Sabromar — Restaurant in Quepos

this is really a bummer. We had seafood last night at Agua Azul and it was pretty good. So today we decided to try another top rated seafood restaurant. We ordered piangua ceviche, individual seafood mix and fish fillet (mahi mahi) in white mushroom sauce.

The seafood mix had half lobster that was grilled as try and rough as wax, taste much worse than the shrimps. The octopus was as hard as rubber. The calamari was okay. One of the shellfish was rotten and stinky and I had to rinse my mouth several times to get rid of the smell.

The mahi mahi fish fillet, after one bite you can tell it is frozen fish fillet and is probably towards the end of its shelf life. Not fresh, not well cooked, texture is dry. The broccoli in the vegetable side is not fresh either. The only consistent okay food is the fried plantain.

What is even worse is its passion fruit juice, it tastes like artificially flavored juice with lots of added sugar. We had fruit juice almost every meal during our road trip from La Fortuna, Monteverde and Manual Antonio, not a single time it had disappointed us but this one is really off the bar. Note the juice is 20% less price of a standard 2,000 CRC juice other restaurants usually serve.

The reason I give two star instead of one is because the piangua ceviche is actually good, I rarely see it’s being served elsewhere.

I don’t understand why it has a 4.6 star in the google review. Maybe it changed owner recently? I don’t know. The restaurant even had a waiting line around 7:00pm, surprising. Of course one can argue that Agua Azul is 50% more expensive than Sabromar so cannot compare, but I think for a seafood restaurant, freshness of the ingredients cannot be compromised. Btw I see a lot of locals order burger and rice plates, very few ordered seafood. May be it is no longer a seafood...

As soon as we got seated you could tell this place was not the place to go. There was a musty fish smell, and the only thing good about it was the nice view. I ordered the grilled swordfish filet with garlic butter, and it was one of, if not the worst dish I've had during our vacation. The meat was a tough and stringy lump of discoloured protein that barely resembled a fish. It's a disrespect to the swordfishes name to associate this monstrosity with it. It was flavorless and got stuck in your teeth it was so stringy and tough. The meat was supposed to be grilled, and yet the texture was subpar of boiled. The garlic butter wasn't even butter. It was more like overcolored yellow paste, over flavored with garlic. The mashed potatoes were a pile of bland, mushy tasteless slop that makes even the most seasoned adventurer retch. I'd rather eat military rations than this amalgamation. The vegetables immediately gave the impression they were boiled and the cauliflower was downright outstanding, in the way of it giving you the impression that you were a bottom feeder eating the scum off of a dirty ocean. The broccoli and beans were subpar. The fish filled me up and nothing more. My palette has been ruined and I'm disgusted. The only good part was the service; a very nice lady who was pleasant to interact with. I had no problem with her and she was great. Apart from that, this place is a flawless example that I recommend new chefs to go to, as to learn how to NOT cook a fish fillet. I'd go through amnesia to forget...

This is a great option for lunch. The place has a small terrace looking into the sea. And you can literally see the fisherman coming to deliver the fresh catch of the day. Mind you is near a mangrove so depending on how the wind blows mangrove smalls hit. You've been warned.

The staff is very pleasent and willing to help but Marita definitely deserves a special mention. She was super attentive and welcoming. She is also a true Renaissance woman, not only is she a waiter she speaks English, French and Hebrew, works as a clown for kids parties, coaches a youth bycicle club and has a degree in system engineering. And has the most happy and warm hearted personality.

The table next to us was having a Birthday and she had a cake 🎂 a song and a Sponge Bob costume to come and sing for the birthday girl. 😅.

As you can see she made quite the impression! ❤️

Now to the food! We ordered a seafood platter for one, but 2 ate out of it just fine! It came in a garlic sauce that was to die for along with fish, squid, shrimp, clams razor , oysters and lobster tail plus "patacones". We also had a order of fries and a coconut flan and brownie with ice cream for desert, for a total cost of about $42.

They currently don't have a liquor license but you are welcome to bring your own beer/liquor.

Overall this place gets a 10/10 on all counts: Food, the service and value:price.

10/10 recommended and will definitely...