Makoko — Restaurant in Sardinal

We took my mother here for our last night in Costa Rica and were very disappointed. The food was mediocre, and one could argue poor for the price point. The rum/mango old fashioned I ordered was uninspired. I ordered the braised ribs, which were good, but it advertised that it came with kale which ended up being a joke. When my dish arrived, it had just one sad kale leaf draped over the ribs. So if you like meat and potatoes, with no veggies, get that dish. My wife tried to order the ‘Farro’ dish because it was advertised as ‘gluten free’, but we quickly did some internet research at the table and discovered farro has gluten. She was able to get it with quinoa instead, but when it arrived it was very over salted and lack a complexity of flavor. The passion fruit crème brûlée that was brought over from Malu was yummy, but we were disappointed that it had no caramelized crust on top...

We had a lovely dinner at Makoko. We visited from the Golden Palms Papagayo hotel and made a reservation on opentable. The hostess was a bit confused that we didn’t have a room at the hotel, so perhaps this isn’t common yet? Also see the note below on parking.

The food was excellent all around. The tomato soup was cleverly presented, with the soup poured over tiny grilled cheese bites and fresh tomatoes at the table. One of the best tomato soups I’ve ever had. I also had the bouillabaisse, which was likewise very good. The portion sizes are admittedly a bit small by American standards, but that’s honestly not a bad thing.

Service was also kind and attentive. It took a while to bring our check, but the restaurant had really filled up by the time we were finished, so...

So satisfied by every single food we got from this place! Even in-room dining food was so good, how is that possible! Loved the olive oil pasta, Caribbean salmon, beef tartare, little appetizer, grilled eggplant, tuna, scrambled egg from breakfast menu,… literally everything.

The only down side is that the breakfast is on the pricier side. That little tasty scrambled egg would cost ~$16, yet the bolognese pasta (very delicious too) is $9. Pricing doesn’t make the most sense here 🧐

Also, resort fee comes with free yoga class and coffee tasting class (golden bean). The barista was very knowledgeable,...