been pretty unimaginative on the whole, although perfectly edible. So, we thought we'd treat ourselves to a place called Trio in Santa Elena, the town close to Monteverde and our hotel El Establo. The guide book said it "has a classy contemporary open air dining room perched in the trees.......has a highly touted burger with figs and ..... does amazing things with tropical fruit". But it's closed and there is a tapas bar in it's place! So we will try one of the other recommended places.
At every breakfast so far there has been a trio of fruit....pineapple, water melon and pawpaw. Freshly cut and each with a wonderful flavour. We are eating plenty of fruit, but not many vegetables.
Another week to go and we will be back in the UK and starting our next dieting regime!
Buen provecho!
*Manihot esculenta, with common names cassava, Brazilian arrowroot, manioc, and tapioca, a woody shrub of the Euphorbiaceae family native to South America.
**A cooking plantain or plantain is one of the cultivated varieties of the genus Musa whose fruit is intended to be consumed only after cooking or other processing, rather than being eaten raw.
***the Tree house is apparently one of the world's top ten bizarre restaurants! Built around a half century old fig tree, it's a unique setting.
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