[Costa Rica Honeymoon] [Day 1] Calalu Tipical and Caribbean Food Restaurante

Calalu Tipical and Caribbean Food Restaurante
Alajuela, Aeropuerto,
550 Metros Nor-Este Del Semaforo
Rio Segundo, Costa Rica
2441-2121

I am back with full laptop power.  haha....  I really want to write about our honeymoon before I start forgetting things.

We were one day late for our tour.  The local travel agency asked if we would like to take a private shuttle to our destination for $300, or take a shared shuttle for $100.  We opted for the cheaper option.  We arrived at San Jose in Costa Rica around 7-ish in the morning.  The shared shuttle would pick us up around 3pm.  So the travel agency actually sent another guy to pick us up at the airport to take us to a local restaurant to wait there.



The restaurant was called Calalu Tipical and Caribbean Food Restaurante.  This must be the shuttle "station" because we saw quite a few tourists coming here to wait for their shuttles.




This restaurant is about 5 minutes drive from the airport.  The street here, as well as the weather, actually kinda reminded me of Taiwan's countryside.



The sitting area had a nice breeze throughout the day.



A Costa Rican lady was the cook.  She is one good cook!



There is a small souvenir area.  The one waiter who was working on that day was very nice and friendly.  He speaks some English, and tried his best to give us advices and tips about traveling in Costa Rica.  He also let a tourist use their phone for free.  Oh and there is a computer with internet access to use for free.


Cafe con Leche (C$800) (US$1.60)
Coffee with Milk

First thing we wanted to get was coffee.  One, we really want to try the famous Costa Rican coffee.  Two, we were super tired from the overnight flight.  We both ordered coffee with milk.  We had a few sips, and thought how can we drink the coffee we have at http://www.eileenlikestoeat.com after this?  There is just something about CR's coffee.  It's strong, rich, smooth, and so tasty.  Even their milk tasted better.  I like to have Cafe con Leche without sugar.  I have at least two or three cups of this coffee everyday while we were in Costa Rica.


Casados con Pollo (C$3,000) (US$6.00)
Acompanados de frijoles molidos, arroz, ensalada, platano maduro y piquitos
Chicken served with mashed black beans, rice, salad, fried sweet plantain and tortillas

We just had breakfast on the airplane, and weren't that hungry.  So we decided to order just one dish to share first.  We picked Casados con Pollo, which sounded like a traditional CR dish.  The chicken was tender and lean, but it had a lot of little skinny bones.  The stew sauce was tasty.  The simple rice and bean was quite good.  Salad tasted fresh.  And Dr. P just loved the fried sweet plantain.


Spicy Salsa

The waiter brought us some http://www.eileenlikestoeat.commade super spicy salsa to go with the food.  The salsa was sour and spicy.  We like!



After we finished the food, we had a good 6 hours to kill.  We just sat around, talked, walked around, almost fell asleep, ordered more coffee, tried to read Costa Rica newspaper and couldn't understand, but the pictures were interesting, tried to watch the soccer game on TV, looking at other tourists and what they were eating.... etc.  This place was quite busy around lunch time.  Even the policia came in to get take-out.


Cerveza (C$1,000) (US$2.00)

After 3 cups of coffee, Dr. P said he was still feeling tired, so he wanted beer.  I thought beer is supposed to make people more sleepy.  But Dr. P said beer makes him want to party.  haha....  Beer is really cheap here, just $2.


Rice and Beans con Pollo Negro (Jerk Chicken) (C$2,000) (US$4.00)
Rice and beans cooked in coconut milk sauce, Caribbean spices with jerk chicken

Then Dr. P got a little hungry again.  He ordered Rice and Bean with Jerk Chicken.  Just when the dish came out, our shuttle got there early.  The driver told us that we could finish eating if we want.  But there was another guy in the shuttle, and we didn't want to make him wait for us and got the food for to-go.  Later we had the food at a rest stop.  The chicken was soooooo tender.  The rice and bean was amazing!  I wasn't even hungry.  But after one bite, I was fighting with Dr. P for the food.  If we had this at the restaurant, I probably would just order another one for myself, too.

It was our first meal in Costa Rica.  All I could say was Costa Rican food is awesome!  I can't wait to eat for the next 7 days!

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