irish, if you're looking for something to do, maybe checking the highest overall post counts, then reposting the posters' first entries might be very entertaining. For instance, I'd love to see Ding Dong's first post, Circus' first entry...and Orange's as well.
PostPosted: Wed Oct 06, 2004 12:45 pm
Post subject: Cafe Mundo - Another Review
This is my first posting on CRT, but I wanted to share a marvelous experience I had at Cafe Mundo.
As reported by others on this topic, Cafe Mundo is located at calle 15, avenida 9, just up the hill from NF and the Hotel Don Carlos. The restaurant is at a busy corner in an otherwise quiet residential neighborhood; climb the 23 steps to the front door and prepare to enjoy yourself.
Cafe Mundo is ostensibly an Italian restaurant, but like many restaurants in San Jose, it has a decidedly Costa Rican flair. We were seated in a nicely-lit smoking area. The tables are a bit close together for my taste and are certainly less private than some other places at which we dined. Chairs were quite comfortable.
The music at the Cafe Mundo is a blend of jazz, techno/trance/ambient and European club mixes; it is not so loud however as to be obtrusive.
Service was not spectacular but friendly and competent. Sandra, our waitress was charming and saw to our needs. An older mamacita, apparently a supervisor literally ordered us to have a glass of water following our rather large meal; rather than being irritated by her, we were entertained.
The food was quite good. One of my favorite features was the italian flag bread arrangement that accompanies each meal: Three small stacks of sliced bread, each in one color of the Italian flag are served with a bowl of garlic-flavored olive oil. The green bread is flavored with oregano and I believe, basil. The red bread is flavored/colored with sweet red chili, and the white bread is flavored subtly with pine nuts. A local friend informed us that the cafe gets the bread from a local bakery; the bread is baked fresh twice daily. In fact, it was the best bread we ate during our twelve days in San Jose.
We began with a tossed green salad, not anything out of the ordinary but quite fresh and good. We also ordered the brochetta, a baked crust with sauce and tasty, bubbling cheese. For our main course we shared the fettucini Alfredo con mariscos, which was loaded with chunks of sea bass (corvina), shrimp (camarones) and squid. The sauce was better than average, loaded nicely with Parmesan cheese and cream. Dessert was traditional flan, served with the traditional burnt caramel sauce, and cafe con leche. Oh, and we also enjoyed a glass of the house red wine during the meal; quite acceptable.
Prices were moderate for a restaurant of this quality, and we also enjoyed a 10% discount, thanks to a business card/coupon provided by our hotel. Two glasses of wine, shared salad, shared appetizer, shared entree', two desserts and two coffees came to just over U.S.$24.00 with the discount.
People watching is great here; as I said, the tables are quite close together in the smoking section. Besides admiring the cute, clean, collared dog that wanders through the place, we saw a very affectionate tico couple zesting up their meal with kisses, an older gringo with a young English-speaking woman (her second language), and a young gringo with a goatee seducing his chica with plenty of beers and smooth talk in Spanish. All in all, Cafe Mundo is a must-do for its combination of youthful, sophisticated ambience, delicious food and reasonable prices. A good bet. Try to get the discount coupon from your hotel.
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