Description

I follow with my eyes a flight of pelicans, one by one they dive into the sea, float on the waves, and swallow their catch. Up they fly again to find another tasty mouthful.

I could sit here forever and maybe I have to because service is slow. Several "tables" arrived before us. Only when one table is completely served, orders from the next table are taken.

During our five-day stay in Samara, we almost became regulars. We had chosen this beach-side restaurant because of its shade, easy chairs, and view of the ocean. A second consideration was the big mugs of coffee and. . . the second one half price!

One day we ordered snapper which came with French fries and salad. The snapper was not "haute cuisine." It was just tossed into a deep frying pan, but the result was delicious, very crispy, and we could eat fins, tails, and everything--we only left the head behind. This was our evening meal and by the time we were (finally) served, there was no salad left so we got a double portion of French fries.

Another time we ordered casado, Costa Rica’s national dish. It consists of rice, black beans, mashed potatoes, fried bananas, and a choice of fish filet or chicken cutlets. I took the fish which came with a wedge of a sweet/sour orangy lemon and a salad of shredded white cabbage and one slice of tomato.

Gallo Pinto

Most of the mornings we had breakfast here, we ate gallo pinto, a fry up of yesterday’s left-overs--usually rice and black beans accompanied by scrambled egg and tortilla. We also ordered delicious, cold fruit drinks: tamarind, papaya, and passion fruit. They come diluted with water or milk. We never ordered toast and jam, or toast and fried eggs. Why should we? We can eat that all other 338 days, when we are not in Costa Rica.