The typical dish is gallo pinto for breakfast and casado for lunch or dinner. Both basically consist of beans and rice, together with vegetables or fried plantains, and possibly some meat of some form. I personally actually really took to the casado - they were reasonably priced and very filling - but also quite a carb fest and despite doing some serious walking while in Costa Rica I didn't manage to lose any weight at all.

I found the grilled fish with vegetables all over the country and this became one of my favourite meals. The fish is really tasty and having been grilled out out all crispy as though it were battered. Served with carrots and brocolli (and a little chilli sauce!) it made a great meal.

In these quieterer areas, many people will not speak English despite what the guidebooks may say so it is strongly recommended that you take a basic Spanish book with you in an attempt to translate some of the menus. It's not too difficult and after a while you'll be recognising meals that you liked previously so you are only likely to flounder fore the first few days. Also, if and when you do meet people that speak both Latin American Spanish and English, try asking them all the words you keep seein but that aren't in your dictionary - there will be quite a few I assure you!

In the more tourist-driven areas like Arenal or Tamarindo the sky is virtually the limit for food. You can expect all the Costa Rican favourites but also plenty of American-style foods. Pastas, pizzas, cold beer, burger and fries are all available on the menus and some restuarants themselves are owned by American immigrants.

In my experience though, unless you're in a 5 star resort, service, whilst incrediably friendly, can be so slow as to send you to sleep. Therefore don't wait until you're starving to order food or you may be uite disappointed. We visited several restaurants where the food tasted great and the rpices were respectable but we chose not to go back to them simply because we had waited sometimes 45 minutes for our food. For me, that's unacceptable.