Costa Rica - Manuel Antonio National Park and Quepos

I did a search and only found info on Tamarindo. Does anybody have any recommendations in the MA/Quepos area? We're heading there in about a month.

Great place. It's been a while since my last visit, but I understand the same places I enjoyed are still there and strong.

First, as you saw by now, CR food is notoriously bland and boring compared to other foods of the region. That said, the fresh fish is hard to beat. El Gran Escape is the real version of what a thousand Papa Hemmingway's Margaritaburger Grills want to be: a fisherman's bar with good food. Catch a tuna and let them cook it for you. Otherwise, the fish is all good. At the other end of the spectrum is Makanda by the Sea, a surreal, beautiful and very expensive place with a tiny dinner service, cliffside. (Imagine a Peninsula or 4 Seasons with ten rooms.) Otherwise, I enjoyed the roadside cantinas for a beer and a "casado" (ubiquitous combo plate similar to Colombian bandeja paisa).

If you surf, you are in for a treat. If not, superb place to give it a try.

Quepos, CR is a terrific area to visit. Located on the Pacific Ocean next to Manuel Antonio National Park has much to enjoy besides great weather and monkeys everywhere! I have stayed many times at Si Como No Resort Resort, http://www.sicomono.com/ It is owned by a couple of Chicago guys for almost 10 years...check it out.[/code]

There's a great little restaurant on the beach at MA--the name escapes me right now but I'll look it up. Very inexpensive with fresh fish and wonderful cocktails! In general, though, I found MA to be pretty touristy and the prices were in line with that. I stayed at the Mariposa--beautiful hotel but avoid the restaurant. It is very over-rated and over priced.

Found it! The restaurant is called Balu. It is actually on the beach a ways from all the other places, near where the surf schools are. There are concrete green mushroom like tables set on the beach. I loved this place. They serve breakfast, lunch and dinner. There are also ladies who set up cooking sites on the beach and you can get roast chicken and fish for a song. Have a great time!

Thought I would post a few of my food finds, in case anyone heads back that way and searches the forum.

La Cantina BBQ - Carnivore heaven - meat and fish cooked over an open flame, served with veggies and a potato. I can't speak for the meat, but I had an excellent tuna steak. The boyfriend had some really good grilled shrimp and lobster. One of the less expensive places we ate - appetizer, 2 entrees, 2 desserts, and about 6 drinks ran us around 60 dollars (including tax and tip!).

Mar Y Luna Seafood - more traditional seafood restaurant. Decent food, but not a good value given the price point! Very expensive - 1 appetizer, 2 entrees, and 2 drinks ended up costing over $100.

Bambu Jam - had an excellent plantain gnocchi in cheese sauce there. A huge menu that spans the entire length of the back wall has fish, beef, and chcken items. Live music on Wednesday and Friday nights. Probably an average price point - entrees ran around $10-20.

El Gran Escape - we didn't catch our own, but what we had was quite good. The boyfriend had a BLT with fresh avocado, while I had a fish dish that was very nicely prepared. Pretty pricey though, and definitely a spot for gringos.

We also went to a sushi joint near the beach whose name is escaping me. The sushi was way, way too pricey - rolls starting at $7 for a basic tuna roll. We had a nice mahi mahi (cooked), and they made a decent chicken quesadilla. But I'd skip this and try one of the other restaurants near the beach.

Thanks for reporting back with the updated info. I'm hoping to get back down there soon. Sorry if my description of El Gran Escape as a "real" version of a Hemmingway (i.e., expat) bar didn't tip you off to the gringo factor. The truth is, the sportfishermen in places like CR, Panama etc. are los gringos.

PS, those prices are all depressingly high. Guess that's the result of growing poularity and the US dollar in the tank. Where'd you stay?

Ahh....Manuel Antonio....that is one of my top 5 beaches- the jungle comes right up to the beach and you can spend your day snoozing w/the sloths.
It was about 8 years ago, but my wife and I decided to leave our overpriced hotel with an ocean view and crash here: http://www.hotelplinio.com/en/index.html It was nothing fancy, but very clean and friendly. The food was great there, we had some lovely local seafood.
Did you try some liquados? Ticos love their milkshakes.
Cafe Milagro http://www.cafemilagro.com/ has good gringo/coffeehouse fare and good coffee.


I think a trip to Irazu is in order. http://www.yelp.com/biz/irazu-costa-rican-restaurant-chicago

JeffB, I didn't realize that we had stumbled upon El Gran Escape until we opened the menus. We were going to head to one of the local sodas, but all of the ones we saw had a wait, and we were on a bit of a time constraint. I was honestly pretty surprised at how touristy the whole of Costa Rica that we saw ended up being - next time I think we'll have to venture further south, down towards Dominical and the south Pacific coast.

The only restaurant in Manuel Antonio where we felt like we got our money's worth was La Cantina. I agree with your statement that everything was depressingly expensive. We stayed at the Hotel California - not a bad place, but I think we'll go cheaper next time. We really only needed a crash pad, and we overpaid for a not-so-impressive view and a lousy pool.

Dominical is a fun surfer town, head down to Osa if you want to see some rugged, gorgeous, undeveloped jungle - I think they finally paved a road to get down there. Next to Mexico, Costa Rica is by far the most developed country in Central America...and I think Manuel Antonio is the busiest park there. I guess I'm not surprised to hear it is so expensive...seviche & saltines from the street vendors next time for me!