Manzú a Beachfront Restaurant — Restaurant in Cóbano

The good — the food was delicious and the drinks were perfectly made with appropriate presentation. Ambience is incredible - ocean-Front, outdoor seating (some with over-hang protection) that is comfortable, quaint, well-spaced - with individual table lighting for later mealtimes.

The not-so-good — (disclaimer, I’m from America) — I totally understand that Costa Rica (and much of the world) runs on a different schedule than what I’m accustomed to — it’s not about flipping tables, it’s about creating memories. And I was trying to embrace that. Our reservation was for 6:00pm and we arrived 20 minutes early. I waited nearly 10 minutes for someone to even acknowledge I was standing near the check-in/out desk and was then told we could wait by the bar while they prepared our table (plenty of tables were cleaned/available) — which was totally fine — we actually came early so we could get a drink! We sat at the bar for over 25 minutes (15 minutes after our reservation) with even a hint that anyone was working on our table — thankfully, enjoying time with the bar-tender, who methodically prepared a mojito and mai-tai for me and my bride.

After being seating, we waited again, to be greeted…even longer to get water…and long to order…and then, 75 minutes after our reservation had begun, we received our appetizer. All of this would have been fine, but it was now starting to sprinkle (rain) outside). W were under a leaf canopy and tried waiting it out. Our main course arrived 30+ minutes later — and at no time did anyone acknowledge that we were getting rained on or offer to relocate our seat.

At that point, we ate a last couple bites, left 1/2 the food uneaten and an expensive drink un-drank and made our way to the check-out stand, where, once again, we waited for almost 10 minutes to say that we were done being rained on and would like our check.

So - why the 4.5 starts?

The food was great (when it finally arrived). The service (when interacting with us) was very friendly. The ambience is unmatched from what we’ve seen - more professional than other beachfront venues, yet inviting and romantic.

If the service could have been even a LITTLE attentive, this would be an...

I’ll give it 2 stars just because the view and setting was beautiful.

Food service not so good, we didn’t stay at the hotel but we did go out to try and have a nice dinner for our anniversary in company of our 2 good friends. Drinks and food took forever to arrive, there were other tables being served before us and they had arrived later than us. Our food was served two hours later. My husband had ordered 2 plates of different cuts of steak because he thought it would be good since they had a setting where steak was being grilled outside. Well his steak wasn’t grilled outside, it was cold, it had a horrible acidic taste to it, both of them did. Not sure how they prepare their steaks but where we come from salt and pepper is all you need, good customer service, good table manners, and restaurant managers that go around tables asking how everything is. We asked waiter to just bring another steak and do that salt, pepper and throw in the grill. Well what do you think? Steak was brought out few minutes later, was not put on grill, it was cold, and the worst of all they had sliced that steak to several pieces. Never been a place that slices someone’s steak and try to fool the customer with the same piece of steak hoping we don’t notice. I had the lobster plate, lobster was overcooked and rubbery and the pasta was hard. Servers never came around unless we called them and maybe this also because all staff was too busy serving the owner and his table and all the other people sitting around us that looked like tourists and don’t look like they are from Costa Rica. This is the worst when you go as a tourist to these touristy places and are made to feel like a second class citizen because of how you may look and or who servers, staff are made...

If you come to Santa Teresa DON’T start you dining experience at Manzu. That is, of course, unless you plan on eating all of your meals there. The bar was set so high it dulled all of our other dining experiences that followed even though we knew we were eating good food elsewhere.

The experience from start to finish was remarkable even though we weren’t guest at the hotel. Brian Steven answered all of our questions and helped guide us to the best options according to what we were in the mood for as well as explaining the history of Costa Rican dishes and why certain dishes are done slightly differently in Costa Rica. Like, I thought I had a churro before, I thought I had had plenty of good churros but I was wrong. Brian was so positive and happy and you could tell he took joy in helping us on our journey. You can tell he really believes in the food and what they’re serving. And HE HAS EVERY REASON TO.

Even if Brian hadn’t been so wonderful it wouldn’t matter because Chef Peter’s food was nothing short of spectacular. Everything was fresh, crisp, balanced and the flavors so complementary that we had a hard time deciding what our favorite dish was. We are also very texture oriented eaters and all of these dishes hit every level. Each bite was filled with culinary mastery. We have traveled quite a bit and eaten a lot of amazing food but this is easily at the top of the list.

Sidenote - if you don’t have the spicy dragon fruit cocktail and the crazy colada, you’re doing yourself a severe disservice. Like, crimes against humanity were talking here. We had near 5 of each during our stay and it wasn’t nearly enough.

Long story long, do your soul a favor and make time...