La Yerbatera — Restaurant in Carmen

Total disappointment! I had high expectations, and from the moment that we entered and the waiter put his hand up, in a rude way, instead of just saying “welcome, I’ll be right with you”. Then they had us wait for 5 to 7 minutes, “because someone was going to get us”, nobody did and finally the same waiter came to open the door to the second floor, and called us in. The place was empty but they still insisted we sit in a small table. Seating is uncomfortable if you sit in a table for two. I was recommended a gin and tonic because it was their signature drinks. They said that they use Bombay but it was not and also the tonic water that they use comes in a big plastic bottle, and of course was flat in my drink. They also use only about 1 ounce of gin for these drinks. The presentation of the plates was impeccable but the execution and flavors, not great. The octopus was gummy, with no flavor. The mushrooms were served on stale bread, that to fix it, the chef just drowned it in oil to mask the flavor but the chewiness was still there. The mushrooms had no real counterbalance, as they were all set with balsamic reduction. The ceviche, the fish was dry, and overcooked in lime, then they drown this in a tomato juice that did not work. They say they are “ancestral” but they are serving me dishes that are not from Costa Rica’s ancestral heritage like the Peruvian dish with “aguachile” from Mexico. Nor anything else on the menu other than the fact that the use ingredients like pejibaye. Also the music was a combination of American with Peruvian, etc. not really going with the ambience of the place. They served me wine that had been chilled in a fridge and was too cold, I had to warm it up with my hands. In reality, not a place for wine, as they do not have a good wine selection, the wine by the glass was por quality. The stairs are dangerously dark and smoky, I get the ambience, but you can also be safe and have a floor light on some of the steps, unless they are waiting for an accident to happen before...

We really wanted to love this place. They were open on new year's eve which was huge. The speakeasy experience and ambiance were fantastic. The kids had a blast. Kids allowed at a speakeasy restaurant...wow! Unfortunately this ia where all the positives end. We arrived at 8:30pm for our reservation, ordered first for the kids and were served at 11pm. Even after multiple reminders to bring out the kids food they didn't seem to care. Half of the kids in our group were fast asleep by the time our food arrived and the staff could see that but didn't seem to care. At 11:20pm - 20 mins after our food arrived they told us to hurry up because the restaurant was closing. Food was horrible. We ordered steak, pasta for the kids, chicken, ceviche and the vegan mushroom dish. They ran out of trout. Everything we ordered was terrible. Steak was chewy, chicken wasn't seasoned well enough. Mushrooms were not bad.

TLDR: Overall very disappointing experience for our NYE dinner due to poor customer service and bad food. They get a single star for ambience and...

Reservé este lugar por la experiencia que “vende” en redes sociales, primero, llegamos a una mesa muy pequeña que realmente es bastante incómoda, el servicio al cliente era frio y desentendido… nos tomaron la orden después de unos 7 minutos de espera, pedimos 2 bebidas que llegaron 10 minutos después y un ceviche como entrada que llegó 30 minutos después, un ceviche que de sabor estaba bueno, pero NADA elaborado como para que duraran 30 minutos… luego, con el plato fuerte tuvimos 45 minutos de espera, le preguntamos al salonero que cuánto tiempo le faltaba a la comida porque realmente estábamos fastidiados y con hambre, y el sin ningún tipo de profesionalismo nos ha respondido “esto es un lugar de cocina lenta y que cada plato tardaba 45 minutos en salir” la cual POR NINGUNA PARTE DICE QUE SE DEBE ESPERAR MÁS DE 50 minutos por un plato, el plato fuerte era una corvina en salsa, los vegetales de buen sabor pero el pescado estaba pasado de cocción, seco y tostado. Nunca nos preguntaron si queríamos algo más, si se nos apetecía algún postre o alguna otra bebida, las únicas 2 veces en 1:30h que estuvimos ahí se nos acercaron Solo para entregar la comida. Pagamos 37.500 colones por 2 bebidas, una entrada y un plato fuerte, este lugar tiene precios de lujo y es muy lejos de lo que sirven, porque además la comida es muy poca cantidad. Trato de encontrarle valor a la propuesta y por ningún lado lo veo. Si van a poner a esperar a una persona por un plato 50 minutos al menos pongan unos snacks en la mesa, por educación y para que valga al menos la pena la espera y la cuenta que se paga. No volvería, ah y lo ma importante, ese lugar es para mesas de máximo 4 personas por mesa pienso yo, en el salón donde nos tocó sentarnos había una mesa como de unas 15 personas que era super ruidosos, no fue nada amena mi experiencia, no...