Nogui's Restaurant — Restaurant in Tamarindo

My wife and I visited this little beachfront restaurant in Tamarindo after a relaxing day soaking up rays on the beach. When we arrived a women who we later identified as a facilitator of a 40-person private party rudely waved us off out of the restaurant. We then went to an area with festive red and orange lighting and colorful chairs and were seated quickly. Our waiter was very transparent and told us the wait for food would be 30 minutes which was fine.

We munched on some chips and salsa and guacamole and wet our palettes with some cocktails: a passion fruit margarita and guaro sour - both were sweet but tasted little too diluted for my liking. We then got a watermelon margarita which was creamy and had better balance of flavor. Finally came the entrees: whole fried red snapper with rice and beans and sliced avocado on the side and fish tacos. The snapper tastes super fresh and the light breading gave it a nice crunch w a twist of lime. The tacos were unfortunately very dry and the side of pico de gallo added little acidity to the dish. I would have preferred that the fish filet was fried to make it easier to eat as a soft taco. We enjoyed the rest of our drinks and then asked for the check which came promptly.

In summary I was really annoyed with the fact that a guest of the restaurant would be so rude to wave off incoming customers rather than a member of the actual restaurant staff. While I appreciated the waiter being upfront with us about how the private party would delay service, I felt I was rushed to order my entree and in retrospect probably ordered the wrong dish. One of absolute pet peeves is dining out and getting mediocre food on vacation. This is one restaurant I don’t see patronizing on a return trip...

The food was delicious and the service was super. The staff were friendly and patient with our requests and brought our food quickly and it was very yummy. Definitely would recommend the patacones!! The guacamole in my opinion was the star of the show it was definitely one of the best guacamoles I’ve had the Patagonia square fluffy on the inside and crispy on the outside. We ordered the caipirinhas as our drinks and they were a little too strong for our taste which was a shame :( the shrimp tacos, had a really good taste to them. The rice was cut really well. The beans needed a little bit more salt, but had a really good texture if they were more like the smash the beans from the patacones they would definitely be better in my opinion. The pico was very yummy as well and very fresh the other dish I had was the mixed ceviche which was yummy in the sense that the fish was very fresh and the chips that came with it we’re really yummy and we’re complimented very well with the guacamole and the pico that was left over from the Patacones but unfortunately, the ceviche was very sour to my taste, and tattoo be sent back to the kitchen to try and get fixed and the second time was almost the same which was a shame because I really like the freshness of the fish. Definitely recommend coming here and get the...

I've been coming to Tamarindo for a few years and I've been to Nogui's at least a dozen times. Being a bit farther down the beach it tends to be a bit less busy. Stellar sunset spot of course. I actually like to work remotely here during the day, the wifi is good, it opens early and it's quiet.

Food and drink wise, I pretty much only ever order the breakfast croissant with ham and cheese and the iced coffee con leche. Both are great breakfast items and very reasonably priced. I'm not a seafood person so I can weigh in on the dinner choices.

I will say that if you're out and about looking for beach drinks, the ones here are absolutely delicious but they are very very pricey compared to any other spot on the beach. Mojitos and daiquiris ran 10 USD each (most spots down the beach are giving you that 8 dollar 2x1 special)

The service is friendly but slow and not super attentive, so it's generally a flag someone down kind of situation. That's pretty par for the course in Tama.

The last thing I'll say is that this place is by far the best chance of spotting wildlife as far as beach restaurants go. Especially early in the morning. Huge iguannas and monkeys are often hanging around.

I'll definitely keep coming back here for a nice simple early morning breakfast...