Yummy things

Yesterday I had lunch with Mrs. P and her lovely daughter, and I thought I'd tell you about where we went because it was really good.

If you've lived in Costa Rica for any amount of time, you already know good Mexican food here is hard to find. (If you haven't lived here, you might think Costa Rica is a lot like California, with a taco stand on every other corner. Ha, I say. Ha.) I needed to get out of the office for a little while, so I asked Mrs. P if she wanted to go to lunch and if she had any suggestions. She'd heard about (or maybe been to?) a place called Picante Grill in Pavas, so I thought, why not?

Now, I have to say, there aren't a whole lot of things on the menu for vegetarians, and vegans have it even worse. That's pretty typical of Mexican food, though. But if you're neither of those things, you'll have lots to choose from. I had a veg burrito minus the portobello mushrooms and cheese, and it was efemente delicioso. Reminded me a lot of this place I used to go to in Monterey, actually. But anyway, the prices are decent, and the food was really good. So good, that we (esposo and I) ordered delivery for dinner the same night (yes, they deliver all the way to Santa Ana! And Heredia! Woot!).

Two things: Mrs. P had to ask for sour cream about four times and then go up to the counter herself before she actually got any; and when I asked if they could throw some lettuce or guacamole on the burrito in place of the portobellos, the counter guy said (and I quote) his boss "would yell at him if he did that." Because, you know, lettuce is so much more expensive than portobellos. @@ Other than that, I really enjoyed it (obviously!).

After scarfing down Mexican food, we went next door to a place called Tea Leaf Tea Land (at least, I'm pretty sure that's what it's called!), which is something, honestly, you'd never expect to see in Costa Rica. It's a lovely little tea bar with a few edible menu items as well. P the Younger had a ham and cheese sandwich, and we all had lovely little pots of lovely tea -- mine was chocolate orange, and the girls had roobios. It's a very relaxing spot, with couches, nice music, and chill atmosphere. (Don't tell my boss, but I really didn't want to go back to work after we went here! I still did, though.) They serve the tea at precisely the right temperature, and give you little tea timers to tell you when your tea has sufficiently brewed. Each tea service has its own color-coded pot and tea glass (nice touch!). Then esposo called, and asked me to pick up a bottle of vino on the way home. I had to decline, because after work on a Friday afternoon all I want to do is take a nap or watch Project Runway or something. Anything but stop at a store on the way home. Instead, I brought a couple of tins of tea, pure lavender for me (works wonders for migraine sufferers), and the chocolate orange roobios for him (he loved it). Perhaps the only negative here were the tea mints (I thought, vegan and sugar free, how bad can they be? Yuck.). They have tons of different kinds of tea that you'll never find anywhere else in this country, such as organic rose buds, artesianal tea, black teas, green teas, and herb teas of all kinds. Plus, the owner is a super nice guy and I want to see him succeed so that I can keep going back for more tea! So if you're in the area, please stop by and check it out; if you love tea, I guarantee you won't be disappointed.