Simple as Chile Rellenos or fish tacos or complicated as a freshly fried Chimichanga Pollo, when we think of southern climes, we think of great food.
Except for Costa Rica, that is.
For some reason, and I've heard several different thoughts on these reasons, spicy food isn't part of the national cuisine, nor is exceptional ethnic Costa Rican food something you'll find all over the country. Good Mexican food can be found, great Peruvian dishes and even Italian and Chinese is available in many restaurants in the capitol city of San Juan.
Costa Rica is known for pinto y gallo, AKA Beans and Rice and which is served with every meal, along with fresh fruit, a variety of juices and occasionally empanadas, which can be either very good or simply awful, depending on their freshness.
If you desire spicy food, bring your favorite Louisiana style hot sauce to season your meals. I've had great empanadas pollo in streetside sodas-storefront cafes where a quick meal can be grabbed on the run. I also have had terrible pinto y gallo in the same sodas and somewhere along the line was exposed to
e coli, which turned out to be the cause of the case of Montezumas Revenge I contracted during my visit.
You can get many US style fast foods in San Jose, if you crave a Mc Donalds fix or need Pizza Hut but be prepared to pay more for it. And it's not going to taste the same as what you buy at home either.
My suggestion is to check out the large number of Mexican, Italian and Peruvian as well as a great chain of vegetarian restaurants for occasional more expensive dinner meals. Breakfast is frequently supplied by the hotels and usually is fruit, juice, scrambled eggs, bread and coffee. For lunches, I frequently made peanut butter and jelly, stuffed it in a baggie and tossed that in my backpack. If I decided I wanted to eat in a soda instead, I wasn't out a lot of money with the PBJ, and it kept for half a day at least.
Though the water is filtered, I tried to drink bottled water as much as possible. If bottled water wasn't obtainable, a beer or soda pop is better than milk or a streetside fresca stand where you aren't going to know how clean the fruit was, or where the water or mild came from.
When I was house sitting, I shopped in the saturday farmers market and made a large pot of soup every week, roasted a chicken and ate a lot of fresh veggies and fruit. However, beware-fruit and veggies go bad quickly in the heat and humidity. Refrigeration is necessary to keep things fresh, even though they look so pretty sitting on the counter.
Finally and as a caution, I suggest you get a prescription for Cipro from your doctor prior to leaving the US and have it filled. If you get the Travelers Diarrhea like I did, this drug may make the difference between a lost vacation and hospital visit and just a few days of discomfort.
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