El Hicaco Seafood — Restaurant in Jacó

A Perfect Evening by the Beach: El Hicaco Seafood Restaurant

My wife and I had the pleasure of dining at El Hicaco Seafood Restaurant in Jaco on a Friday evening, and the experience was truly memorable. Known for its beachfront setting and fresh seafood offerings, El Hicaco delivered on every front, creating a dining experience we won’t soon forget.

Ambiance and Service We were seated by the beach with no issue, enjoying the serene ocean breeze and the soft sound of waves. The warm and welcoming staff set the tone for the evening, greeting us with smiles and serving complimentary buns with oil. The service was attentive yet relaxed, giving us ample time to savor each course.

The addition of live music elevated the experience even further. Our waiter thoughtfully suggested we adjust our seating to better enjoy the performance—a small yet considerate gesture that reflected the staff’s dedication to ensuring guests have a wonderful time.

The Drinks We indulged in five drinks during our visit:

Passion Fruit Guaipirina (x3): A refreshingly tropical cocktail that perfectly balanced the sweetness of passion fruit with a subtle tangy kick. It was so good we couldn’t resist ordering multiple rounds! Coco Hicaco: A creamy and indulgent drink served in a coconut shell, adding a touch of island charm to our evening. Coke: For a classic and refreshing touch.

The Food

The menu at El Hicaco is a seafood lover’s dream, offering a variety of dishes that highlight the region’s freshest catches. Here’s what we enjoyed:

Appetizer:

Oysters: Fresh, briny, and served on ice, these were the perfect start to our meal. Their natural flavor was complemented beautifully with a splash of lemon and a light mignonette sauce.

Mains:

Surf and Turf: A generous portion of tender, flavorful steak paired with perfectly cooked shrimp and a lobster tail. The combination of land and sea on a plate was executed flawlessly. Grilled NY Steak: Cooked to perfection, the steak was juicy and seasoned just right, with a charred crust that added a delightful texture. The portions were generous, ensuring we left the table fully satisfied.

Dessert:

Coconut Dessert: A masterpiece in both presentation and flavor, this dessert was the star of the evening. The rich coconut flavor was perfectly balanced, and it served as the ideal way to end our meal.

Final Thoughts

El Hicaco offers an unbeatable combination of exquisite food, attentive service, and a stunning location. Whether you’re celebrating a special occasion or just looking for a fantastic meal by the beach, this restaurant is a...

If you’re looking for your life to be perfectly mid (solid 4 out of 10), look no further. This place is a cookie cutter tourist trap. It’s the quintessential restaurant on the beach that serves fish that have never swam in the water you’re looking at or any water nearby. You may as well be in a Red Lobster in Chicago watching a video of the beach on your phone (The food, ambiance and price might be better).

Ambiance is almost nonexistent, hawkers come to the periphery and try to sell you cigars every 5-10 minutes, which means you’ll see quite a few since service is painfully slow. I’d make the joke about needing to catch the fish before they cook it, but I doubt that the salmon and tuna are even being caught on this continent. The music can only be described as “Chill beats to check your eTrade account to”. The bathrooms have the temperature and humidity of a swamp.

The food is overpriced at best and more often just depressingly meh. Pretty uninspired tourist food that sounds fancy until you spend a moment to think, “why do both octopus dishes include cheese as a prominent ingredient?” I told them about an allergy while ordering and only learned that the dish I ordered would likely kill me when it arrived at the table. I was faced with the option of swapping entrees with someone else or having a very fried fish with no sauce that may still have been ready and willing to induce anaphylactic shock. The waiter kinda looked at me and threw up his arms as if to say, “I don’t know, man. What do you want me to do?”

If you want to spend a minimum of $130 for two people to have a bad to mediocre time,...

TLDR: Mediocre food, the view is only good during the day, they are SCAMMERS when it comes to the deceptive price of drinks, overall tourist trap that's best to avoid.

Went here with a large party last weekend for a dinner reservation. Aside from the fact that the food is wildly overpriced, this restaurant practices deceptive drink pricing. As other reviewers have mentioned, the price you see for a cocktail is only the price for the base ingredients and not the alcohol. When the server lists different options for spirits, they do not let you know that the price of the drink may triple based on what you select. They add the spirit onto the check, so if you're all throwing in cash on one check it's extremely confusing to figure out how much each person got scammed/needs to pay.

We did ask them to split the checks by person, and they still had mistakes on at least five checks. Some people just paid because they didn't feel like dealing with the drama.

The food was very mid, especially compared to the price. Could lay off the salt but I'm assuming they over-season because the freshness just isn't there. The drinks, once you factor in the price of the alcohol are also overpriced. A shot of Casamigos was like $25. There's supposed to be a stunning view of the ocean, but since we came at night, that wasn't something we got to enjoy (our fault). In general, best to...