Restaurante El Sabor de la Montaña — Restaurant in Sabanilla

We had a lovely lunch today at Restaurante El Sabor de la Montaña. The restaurant wasn’t too busy and our server Daniel gave us the choice of a covered patio seat or indoors. We decided to enjoy the fresh mountain air.

At the recommendation of our server we had the local strawberry smoothie to start. It was delicious.

As an appetizer we ordered the patacones (double fried green plantains) with guacamole, pico de gallo, and black bean purée. It was a large serving and a couple of the patacones were huge. I have been to countless restaurants in Costa Roca that charge you way too much for a very small serving of these. We were very happy about the portion.

For our main course I had the vegetarian special which consisted of 2 pieces of local fried cheese or a fried egg, 3 handmade tortillas, pico de gallo, black bean purée, sautéed mixed vegetables, and fried ripe (sweet) plantains. Everything on my plate was delicious. There was a tad too much salt on the sautéed mixed veggies but it wasn’t enough to prevent me from enjoying my food.

My husband had Arroz con Camarones (shrimp rice) that came with french fries and a green salad. He said everything was really good and seemed fresh. It didn’t feel like they were preparing large quantities of food to sit around all day.

All in all we would be more than happy to stop here again and found the warm, attentive, and energetic service of Daniel our server made our meal that much...

Great atmosphere. Only one waiter, Daniel, who is friendly and attentive. 12 tables inside and 8 more on the side with an outdoor environment. At the moment, there's 6 tables Daniel is waiting on. Food preparation is a little long but made fresh to order. Bathrooms are very cleaning. Highly recommend this establishment on your way down from Volcan Poas to regain your energy from the long waking trail to Lake Botos and back. Main course dishes come with pre-selected sides, which can not be substituted, but if you ask nicely, they may be able to change it for you. Additionally, some items on the menu (main course and desserts) were not available at the time of our visit. Please note: this restaurant DOES NOT include the tip (gratuity) for service rendered, only government taxes. Please make sure to tip your server. He will not mention it, but for the service, it would greatly be appreciated. There was an unofficial mascot (gato sin botas) walking around the property, which is friendly and only comes to the table for scraps. Overall, it was a nice place, and it was great for...

This is my third day in Costa Rica and we’ve been eating out every meal. By far the best restaurant that I’ve been too. Not just the best but the best by a mile. I got the Chilean sea bass with shrimp sauce and it was amazing. My wife got the chicken rice and we shared an appetizer of fried plantains with three dipping sauces and they were all amazing. Our waiter was awesome and I’m so glad I took his recommendations. Great food, great service, and great atmosphere.

We were staying in San Jose and just kind of wound up here by happy accident but it was so good I’d say it would be worth an hour drive from San Jose just to eat there. In particular if you are ready for some flavor and seasonings after eating in San Jose for a bit. As a side note if you really want to kick it up, their food is good enough to not need anything, but try their house hot sauce. It’s...