Machu Pichu - San Jose , Paseo Colon – Peruvian

A nice Peruvian restaurant, not my favorite but all around reasonable.  A tribute to their third place finish - congratulations Peru.  Price is fair, worth a try.   In business for at least the past 20 years which says a lot.  Location is a little odd considering it is located near Central San Jose.  Parking is adjacent with a “watch man".  Considering everything, this place is OK. Located in South Sabana.  Paseo Colòn, San José, San Jose Province, Costa Rica. The street address is either 125m north of KFC (as in Kentucky Fried Chicken), or calle 32, avenida 1-3. Coming from Sabana turn left at KFC, one block and a half you will find the restaurant.  There is another branch in the San Pedro neighbourhood of San Jose.

Web:  http://www.restaurantemachupicchu.com

GPS Coordinates –Latitude (North/South): N9 56 12.1 Longitude (East/West): W84 05 37.1

Telephone - +(506) 2283-3679

Schedule – Monday through Saturday – 10:00am to 10:00pm; Sunday – 11:00am – 6:00pm

Service – Prompt and attentive.  Menu in English or Spainish.

Food – We tried several items including two appetizers, a shrimp covered with grated parmesan cheese served in clam shells, a “Causa Limena Camrones” (extremely similar to a potato salad with a touch of lemon), a principle dish of corvina (sea bass) covered with a shrimp sauce and finishing with an espresso.  Oh, I forgot a Pisco Sour for each of us.  Wow, we felt the buzz – a strong sneaker drink.  It must have been the warm “Pilsen” beer we started with – yes, served at room temperature.  The shrimp with grated parmesan cheese was tasty if you like the cheese but there was no flavor of shrimp (two in each clam shell) and the shrimp was a little tough usually signifying either frozen shrimp or shrimp not as fresh as we would like.  It wasn’t bad if you like the cheese but don’t expect any shrimp flavor.  The principle dish of corvina was tasty but the fish was smothered with the shrimp sauce and could not be tasted.  Unfortunately, the corvina was a little tougher than corvina should be and the shrimp was similar to the appetizer, tough and no flavor.  By the way – the eating utensils (only a fork and knife) were provided in a little plastic bag (very typical in Costa Rica).  Ground pepper was not on the table as in most Costa Rican restaurants.  The hot sauce was absolutely hot (David’s hot scale from 1 to 10:  6, edible, beads of perspiration under the eyes) and a little addictive – excellent hot sauce.

Price -  fair for Peruvian food in Costa Rica.  Two people – routine order as defined above – C 27,000 or approximately $55.00 (U.S

Ambiance –Not bad – a little dark but the place was clean with plenty of tables not too close together.  I didn’t notice if there was smoking or not but I didn’t smell any smoke.  There are probably somewhere between 20 and 30 tables.  During the lunch there were probably 7 other tables occupied.  Paper place mats and no table clothes were used on the typical wooden tables.  Plenty of waiters and ours was particularly attentive and always available.     

General –If you want Peruvian we recommend this restaurant before any other, until we find something better – there must be something but this isn’t bad and if anything you can always have a Pisco Sour and nothing will matter and the enjoyment rating will easily improve.

Final Note – Drink and be merry!!  Enjoy.  Try some of the other dishes and add your comments.