The Food in Costa Rica

I’ve noticed over the course of the last six months that many of our friends and family ask about the food on our travels, and I don’t blame them. I’m asking about food a lot myself.

Is it expensive?

Are you sure it’s chicken?

How spicy is it really?

What sort of beer will go best with this dish?

Food is important to all of us, and for that very reason I’ve decided to devote this post to food in Costa Rica.

For starters, we have our own kitchen in our cabina so we’re able to cook a lot of our own food — both American style and Tico style. We discovered pretty quick that American food is a total rip off here (my mom and I purchased a case of Diet Coke for $12 and my dad is still a little upset about it) so we’ve done our best to eat local cuisine both at home and when we go out.

What is the local cuisine, you ask? Rice and beans. There might be eggs or some kind of meat with that, but the “typical” Costa Rican meal is all about the rice and beans.

Thank goodness we like rice and beans.

Yes, there is a lot of good seafood to be had, but I think that goes into the category of “food only the tourists eat” and therefore is tough to come by at a reasonable price.

Next on the list of delicious Costa Rica items available for consumption is the coffee. Yum. We love coffee from Costa Rica. Negro for Jason and con leche for me.

Other foods/drinks we like eating/drinking here:

• American Breakfast from Pato Loco
• Watermelon
• Plantains
• The tough, but inexpensive beef
• Sauteed chicken sandwiches from Coco Palms
• Dos Pinos yogurt
• Strawberry cheesecake shake from the Catfish Farm
• An Imperial, or six