The ULTIMATE Vegan Guide to Costa Rica

So, for anyone who has been following my blog, you all know that I spent 5 months in Costa Rica, more specifically near the town of Dominical. While this post is mainly going to be about that town, I want to talk about what a vegan can get food wise in general first.

Typical Tico food is usually very meat centric, but never fear, there are many vegan options to be devoured! First and foremost is comida tipica, translated as typical food which is what is served in most Sodas (dinners). This usually consists of gallo pinto (rice, beans and vegetables cooked in spices), fried plantain and tortillas with a choice of protein. All you have to do to ask to get a vegan version is to replace the protein with sautéed veggies.

This is going to be available ANYWHERE you go.

Another great option that is available pretty much anywhere is smoothies, you just have to ask for the water based beverages instead of the milk based ones (agua instead of leche). Try the guanabana aka soursop!

People are extremely nice and will accommodate whatever you need as long as you can communicate it to them. Use vegetariano estricto to describe your diet, then elaborate that "no como leche, queso, carne, pollo, pescado o huevos" which translates into saying you do not eat milk, cheese, meat, chicken, fish or eggs. Learning these words are key and make your whole trip that much easier.

Now to Dominical!

Surf Shack is a hostel/restaurant directly on the beach, serving up breakfast and lunch. I included pics of their menu at the time (May 2014) so you can get an idea of what they serve. They aren't exclusively vegetarian but the options are clearly marked on the menu. Their full breakfast usually comes with eggs, but we ordered it with avocado instead. Most of their menu items include gluten for anyone who has issue with that.

Further up the beach is a sweet little stand where you can get some cold fresh coconut to sip on.

On the main road is a little boutique yoga studio that also has a juice bar.

Also on the main road is a small lunch place which I has wraps, sandwiches, salads, juice and smoothie. Most of the veggie wraps have cheese that can be omitted to be vegan.

Rum bar is situated at the crossroads of the first entrance into demoniacal and the main road. they have a sign claiming they serve vegan and vegetarian food. When we went in they had a few different options for Chinese foods dishes, one being specifically vegan. It was a greasy plate of Americanized Chinese food, but it hit the spot at the time.

There is a small organic cafe that serves vegan pancakes and superfood smoothies. They also have really good organic fresh-pressed OJ. Their menu seems to change up alot and the hours change from high to low season as far as I could tell.

Last one is my MOST favorite of them all. An almost exclusively vegetarian restaurant, Maracatu was our go to place for food in Dominical. We sampled everything vegan on the menu and it was always a good quality meal that was through fully enjoyed. I'm including pictures of the menu that we took in May 2014. Pictured below in order is: the gallo pinto, the burrito, coconut curry and pad thai.

There are a few more places to hit up for more local options, including several sodas where you can get cheap gallo pinto and other dishes. Also, theres a small cafe coming into Dominical that makes smoothies and other drinks. It's a sort of European-like cafe.

The grocery stores have a wide array of both local and imported goods to fill you up as well.

If you can get to it, the farmer's market on thursday's and Friday's in San Isidro is amazing. A huge variety of fruit and vegetables, plus local artisan stalls with vegan and organic foods. They aren't cheap, but if you are looking for items like nooch or raw cashews they are the people to check out. The variety of exotic and tropical fruit everywhere is enough to keep you sustained throughout a stay in Costa Rica.

Travelling vegan is as easy as you make it. This guide does make it easier as it's all info and places that I discovered during my 5 month stay there. There are also farmer's markets in Tinamaste on Tuesdays and Uvita on Saturday's. I wouldn't suggest buying fruit in Dominical itself, because it's overly expensive and not always great quality. There is a great fruit stand in Baru called Fruiteria Baru that is easily accessible by bus or even bike that has great prices and quality.

The wide variety of options available there make it a GREAT vegan travelling destination.

There are also a whole bunch of vegan retreats, fincas and hotels around for those who want to be extra taken care of!

Top Ten Exotic Fruit of Costa Rica

Fruit is the best of foods.

Even better are fruits that are not typically found, or really found ripe or goof quality, in most of North America. I mean, don't get me wrong: apples and pears and grapes are great when they're in season but when you start on a healthy diet that include lots of fruit, variety makes it that much sweeter.

So, I dare you to expand your fruity horizons!

A few of these are not necessarily local and indigenous to Costa Rica, but they are amazing, delicious and grow very well in the climates available. Many are available in their imported forms and most definitely worth trying if you can get your hands on them. I suggest trying your local asian grocer or China Town to see what they offer.

1. Biriba

A sweet blissful fruit that tastes like lemon meringue pie. Best if picked ripe, and ready to eat. This is one that is worth the plane ticket since I've never seen them anywhere else.

2. Pineapple

I know, you can get pineapple pretty much anywhere. But nothing beats the taste of a truly ripe pineapple. If they're picked green and left to ripen, they lose most of their magic. Did you know it takes up to 2 years for one pineapple to grow?

3. Sour Sop (Guanabana)

was a massive outburst of information about the Sour Sop not too long ago, boasting about it's cancer fighting abilities. The taste of these is amazing, a sweet/soup juicy bite will lead you to devour the entire thing in one sitting!

4. Mangoes

Yes, again, mangos are available everywhere. Here, they are picked ripe and have a very large selection of varieties. The season starts soon and I expect to live off them for days!

5. Ice Cream Banana

An intriguing variety of banana, it is to be eaten when very soft, and massaged beforehand as well. It has a lemony creamy taste with an ice creamy texture.

6. Jackfruit

The source of the flavor they developed for juicy fruit gum! Jackfruit is a beast of a fruit, it can weigh up to 36 kg or 80 lbs. The insides are interesting and require some work to get out as the fruit has a natural latex that oozes out and gets on everything wh
en cut open. The trick is to oil up your hands a knife and dig in!

7. Granadilla

A large type of passion fruit that is sometimes sweet, with a tang. One of my most favorite fruits, it tastes even better when paired with mango.

8. Sapodilla

A feast that reminds one of brown sugar and cake. This little brown fruit is much more than it appears to be.

9. Maracuya

A super sour passion fruit that is often used here in drinks and juices. Many people like adding a little sweetness, but it reminds me of the sour candies I enjoyed as a kid.

10. Rambutan (Mamón Chino)

An alien looking fruit that tastes similar to the lychee, it is bursting with juicy flavor. Just peel away the colorful skin and pop the white fruit into your mouth, making sure not to chomp down on the pit!

 ALSO: as I have mentioned I have some plans to grow the blog. I would LOVE your input and have put together a short 2 minute survey. I would be eternally grateful if you could fill it out.

Here's the link. https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/YJ6PH75

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Greetings from Costa Rica and Some News!

I think I escaped winter just in time. The few days following my departure were the coldest days this winter, and now there's massive snow storms flying about.

Costa Rica is beautiful, as can be expected. It's also taking me a little while to adjust to the climate, since we're pretty close to the ocean, it's very humid. I love the humidity, such a great change from the dryness of heated houses in the Canadian winter.

That being said, I am still working out our kitchen. Since we are in a long-term rental, all the kitchen ware has been provided and it certainly isn't what I'm used to. Although, I did bring the Blendtec. There is no way I am ever going without a high speed blender!

Meals so far have been very simple. Tons of amazing tropical fruit, like the papayas above, have been my staple and will continue to be as long as we're here. I also have a few recipes in reserve from when we were in Canada, which will probably be the next month or so's posts. I'll be playing a lot with local ingredients during that time, as well as mixing up some great raw items for you. I also need to get more familiar with the grocery stores and fruit stands around here to really get a lay of the land.

All these gorgeous flowers grow everywhere, which just makes me want to take pictures all day long.

We are very lucky for a few more reasons. One, vegan food is abundant in the nearby town, there is an option at every restaurant, with two of them being organic with many (labelled) vegan choices. I will definitely be posting about them here and on the Facebook page once we've decided to treat ourselves to a night out.

Also, fresh fruit smoothies are everywhere. It's easy to ask them to make them with water instead of milk, although they aren't cheap (around $3-4). My favorite combination so far has been guanabana (soursop) and strawberry. I'll definitely be making it at home when I get my hand on another soursop.

Red Bananas growing on the property

Now that we've begun a New Year, I want to ramp up this blog a bit. I'll be adding some non-food lifestyle posts, such as skincare and fitness. I believe that whole foods eating and veganism are a lifestyle, not simply a diet and being healthy involves so much more than just food! So from now on, food is definitely still going to be the main topic of posts, but we'll be diversifying it a bit to really dig in to health and what it's all about!

I am now also officially a Blendtec Affiliate, if you are interested in purchasing one, all you need to do is click the Blendtec image on the right to purchase through me. I use mine daily and stand behind it 100% in terms of usability and quality. Check it out!

View From the Kitchen Counter

I would love to know what you guys want to hear from the blog. Any types of requests are more than welcome. I have one already on the many ways to use avocado that will be coming up in the next week or so.