As travelers who love to try the local food wherever we are visiting, Steve and I were keen to check out a traditional Costa Rican soda. A “soda” is what Costa Ricans call their local restaurants – there’s a whole range of them, but they are often mom and pop concerns, serving traditional Costa Rican food, and often open air. It seemed like just about every town and village we drove through had at least one soda, and we were determined to check one out and eat like locals. We were also hungry after hiking through Tenorio Volcano National Park, and Soda Rancho Irma Posada, on the road from Tenorio to Arenal, was calling our name.

As was the case with many of the sodas we saw on our travels, this one was open air. You placed your order at the window and then waited while the kitchen prepared your meal and placed it, piping hot, on the counter.

Very excited for our traditional soda experience!

I ordered this blackberry smoothie milkshake situation – I don’t know what it was exactly, but I do know that it was absolutely delicious, refreshing, and hit the spot after a long, sweaty hike in the jungle.

While I waited for my lunch, I wandered around the grounds and checked out the rows of potted plants. It was such an absolutely delightful place to have lunch.

Each table had a selection of popular condiments. The Lizano salsa – that’s the brown bottle with the green and white label above – was my favorite. Felix, our guide in Monteverde, had liberally doused his lunch in Lizano when we ate with him at the park cafe in Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve, and I decided to give it a try. YUM.

Food’s here! This is a pretty typical Costa Rican lunch plate; we ate this sort of thing rather a lot, and zero complaints here. I’d read, before the trip, that Costa Rican food was not especially exciting or anything to write home about – I couldn’t disagree more. Yes, it’s heavily based on the rice and beans combination, but always accompanied by fresh vegetables and delicious sauces. I loved the food.

Full of lunch, we tumbled back into our rental car and hit the road. Before we knew it, Arenal was rising from the fields, off in the distance. Are we driving into Pompeii?

Next week: hiking around an active volcano. Check in with me then!