Mal País Restaurants

We got pizza to go and also had a great dinner at the restaurant---veggie pizza (mushrooms, spinach, peppers, and more with extra cheese to go), and another night we had fish and chicken tacos---incredible flavor and presentation.....pool tables for entertainment while you wait and good music--(Bjork while we were there) great desserts too!
Down the road from the Crossroads about 2 miles---not far from the fishing village

Favorite Dish: fish tacos

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The Bakery is very close to the Crossroads and is a great place for lunch--it has air conditioning and great frozen ice tea plus sandwiches, soups, pasta and more at little tables amongst the surfers, web and oceanwise. Good coffee and fresh sweet baked goods as well as breads and baggettes. We also got some organic ground coffee here, too for about $12 a bag.

Favorite Dish: Spicy tomato pasta and frozen lemon tea.

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Silvi runs Caracolas (caracolas are small snails which live on the rocks on the beach behind the restaurant) which serves breakfast thru dinner in an outdoor setting near her home. One of the few places directly on the beach (through a couple of trees) she serves fresh local fish in a couple of ways, lobsters and more with kind friendliness and a big smile. She also teaches at the nearby international school during the day, coming home to hostess a great locale for a restaurant. The chef is wonderful and the food is freshly prepared and delicious. Prices for dinner are around $10 to 20...Typical breakfast is around $6-7.
Her cheeseburgers are real good too at around $5-6 with good fries.

Favorite Dish: Fresh Mahi-Mahi and patacones (green plantains fried, smashed, and then fried again until crisp---mmmm good)

We ate at resort Beija Flor's restaurant on our last night, and glad we finally made it. Small outdoor spot next to the gardens throughout the property, we had a wonderful linguini with fresh tuna, and a chicken breast with sweet chili sauce from the local chef. Excellent flavors and presentation---they also had fresh homemade passionfruit ice cream for dessert!
All local seafood and vegetables.

Favorite Dish: passionfruit ice cream

Moana Lodge has a wonderful restaurant at the top of the property (a long walk up--try to get a ride!) serving fresh local seafood and local beef in a gourmet setting---really a great place to watch the sunset with a cocktail (or not--they have fruit drinks as well) and then eat a luscious gourmet dinner. W had the filet dinner served with garlic mashed potatoes and veggies and I had 2 tapas plates including garlic shrimp and fried calamari, both delicious.
The coffee, as in most places in CR, was delicious.

Favorite Dish: filet of beef

We had great breakfasts (included in in the hotel fare), the coffee was the best we had in Costa Rica and lunches were very good too, big salads and a real cheeseburger but the most amazing food we had at the restaurant was for dinner. Do not miss it!
The fish and shrimps were fresh and delicious, beautifully presented and with incredible sauces. You could tell that a lot of love went into the preparation of the dishes.

Favorite Dish: The cuban beef stew with sweet red wine sauce and the seabass with avocado sauce amd for deserts the homemade chocolate tart.
Do not forget the mojito to the list

If you willing to walk up the hill your are in for a huge treat..the food here is outstanding..try the torrentions or yellow fin tuna...this is by far my fav place to eat in Mal pais/ Santa Teresa. Make sure to walk up before sunset...OUTRAGOUS VIEW of the sunset. The resturaunt has a pool ...youll need it once you finish the short but steep hike..

Favorite Dish: try the torrentions or yellow fin tuna...i'll tell you this much you dont learn to cook like this in one night

If you are in Mal Pais during summertime, there aren't many people around, and due to lack of street lights and the fact it will be dark at 7 pm. You mostly will eat at the restaurant of your hotel. And lucky for us, the restaurant at Frank's place was good and not expensive.
We did go one night to have dinner at the SurfCamp, food was good but on the expensive side. And the walk over dirtroad in the dark was an experience aswell.