www.CostaRicaTicas.com

Worth the drive to La Garita and slightly pricey menu, La Casa de Viñedo serves some of the best beef steaks around. Chicken, pork and fish are also available and all are served with a little flair, but I cannot get beyond the steak and the stuffed roast eggplant. Get both and split them with your date.

Last time there, one of the specials was Lomo Argentino. Who could resist? I guess it was a special cut of sirloin, but boy was it perfect; grilled to medium rare and available with tomato or bbq sauce it was accompanied by a baked potato and small salad . 300grams of steak looked so big that I thought I would not finish it. I did, dipping in the on-the-side dish of so-so bbq sauce, or the chimichurri which came with French bread toast and a tomato onion topping.

The eggplant is called relleno, but it is more topped than stuffed. A large, thick lengthwise slice of eggplant had been roasted and then covered with a fine, Italian style meat sauce and cheese. It too came with natilla topped baked potato and salad.

A family at the next table enjoyed a pizza and it looked and smelled like San Francisco. The ten year old boy had the kid’s fish plate and I wish I could order it. The filet lapped over both sides of the plate and was golden brown with a light garlic scent.

A small pitcher of the house vino tinto seco serves two and a half glasses and is OK, but could be a little drier. It is made at the winery next door along with a tinto dulce, blanco seco and blanco dulce, and a slightly sparkling white that is my favorite especially when served 50/50 with orange juice in a mimosa.

Corbina Papillon, Grilled Pork Loin, Chicken in Mushroom Sauce, and Whole Red Snapper were the other dinner specials and I found myself wishing they had a sampler plate of all of them. Well, if I can just get by the steak next time, maybe…

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The restaurant is right next door to what may be the only winery in Costa Rica. Look for the two story wine bottle cut out about two miles West of the Autopista.