Asparagus, the Feria and the Soda

I’ve been on the hunt for fresh asparagus. Some expats have said they have found it at their ferias so we decided to see if anyone at our Grecia feria was carrying it today.

First order of the day - breakfast. We went to El Restaurante Griego, a soda run by a father, a mother and their son. It’s 100 m. north of the Peri Mercado and right on a corner. It is very popular with Costa Ricans, so one gets a taste of daily Costa Rican life. Another plus is that it opens early in the morning. The food is very good, typical soda food, and the prices so reasonable. While we were there, a lot of take out orders were being called in.

But I think what really makes this restaurant are the owners. They are so friendly and personable and you will be greeted with a handshake on arrival and  the usual pleasantries are exchanged - how are you? Fine, thank you. And you? All is good. But it is in Spanish: ¿Como estas? Bien, gracias. ¿y usted? Todo bien. The owner has some English. It’s our favourite soda.

Here’s the menu (photo by Brian Cordoba on Google Maps):

I had the omelette and gallo pinto, but I asked for just a small portion of the pinto. Lance had two eggs and gallo pinto but his serving was huge, took up half the plate. Impossible to finish in one go so we asked for take away (para llevar) and you can see below how much was left. It will feed the both of us tomorrow morning, with bacon and eggs. Our tradition is to have bacon, eggs and waffles on Sundays. We’ll skip the waffles this time.

Off to the feria. I so enjoy going to these weekly markets. Grecia’s is open on Friday from noon to 8pm and on Saturday from 4am to 1pm. Closed the rest of the week. First stop was a stand selling leather goods, purses, etc. Lance bought a new belt. Then we wandered around searching for asparagus - but nobody was carrying it. You can buy just about anything here - meats, breads, all manner of tropical fruits and vegetables, clothing, dairy products, sodas (the eating places) and so on. Plus it’s such a lively setting. We enjoy interacting with the sellers, some of whom speak English.

Here is what we purchased - red peppers, green beans, sixteen eggs and tamales. Two tamales tied together are called a piña.