www.CostaRicaTicas.com

Besides dining at the Y when on vacation I like trying out local eateries. In general I found the food at sodas in San Jose to be on the bland and really starchy side. The food at most sodas is generally inexpensive, some might say cheap. I found that roasted/broasted chicken or pork of any sort to be a good choice at most sodas, though the pork was usually on the fatty side. Most also served beans and rice with their meals, which was great. But...sometimes pasta and mashed potatoes were included. That is a real starch overkill. I avoided all uncooked vegetables, especially lettuce and cabbage because some have written about getting ill from them. I did however have some great cooked cabbage with carrots and onions.

I had a strange experience at a soda in the Mercado Central area. It appeared to be run by a Chinese lady with Tico employees. They had a flame broiled chicken setup that looked really good. I ordered my food by pointing out menu pictures (no espanol or Chinese for that matter) and paid for it. I was given my drink and watched a soap playing on a very large plasma TV. I was sitting there for about 20 minutes and still hadn't been served my food. I tried to explain I hadn't been served but to no avail. They tried to get me to pay again. I just finally gave up and left. Sort of a Muy Chinese moment.

The best meals I had in San Jose were the ones I cooked in the kitchen of my apartment. But then again we don't really come to Costa Rica for the food.

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"Guess what?! I've got a fever, and the only prescription... is more cowbell!"
Christopher Walken

Try lunch at the Soda Peru. All fish dishes are great especially the sopa de mariscos. All idems are in Spanish and English.

Soda Amon...down the street from Hotel Castillo.....never fails. Lots of traffic....

I have been tempted to eat within the Central Market but have resisted....

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"Actual happiness always looks pretty squalid in comparison with the over-compensations for misery. And, of course, stability isn't nearly so spectacular as instability. And being contented has none of the glamour of a good fight against misfortune, none of the picturesqueness of a struggle with temptation, or a fatal overthrow by passion or doubt. Happiness is never grand."
- Aldous Huxley, Brave New World, Ch. 16

I had lunch at Delicias de Peru on Tursday and Wednesday. I'm a seafood lover and this little restaurant is one of my favorite places in SJ. The fried calamari with home made tartar sauce is great. The corvina with seafood sauce was also wonderful.
I was going back to La Criollita to try the tongue in salsa, but in the end, I couldn't resist the seafood lure of Delicias de Peru.

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Providing humanitarian assistance to self employed chicas, one cash grant at a time.

I have had a hard time with food in Mercado Central. Once you walk past the sight and smell of the dead animals laying around, it is hard to sit and have lunch. Of course I tend to have a weak stomach, and a visit to the Mercado Central for me is far more productive than a visit to Weight Watchers. YMMV.

i have no qualms about eating at the various little sodas within the Mercado Central. Great food, genreally well prepared and cheap.

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Providing humanitarian assistance to self employed chicas, one cash grant at a time.

Soda Peru is awesome and just up the hill from ZB on the right.

Right on the corner from Peru there is a good little Colombian restaurant with daily lunch specials for $3.00 and it's plenty.

I ate at a few stands there without any problems. I have more problems with my Spanish there than with the chicas.

I love the Mercado. May sound corny, but I feel like I am mixing with the "locals". Everyone seems very friendly and food is very good and cheap.