Naans & Curries, An Ethnic Indian Restaurant

Yesterday we drove to the Lindora area of Santa Ana, an affluent suburb of San José, to try the breakfast buffet at Naans & Curries. This restaurant features gourmet ethnic Indian cuisine and the breakfast buffet is a recent addition to their menu.

The restaurant is located in the Momentum plaza, which itself is a really interesting place. There appear to be twelve restaurants to choose from - Aji Limon (Peruvian), Arden Beer Garden, Artisano Deli, Bambai (Mongolian), Door 74 (a club I think), Kotoy (Japanese), La Fabbrica (pizza), La Ostra (seafood and grill), La Paleteria (ice cream), Los Pitaz (Mediterranean), Lucha Libra (Mexican) and Naans & Curries. I can see us coming back here to try some other cuisines. Around the plaza are some large metal horse statues.

Naans & Curries has a large covered outdoor eating area and this is where the buffet foods were set up. They start service at 7:00 am but on this day they were a bit delayed due to unforeseen circumstances, so I would suggest arriving around 8:00 am. Excellent service and wait staff. They explained all the foods to us, what they were made of and so on. The owner introduced himself to us and apologized for the delay. We didn’t mind waiting a bit and ordered coffee for Lance and a mora lassi for me. Lassi is a drink made with yogurt, water, spices and the mora is a type of berry grown here. It was icy cold and delicious.

The food - all I can say is it was wonderful. There were so many choices available, starting with a fruit, cereal, salad and cheese (including paneer) table. They also had an omelette station and a parantha station - I think these were paranthas - very thin, rolled with a filling of cauliflower (or maybe potatoes). Wonderful, flavourful soups. A table of large tureens filled with different curries. We ended up so full that we couldn’t try a lot of the items that were available. Still, we were brought a dessert that we were told we had to try, “just have a bite”. A kind of pancake with chocolate poured on top and cream. Needless to say, we didn’t eat the rest of the day.

Food from India has to be one of the world’s great cuisines - the subtle flavours are incredible. There is such a wide variety of local and traditional ways of preparing food. What we had today was mostly from south India, which we had never been able to try before. Coming from Surrey, British Columbia, Canada, we were used to Punjabi recipes. This area is one of the world’s largest South Asian enclaves and most are Punjabi Sikhs (Wikipedia).

The price per person for the buffet and unlimited smoothies is 7,500 CRC, not including the mandatory taxes and service charge. Including both of these, the final total for two people was 18,500 CRC (about 32.00 USD). We added a tip.

We’ll definitely be returning. 

A part of the Momentum plaza:

My lassi drink and the table centerpiece:


Two kinds of rolls to eat with the soup, three kinds of sauces, a chickpea filled pepper:


What I think is a parantha, with two sauces:


Three horses running:


Look at the saddle - all fashioned with metal, even the reins:

Pizza il Capo, Grecia, Costa Rica

Earlier this week, we visited Pizza il Capo in the Mall Plaza Grecia  and right next to Pops ice cream shop. We had been wanting to try their pizzas. They open at 11:30am and we arrived shortly after, were seated right away and given menus.

For drinks, Lance ordered Gallo Tapado Irish red ale, an artensial beer brewed in Grecia. I decided on the limonada con hierba buena, which was icy cold and so tasty. For pizzas, I went with the gorgonzola and Lance had the Caribbean. We decided on the personal portion size (four slices) and we could only eat half so took the rest home for a later snack.

We’ll be back - they have pasta dishes too. Service was fast and friendly and the food was delicious.

Lance’s pizza (sorry for the blurriness):

My gorgonzola:

I had a sip of Lance’s beer - excellent:


The amazing limonada con hierba buena:

Weather in Hacienda el Paseo - July, 2018

A weather summary for the month of July and the period from the beginning of April to the end of July appears below.

The temperature reached 90°F on only one day and dropped to a low of 64°F on only two days. The number of days with rainfall (19) was coincidentally the same as that in June. However, in contrast to June, the total amount of rainfall in July was only a fraction of that in June - just over 5 inches compared to over 15 inches.

Breakfast at the Feria

This morning we went to the Grecia feria to have breakfast at one of the sodas - there are a number to choose from - and to walk around looking at all the gorgeous fruits and vegetables. You can also buy dairy products, breads, meats, fish, and plants and flowers, clothing and leather goods.

Most of the sodas do not have menus, but they may post what is available on a board. In any case, you need to know what you want to eat and you need to order in Spanish. We decided on coffee, scrambled eggs and gallo pinto. Cost for two meals was 6,000 colones, about $12 USD.

The coffee was super hot and strong, the way we like it. We drink our coffee black.

Here are our breakfasts (sorry that the picture is not in focus). You can see that the portions are generous. They also came with fried plantains, which are sweet and almost caramelized. We couldn’t finish all the rice and beans.

At the end of our meal, our server gave each of us a square of cajeta - a fudge like candy. I might try making these.

After breakfast, we wandered around. Rambutans are in season now (also known as mamon chino and lychee). I also bought a few mangosteens, because this is a fruit I hadn’t tried yet.

Rambutans on the left and mangosteens on the right:

Here is what they look like cut open. I like the mangosteen - it’s a bit tart.

Our final purchase was fresh flowers - gladioli and a white flower that I can’t identify. The flowers will continue to open up along the stem so it lasts for quite a while.

Road Trip to Zarcero, Alajuela, Costa Rica

We decided to drive to the town of Zarcero last Sunday morning. We hadn’t been there for a number of years and it’s a nice place to visit. From the center of Grecia to Zarcero is 39.1 km which isn’t far as the crow flies, but the winding, climbing mountain roads will add to the driving time. It’s a beautiful drive though.

Zarcero is at an altitude of 1736 m, so the temperatures are brisker than what we experience where we live. It’s an agricultural area - coffee, vegetables, dairy, cheese. There are two protected areas that attract tourists - the Juan Castro Blanco National Park and el Chayote Protected Zone. Another attraction is the Los Angeles Cloud Forest Reserve.

I think what Zarcero is best known for is all the topiary in the park in front of the church, Iglesia de San Rafael Arcangel. The church is beautiful, inside and out. We didn’t stay long because it started to rain but I managed to take a few pictures. 

Oops, I didn’t have time to smile!