We left our house around 0730 - we wanted to have breakfast in the Fraijanes area. Freddo Frescas was recommended but instead we stopped at Restaurante Tipico de Fraijanes. It was open and had lots of parking available so in we went. We were not disappointed.
It’s a very large restaurant and the interior is beautiful. I think it caters to a lot of tour groups and tour buses going up to Poas volcano.
The menus are in English or Spanish. We always choose Spanish because it forces us to read and order in Spanish. We no longer have much trouble doing this but if we get stuck, I have a translator on my phone. Our server was really nice.
We both ordered mora batido con leche and a desayuno tipico (typical Costa Rican breakfast). The mora is a fruit similar to blackberries and a batido is similar to a smoothie but you can have it made with milk or with water. We had ours with milk. Lance also ordered a coffee.
This breakfast was excellent. Starting from the left and going clockwise - two eggs, slice of local white cheese, toast, plantains and lastly the gallo pinto. I thought this gallo was really tasty but, as usual, the quantity defeats me and I can never finish the portion. This version had nice big pieces of cilantro in it. Total cost: 11,000 colones (about $18.84 USD). You can get similar breakfasts for less at the sodas but, as I said, this restaurant probably caters to tourists so the prices would be a bit higher.
A view from our table. Dark clouds were starting to come in. Sure enough, as we left the restaurant it started spitting rain.
Hydrangeas everywhere and always blue because of the soil.
Off we went to find the park and strawberries. At an elevation of between 3000 to 4000 ft., almost in the cloud forest, strawberries grow very well. The volcanic soil, temperature and the annual rainfall all contribute to big juicy berries. Coffee is another crop grown in this area. I’ve seen both strawberries and coffee grown under shade cloths.
I’m not sure what’s under these shade cloths - strawberries or coffee, sometimes it’s tomato plants.
We found beautiful berries at a shop along the way. 2 mil for this container (2,000 colones, about $3.40 USD). I’ve seen much smaller sizes in our local grocery stores for a higher price and not as good looking.
We found the park but decided not to go in because of the rain. We’ll leave this visit for the dry season. The area around Poas is absolutely stunning. Dairy cows thrive here because of the cooler temperatures. Here is a cow tied up to a fence outside the field so she could eat the fresh green grass that was there. Several other cows were also tied up and none of them were bothered by the traffic going by or by me taking photos.
Breakfast was so good and the strawberries a real treat that we are going to make going to the Poas area a more regular occurrence. After all, it’s only about a 45 minute beautiful drive from our house.
4 comments:
While reading your post, my mouth started watering to the tune of one of the majestic waterfalls of CR! And I had just eaten breakfast, so hunger had nothing to do with it. The food in Costa Rica is unparalleled. Thank you for sharing this Poas adventure!
Your welcome! So happy you enjoyed reading it.
It's been over four years since I've been to Costa Rica because my parents moved back to the States due to dad's health issues. On one trip, I realized one can order medio pinto but don't know if that is only offered at certain restaurants. The large portions can be quite filling.
I especially miss the coffee, and the strawberries in that picture look delectable.
Thank you, Arlyn! And thanks for the “medio pinto” suggestion. My husband is going to try ordering it that way.
I hope you can return to Costa Rica some day.
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