El Pelicano Restaurant — Restaurant in Jacó

Hello everyone, just to be clear I am wring specifically in relation to the CATERING SERVICES this restaurant supposedly provides. I cannot attest to other qualities or faults, but my experience with El Pelicano was extremely bad. I've visited the Ceviche Fastival 2019 in Jaco on Oct 25th and loved their Ceviche, asked about catering for my wedding to be held in Jan 2020 in Heredia, and after receiving an affirmative response, took a business card and told them I'll be contacting them in a few days. I emailed them on Oct 30th, provided detailed description of the location, dates, times and even gave them a very detailed list (took me a while to think up, write up and compile) of the catering menu, all from their menu and/or very plain and common Costa Rican dishes, that no cook here would have any problems making (no special, hard-to-make dishes were requested). They responded the SAME DAY and told me I will have a quote in my inbox in a couple of days. Being in Costa Rica for several years I knew that that meant "ahorita" or in a little while (which sometimes means hours, sometimes days, and sometimes even a whole week), so I thanked them and just waited... By Nov 5th I have not heard from them, or received an email, so I decided to follow-up with an email, which I did in a very cordial way, asking for an update. Two days later on Nov 7th, I received a very brief response: "Hello, yes we are working in the proposal. I will send you something soon." so I thank them again in a polite manner and reminded them that my wedding is fast approaching, thus I needed an answer as soon as humanly possible", alas all I heard are crickets AGAIN! So I wrote called them up on the phone, talked to a very polite gentleman who took my number and promised me that someone will be calling me that day. Again crickets! I called once again in couple of days, same answer, same drill, no call back! So I waited again, until Nov 14th and wrote another followup email, asking for an explanation and requesting (this time formally and more stern) an update an the quote to be sent to me, as I was running out of time to secure a catering service for my wedding. The next day they responded! I thought YES, FINALLY! But they wanted to MEET to discuss menu items in person!? Whaaaat!? So, again I explained very cordially that I lived in San Jose (which is an 1 1/2 hours away), so I asked for a Skype or WhatsApp conference call and reminded them that they have my number in my email signature and that they could have called me anytime with any questions. They told me they'll call back in 20 minutes... Guess what? CRICKETS! So I followed up again on the 16th, 17th and 18th, but no response, no phone call, nothing... So finally, running out of time and being at the end of my rope, I have decided to explore other restaurants for catering services for my wedding and to write this review to WARN any potential customers to STAY CLEAR from El Pelicano's supposedly great catering operation. They are unprofessional, disrespectful to their customers and their time, deadlines, and IMHO they do not deserve your time, nor your money. My advice, LOOK ELSEWHERE for Catering Services, although their food is amazing, it is not...

If our trip to Costa Rica were a culinary extravaganza, then we are glad to have discovered El Pelican. We did not know about this gem until after our fishing trip when we encountered the biggest dilemma - " where to go and get the catch of the day cooked for us? So, the Captain of the boat recommended this restaurant. First off, let me tell you about the location. It is well-appointed towards the bay, and one could enjoy the most beautiful sunset here. So, come around the time before sunset to get a table with a view.  We went on a fishing trip the same day, and we caught yellowfin tuna. So the host offered to prepare the fish in different ways, and we accepted. We got sashimi, poke tuna for an appetizer. Then the main dish was blackened tuna. We loved the very balanced side dishes. Here we also ate ceviche, and according to the host, their ceviche won the local competitions' prize a year ago. The best part of our experience was the hospitality of the staff. They offered to freeze the rest of our fish and keep it for us upon our return to Jaco. Basically, we were getting ready to depart for Monteverde the next morning and travel throughout Costa Rica for 10 days before...

Let me specify that this review is for the El Pelicano on the beach in Herradura. This is the tale of two nights. I had heard good things about this restaurant and also that they would cook your catch. I did catch some tuna and brought it to the restaurant to be prepared. To our delight, it was prepared fabulously, as my first picture indicates. Two nights later, we decided to bring the remainder of the tuna catch to El Pelicano to be cooked. Unfortunately, this time the tuna was completely botched; first undercooked and then overcooked, over spiced, and just plain awful, as the second picture indicates. Our waiter, who we liked, even conceded that the tuna was prepared poorly after he was shown the first picture. He then explained that on the first night we came, the chef prepared our tuna, and on the second night, a longtime employee, (who is apparently not a chef) did the cooking. Although the restaurant did comp our meal, it could not replace the ruined tuna or the ruined evening. My suggestion, if you go to this restaurant is to make sure that the actual chef is preparing the meal and not someone pretending...