Green Papaya Taco Bar — Restaurant in Tamarindo

I don’t like giving bad reviews but this place felt like a rip off. I can see from quite a few other reviews that they had the same experience. Beware of additional fees!

They told us about their cash only policy after we had already ordered and so we all had to go and leave the table in increments to the cash machine a short walk away. I understand that it’s always good to have cash, but none of us were prepared for the high prices and most everywhere else in Tamarindo in terms of restaurants takes credit cards. It is our fault for not looking more closely to see of this was listed on their website, but they should be up front about it or have a sign somewhere also.

Next, the prices are a big sticker shock. Tamarindo is not known for being inexpensive but this place was really overpriced for what you get and they also admitted that they use a different conversion rate than what it actually is currently, leaving the pricing even higher after my brother in law asked them about it. It just felt very disheartening and we all left with very bad feelings. Living in one of the most expensive cities in the US myself, I am always use to higher prices, but this was a sneaky and shady experience overall.

The swings are a cute touch, the service was friendly, but the drinks were very weak, the food was not terrible, but wasn’t anything special.

We went to Dragonfly directly across the street a few nights before and that was amazing. Better food, better pricing, better service. Go...

Green Papaya is one of the 2 top rated taco restaurants within walking distance of tamarindo beach.

Ordered the ceviche to start but they were out so our server recommended the creamy chipotle shrimp or the beet-root carpaccio. Shrimp obviously! Btw, this place is very vegan/vegetarian friendly. The shrimp was pretty good. Tastes how it sounds and comes with salsa and plantain chips and a good number of shrimps. 4/5

Tacos. This is where things take a downturn. These were less like tacos and more like open-faced burritos. The tacos were massive! I have nothing against large portions but these tacos were seriously lacking in flavour. We got chicken and shrimp tacos. There was not much seasoning and the protein sat on a huge bed of diced lettuce/slaw that didn't have much dressing or flavour either. Add in 2 slices of avacado and there's your tacos. 2/5

The one saving grace was the chili sauce. This sauce was legit the bomb! It was thick, hot and flavourful, our meals came with 2 small saucers worth and we finished every last drop of it. It was so good we bought a jar of it to go (7 Dollars!) 5/5

Service was top notch and the whole swing setup was neat. Nice shrimp...

Food was good and good portions. Two issues I had with the food: Ordered the Ceviche which was good and a large amount, but it didn’t come with nearly enough chips to eat all of that, so asked for more chips and was charged an additional $3 (that’s kinda lame). Ordered a chicken enchilada- was warned it was pretty spicy- and it was (I got the hiccups from it, but I liked it) so I asked for some sour cream to cut the heat a little- I was told they don’t have sour cream there- kinda odd a taco place doesn’t have sour cream especially with known spicy food. The service was a bit spotty, took a long while after we were seated to even get water. Despite all that, what really turn me off to this place was that they had a guy singing and playing guitar- he was mediocre at best in both playing and singing. He played 3 songs and then took a break to walk around the restaurant with his hat asking for money. He didn’t come back the rest of the time we were there. I’ve never seen a musician beg for money that was scheduled to play at a restaurant - really lame and will keep me...