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Andaz Papagayo Resort Part 3: The Food is Expensive, but Delicious

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Travel with Grant Advertiser Disclosure

Good morning everyone.  Here is the final part of my Andaz Papagayo Resort review.  Part 1 had photos of the resort, part 2 had photos of my room, and today’s post will have photos of the food, menus, and a MONKEY?!  Yes, believe it or not, one of the local monkeys jumped on my table as I was eating lunch and ran off with my tortillas!  I didn’t think he was going to grab my tortillas, so I slowly reached into my pocket to take out my phone, and as I was pressing the photo button, he grabbed my tortillas and ran.

With that said, I really liked the food at the resort, but it is expensive.  In this post, I will show you my 2 breakfast meals and 2 lunch meals.  We had late breakfasts and late lunches so we wouldn’t be hungry for dinner.  I also included photos of my receipts that show how expensive each item was.  As of February 7, the exchange rate is $1 US Dollar = ~570 Costa Rican Dollars.

a monkey holding a taco on a table

Rio Bhongo has breakfast, lunch, and dinner and is where I had all of my meals.  It is located in the middle of the resort with a nice view of the pool and bay off in the distance.

a sign on a wall

Breakfast #1: American Breakfast (aka all you can eat buffet)

Here is the breakfast menu.  One side is in English and the other side is in Spanish, but all the prices are in US Dollars.  Tax and gratuity are automatically added and come out to 23%.  If you are staying at the resort multiple days, you should go with the American Breakfast ($32 before tax/gratuity) and try everything.  Then the next time you have breakfast, you know exactly what you want to order.

I love fruit, so I always try the local fruit when I travel.  There was also a juice bar with 4-5 different flavors of freshly squeezed juices.  I tried an orange/pineapple juice and a watermelon juice.

Here are some photos of the fruit station with watermelon, cantaloupe, pineapple, papaya, kiwi, and orange.  The fruit choices might change seasonally.

They also had freshly baked bread and homemade jams and jellies.  There were also pancakes, waffles, and banana cake.

Jim tried all the egg dishes, potatoes, bacon, and a few other items.  Everything was very tasty and filling.  When the bill came, the total was $78.72 total, or $39.36 per person.  If you do not think you can eat $40 worth of food for breakfast, you may want to order off the menu.

a receipt on a wood surface

Breakfast #2: French Toast with Fruit

The following day, we went back to Rio Bhongo for breakfast.  This time, we both ordered the french toast with bananas and we shared a bowl of fruit.

Since the french toast took a while to come out, they comped us the french toast without asking.  The french toast was really good and so was the bowl of fruit.

The bowl of fruit cost $9.84.  If we were charged for the french toast, that would have cost $12.30.

a paper receipt on a clipboard

Lunch #1: Casado with a Side of Chips, Salsa, and Guacamole

For my first lunch, I went back to Rio Bhongo.  Here is the lunch menu.  I ordered the Casado which had rice, beans, plantains, beef, and a side salad.  They also brought out free plantain chips with salsa and guacamole.

The plantain chips were very good and make me hungry just thinking about them.  The main course was delicious.  I ate the rice, beans and beef together, then ate my salad, and saved the plantain for dessert (it was caramelized with brown sugar).  At this point, the monkey jumped on my table and stole my tortillas.

The bill was $22.14, which I thought was a very good price for the amount of food I ate.  I would definitely recommend that dish.

a receipt with a clip on a wood surface

Lunch #2: Arroz Con Pollo, Chicken Sandwich & Yucca Fries

The following day, we were back at Rio Bhongo for lunch.  I ordered the Arroz Con Pollo (rice and corn) which was basically the same thing as my previous lunch but with chicken instead of beef.

The food was very good, but I much preferred the beef.  Jim ordered the chicken sandwich which came with cajun chicken breast, pineapple, bacon, and chipotle mayo.  We both got a side salad.

I also ordered a side of yucca fries, but they were very filling, much more than traditional french fries.  The total for this lunch was $49.20.  My meal was $22.14, Jim’s meal was $19.68, and the yucca fries were $7.38.

Even though we didn’t eat at any of the other restaurants at the resort, there was tapas restaurant with a bar.

a bar with many bottles and glasses

Outside the tapas restaurant, there were plenty of seats.

When we checked out, the total bill was $159.90, all of it coming from our 4 meals.

a screenshot of a receipt

I won’t lie, the food is expensive, but it is really good.  There are really no other restaurant options nearby either.  My recommendation is to eat a big breakfast and big lunch and skip dinner.  If you have any questions about the food or restaurants, please leave a comment below.  Have a great day everyone!

Here are all parts of my Central / South America trip:


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28 thoughts on “Andaz Papagayo Resort Part 3: The Food is Expensive, but Delicious”

  1. Hal

    Are you saying it’s expensive by Costa Rica standards? For an andaz, the prices are in line with most of the other hotels.

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    1. Grant Post author

      I was comparing the prices of the food to the cost of food at a stand restaurant in the US. Expensive is subjective, so you can decide if the prices are cheap, expensive, or standard.

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  2. J

    Grant can’t believe you didn’t try the restaurant Ostra at the resort. Also the new Beach House is amazing and has good food there too. I know you were there only a couple days so probably wanted to keep it simple. There also is Dive Bar which is by the marina that has really good food for a great price point. The Andaz will shuttle you there for free

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    1. Grant Post author

      Ahh dang, I wish I would have known before I stayed at the Andaz. Hopefully your comment will help others find great food near the resort.

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    2. Olympia

      Agree about Dive Bar. Had some great fish tacos there. We didn’t eat at the other resorts but the free shuttle will also take you to the neighboring resorts.

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  5. ff_lover

    Looks like the breakfast price was the main issue. If u skip their breakfast (have some groc in your room) and have early lunch and dinner, that may also work, better?

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    2. Lynn

      Thanks for the great report. We are going next week! We are Explorist, so no free breakfast or lounge access- wish they had a lounge so I could use my free passes. I may have to spring for the buffet one morning!! looks wonderful.

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  7. Z

    We tried all 4 restaurant at Andaz, food were delicious, it’s typical hotel restaurant price for Costa Rica, we were in La Fortuna area, stay at The Royal Corin Resort, dinner price is about the same. Nearby Dive bar at marina is a little cheaper, also good food. We were lucky got complimentary breakfast. I also took Ceviche class at Ostra, that was enough food for my dinner. You do have to guard your food at Rio, white face Monkey will steal if they have a chance.

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    1. Grant Post author

      I’m glad you enjoyed the food at the resort. Hopefully you got to enjoy all your food and not have monkey theifs take food off your table.

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  8. Aaron

    Another option is having a Globalist book a Guest of Honor stay for you. That way, breakfast is comped, and now you only need to eat a big lunch.

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  9. Kate

    Just checked the room description. Says includes kettle.
    Do you remember one? I can make my own coffee in the morning if they have one…

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  10. Lynn

    Did you have them bill you in us dollars or their currency? I usually have them bill in their currency so I don’t pay any fees??

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    1. Grant Post author

      It’s really weird. Everything on the restaurant menus are listed in US Dollars, then on the receipt, everything is priced in Costa Rican Dollars, but they show you the total price in US Dollars. On the final folio, they have everything priced in Costa Rican Dollars and then you see the price in US Dollars. I assume you can ask them to bill you in Costa Rican Dollars, but I’m not sure that would save you very much. I don’t know what the exchange rate was at the time of my stay.

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