Recommended Gourmet Dining in Costa Rica

Costa Rica's previously deserved reputation for lacking fine dining venues has recently changed for the better as upsacle hotels and discerning travellers demand higher standards.

While family run "sodas" provide a culinary diversion worth trying, those seeking gourmet options should consider the following:

The Dining Room, Inn at Coyote Mountain, near San Ramon de Alajuela: fixed, candlelit 4 course dinners are open to guests and by reservation only. The elegant Dining Room offers en-famille seating with other diners and enchanting views of the Pacific coast and the lights of Puntarenas. The chef-proprietors have operated acclaimed restaurants in Louisiana and Canada, and have authored a recent cookbook.

Las Mañanitas, San Jose, just off Paseo Colon: the best option for Mexican food in Costa Rica

Hotel Grano de Oro, San Jose: a pleasing menu for both lunch and dinner, good service

Restaurant Don Wang, San Jose: authentic Chinese food, including dim sum, in downtown San Jose

Hotel Capitan Suizo, Tamarindo: European trained cooks turn out consistenly good food with efficient service

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“Luxury and great food . . . In the mountains overlooking the Pacific, the Inn at Coyote Mountain offers a Creole-Latin menu and hands-on instruction at its Creole cooking school.”

“Traditionally, Costa Rica hasn’t been a place known for fine cuisine. With the . . . opening of the Inn at Coyote Mountain, a 90-minute drive west of San Jose in San Ramon, the country’s reputation as a food purgatory was transformed.”