@chefpabloturel - The Costa Rica Chef — Restaurant in Jacó

During our stay, we loved our place and enjoyed having dinners on the terrace overlooking the beach and beautiful sunsets, so we hired several chefs during our time in Jaco. We mostly relied on reviews when making our choice. We chose Pablo because we wanted to try different experiences, and his reviews were similar to those of other chefs we had. In our instance, Pablo's experience was subpar in every way.

Contact with Pablo was irregular at first, with lengthy pauses between messages. After three days or so of back and forth, he finally scheduled another chef for 6 p.m. He said the chef would arrive at our house at 5:15 p.m., but he did not give us any other information—including the chef's name—that we would require for the security gate. We went about our day planning to be back at our place by 4:30 and inform the gate that a chef would be visiting that evening. But the chef arrived much earlier, at 3:30, so security had to find us down at the beach. We had to change our plans to allow her in. The entire incident was stressful and created a negative atmosphere. The Mexican dinner we ordered was not great. Salsas and guacamole were incredibly salty, even for those in our group who enjoy a lot of salt. The rest was mediocre. The desert was burned and had a bitter taste.

According to the chef's website, which we looked over before using this service, groceries cost $15–20 per person. That would be $60–80 for the two couples in our group, plus the $90 service charge. However, we were charged $210 for groceries. On top of the $310 tab, we left a $40 tip for the chef for a total of $350 total. This was around $100 higher than what we paid a different private chef who prepared a fancier dinner a few days earlier. This put both couples in an awkward situation, as the couple who made the arrangements and paid the tab then had to try to explain the higher price than what was advertised. The arranging couple, feeling a little awkward, contacted Pablo regarding this disparity in the hopes of receiving at least a detailed analysis and an explanation for the higher than expected cost. Pablo was not helpful and provided nothing to address these concerns.

Given our experience, we cannot recommend this chef. There are much better personal...

I can’t say enough about Chef Pablo. I wish we would’ve booked him every night we were there. It was so nice fishing all day, zip lining, riding four wheeler‘s, doing catamaran tours, and coming home and having THE BEST dinners prepared. The food selection was excellent, he did all of the food shopping, the preparation, the cooking, and the cleanup! We caught tuna, he prepared it three different ways for one of the dinners. The skirt steak with chimichurri sauce the previous evening, we just couldn’t get enough of it! Breakfast? It was also phenomenal! Everything from eggs, sausage, French toast, waffles, fruit tray, green smoothies, and the absolute best avocado salad I have ever had!

There were 13 of us total. Not a single complaint from anyone (lots of different palates/ preferences between everyone). My husband said the next time we visit Jaco area there is no need for us to get dressed and go out to dinner. Pablo was more affordable and the food was better than the 3 nights we went out for dinner. He spoke English well, was kind, very responsive with communication and overall a pleasure to have as apart of our memories from the trip.

Book Chef Pablo, he...

Chef Pablo was hired by me and my family for a week in Jaco. He prepared dinner every night and breakfast most days and some lunches.

Our favorite part about the trip was having Chef Pablo prepare our delicious and exquisite meals. We never had to deal with the stress of going out to dinner, where to eat, concerns with our safety or long lines at the local restaurants.

Chef Pablo and his assistant were professional, on-time, shopped for all the groceries, cleaned up the entire kitchen and gave us wonderfully prepared meals.

We gave him the direction of healthier meals with salads and minimally fried foods and he delivered on that request. Dessert was provided when requested, appetizers were also prepared on some occasions and all of the food was delicious.

Without a doubt, if we are in Jaco again, we will hire Pablo in advance! Thanks so much for making our vacation go from...