Jaco, Costa Rica — Food Review (Part Three)

Food Review 

One unexpected aspect of our Costa Rican experience was trying to sample the local food sources and/or understanding what types of food locals ate because there’s such a wide range of food available (Mediterranean, Mexican, Italian, American, Thai, Asian inspired, sushi, and Greek to name a few) in the town of Jaco. When you have this much to choose from, it was difficult to discern what was actually Costa Rican food. 

In reference to the sushi restaurant (Tsunami Sushi) that is located on the second floor of the Jaco Walk Plaza, they had a great deal from 11:30 AM to 4 PM, Monday through Friday, that was half off sushi. For our party of 8, we were able to eat a lot of sushi for relatively cheap. When you’re done gorging yourself on rolls, don’t forget to saunter back down to the first floor because right across from the sushi restaurant was a churro kiosk that made from scratch flaky churros. The group consensus was the churros were one of the best we had ever eaten. 

One thing that I want to add with a caveat about Jaco food is it seemed that most restaurants made the meals from scratch. This meant we had to prepare for an extended wait time for the food to be served; at one point we had breakfast at a small breakfast nook and it took about 30 minutes. But, like most of the food we ate, it was worth the wait, so make sure you plan for a wait time when you do go eat. Of course, waiting and relaxing connects with the Costa Rican mentality of the pura vida lifestyle.  

The Jaco Laguna Resort/Tiki Bar was one of our favorite restaurants because it was located on the beach at the south end of Jaco. The open-air tiki vibe (thatched roofs, wood trim, surf memorabilia, manicured grass) along with great drinks and food, was easily accessible from the beach which made it an ideal spot to hang out, watch sunsets, and thoroughly enjoy all that Costa Rica had to offer.

Even though the Tiki Bar was a group favorite, Jerah Thai cuisine was a consensus for serving the best food! The freshly made pad thai, egg rolls, and other Thai inspired dishes were literally out of this world. I don’t normally try to connect with the chef, but I was so impressed by our meals and cocktails, that I made my way back to the kitchen to thank him for a job well done. On a side note, they don’t take credit card which took us by surprise, so be prepared to pay with US cash or Costa Rican Colones.