Soda La Palma — Restaurant in La Fortuna

We ordered a great fried pork dish. Generous portion. Juicy and tender pork cubes deep fried to a crispy golden perfection. Accompanied by a spicy homemade pickled vegetable condiment ( which we requested). The dish came with two sides: fried yuca, which was coated with a lacy batter, was almost tempura like. The other side was a tasty tomato salsa. We also ordered a Chicken Empanada. The batter was made with corn flour instead of usual wheat flour so it had a different texture and flavor. The filling was flavorful chicken cubes and mashed black bean paste. The empanada was deep fried to a nice golden. It was served warm. The total bill was only CRC 4500, or around USD 7.5. We took the food to our hotel room at Arenal Kioro, which is just across the street. Enjoying this takeout in a room with the view of volcano Arenal cap, it felt we got the best of two worlds- a luxurious hotel setting with a thoroughly authentic local meal. We are quite impressed by the cooking of this roadside eatery. But it may not be surprising to the locals, as it’s parking lot is always filled with cars during the three days we were visiting the area. 5 stars by this visitor from...

This was our cheapest meal in Costa Rica and one of the tastiest. We came around lunch time and had to share a picnic table with another group because they were that busy. Service is a little slow as with most restaurants in Costa Rica but when there’s wifi, time flies by and we rarely mind it. We started with the papaya smoothie, and a sour sop drink. Love that no added sugar is added to these natural juice drinks. We tried the plantains with mashed beans, cheese, pork and pico de gallo which is similar to a tostada and the chifrijo which is a rice bowl with red beans, pork, pico de gallo and tortilla chips. It was a filling meal and all for just $18! What a bargain. This place is just 2 minutes from Tabacon hot springs resort so if you didn’t want pay high $ there, then come here for cheap eats...

I don’t know what those other bad reviews were about. I had the fried fish and it was Awesome! EVERYTHING came out hot (too hot to eat for a few minutes). Every table was full; I counted over 30 customers. As Soon as a table got up it was cleared in less than a minute & then promptly wiped down. I had the shorter lady with the lightened hair as my server & she was outstanding; knowledgeable, bilingual (possibly more), patient & observant. As soon as I put my napkin on my plate, she was there to clear it. The only negative thing I can say was the woman’s bathroom didn’t have TP and the soap dispensers near it didn’t work- but there’s another sink by the tables for customers that did have a working soap dispenser. The garden out back was nice & I was Very happy to get to pet the little...