Costa Rica: Marisqueria y Restaurante Manolo's

Abby and I weren't at all interested in food catered toward tourists, so on our first night in Monteverde, we walked a few blocks down from our B&B and away from the town center to Manolo's:

We didn't mind that we were the only diners there:

With tourism severely impacted by the pandemic, it's no surprise that the restaurant was only staffed by two people.  The same man who took our order then went into the kitchen to prepare our meal.  He was very personable and helped us decide what to order.

While I rarely order drinks at restaurants, I make an exception for when I'm traveling abroad.  Especially to countries that have lots of fruit.  I'm all about juices and fruit smoothies when on vacation.  This trip to Costa Rica was no different.  I treated myself to pineapple juice (₡1500 or around $2.30):

Definitely can't find fresh fruit juice for $2 in the Bay.  Manolo's blends their juices, making them cold and frothy.

We weren't super hungry, but we didn't want to just order one plate.  We ended up splitting a fish ceviche (₡3000 or around $4.60 for a medium) as an appetizer:

It was bright and tangy, a refreshing contrast to our much heavier main dish, the chicharrones de posta (₡4000 or around $6.20):

The chicharrones were freshly fried and piping hot.  I just wish they were a bit fattier so they wouldn't be so dry.  However, that was an issue easily fixed by the accompanying salsa.  The chicharrones also came with fried plantains and fries.  (The fries in particular were super delicious.)  We cleared the entire platter.

As we were leaving, the chef/owner handed up a handwritten coupon for a free juice at our next visit.  Unfortunately, we only had two days in Monteverde, so we never made it back to Manolo's.

Maybe next time.

Marisqueria y Restaurante Manolo's

A un costado del hotel las orquídeas, Puntarenas Province, Monteverde, Costa Rica

+506 6302 5757