Best Eats in Playa Guiones

1. The Rising Sun: this place will feed vegans and a carnivores...so its convenient if you are traveling with a carnivore.  They have some of the best food in all of Playa Guiones and is a must visit if you make it there! For my first visit I tried the dragon bowl with quinoa, which was the perfect lunch.  It was light and filled with veggies and the mushroom sauce was so good, just what I needed after a great surf session. For my second visit I tried the yogi, which is their veggie burger, upon the recommendation of Spencer.  This was such a hearty meal, I was so full afterward.  The salad it comes with was amazing, packed with toppings! (My carnivore travel companion had the burger, and said it was one of the best he had ever had!) Also they have a pool that you can lounge around in after you eat!

2. The Harmony Hotel- Restaurant and Juice Bar: we went to The Harmony one afternoon for lunch after some serious surfing and yoga, so needless to say we were hungry!!!!!  We decided to eat in the restaurant because there were more options.  I ordered the falafel pita and substituted the yogurt for black bean hummus- it was spectacular.  I also had a hearts of palm salad (hold the feta), which was fabulous as well. The meals were big, which was perfect because we were so hungry.  The Harmony also has a fabulous juice bar.  I ordered a blackberry juice with fresh basil....yummmm.  We also tried a watermelon juice with ginger and lime, so good.  You can also get great vegan pastries at the juice bar.

.

3. La Dolce Vita: just past the Nosara Yoga Institute outside town you will find this amazing Italian restaurant. This place is perfect if you are looking for a romantic dinner spot, or just an exquisite meal with a bunch of friends, like we did, not once but twice during our time there. This is authentic Italian, and the majority of the ingredients are imported from Italy!!!  The first night I had the fettucini  with the diablo sauce and the spinach salad.  The diablo sauce was amazing, definitely not so spicy that it ruined the meal, it was perfect.  They also serve this amazing flat bread with optional minced garlic in oil.....oh so good. The second time we went there I got the taglitelle with porcini mushrooms and truffle oil. Que buenisimo. Also, if you order wine by the glass, they give you these huge goblet glasses and fill them to the top!

4. Rosies Soda Tica: this little place is run by three women and was really good.  They only serve breakfast and lunch.  We went for lunch our second day and I had the black bean soup, but it was more of a vegetable soup with a black bean broth, which was fabulous.  And it came with a side of rice. This place is super cheap and the food has a very home-cooked feel. I have also heard that they have the best banana pancakes in the area. So I would suggest this place for a casual, cheap meal. (I entirely plan to recreate the black bean soup!!!!)

I have to admit, my restaurant choices were entirely influenced by locals who thought these places had great vegan options, which means I did not try all the restaurants in Playa Guiones.  There are likely many other vegan worth restaurants, thus I'm already planning my return trip in May!!!