Nayara Resort Spa & Gardens

The next few posts will be about our time at Nayara Resort in Costa Rica. Today I will be reminiscing about the food and drink options on the resort. When picking out a place to enjoy our honeymoon we were reluctant to choose a typical all inclusive or cruise. We like to move around when we travel and see as much as we can. But we also knew that the two months before our wedding we were going to be more than busy (buying a house, planning our wedding and spending two weeks in Europe the attend the Euro Cup,) we thought might want to schedule in some time for relaxation.

We were looking for the perfect location, somewhere with a shorter flight (with only one week of time we hate to spend too much time en route), plenty to see and do but the option to relax, as we were going to need it. This is when we stumbled upon Nayara Resort in Costa Rica. At certain times of the year they offer a more all-inclusive package. Our package included with our room, a breakfast buffet, nightly 3 course dinners including a wine pairing with one, a hot stone massage, and a few excursions (which I will talk about on another post).

The rooms are huge, we booked the smallest (and cheapest) option called Caista Deluxe. But look at our room! Not pictured is the outdoor shower and hammock.

My first post for our time on Nayara will be about the food options.

Altamira Restaurant

This is where they host breakfast each morning. Breakfast is included with most rooms, they set out a fabulous buffet spread. I still dream about eating breakfast here every morning. So many fresh fruit options, omelettes, Costa Rican hot dishes, and my favorite, French Press coffee brought to your table and coconut water sipped right from the the coconut itself! And this view from our breakfast table each morning didn’t hurt at all.

Tip: at breakfast they also lay out some pre-made sandwiches, fruit and granola bars. We always took a few to eat during the day on our day trips. They were not the most filling but helped save $$. We would then only have to order a pool side snack to tie us over until dinner.

This is also a spot for lunch and dinner. Although we never did eat lunch here as we were often out on excursions during the day, we did dine twice at this location. The first night we came was a traditional Costa Rican themed meal, they had many great steak options and a delicious coffee creme brulee, our second meal was more of what you would expect at a traditional buffet with lots of different options.

Kali, Kali Pool Bar

This bar is where we ordered a few pool side lunches from. They have a variety to choose from nachos, burgers, ceviche, plantains, along with smaller snacks to order with your drinks. We also found that if you hang around the pool long enough they would occasionally come around serving samples of drinks, snacks and desserts!

Nostalgia Bar

This bar was quaint a wine and tapas bar. Some people just head here for a glass of wine at the end of the night, but they also offer tapas style meals. Tapas is by far my favorite way to eat! Small plates of food where you get to try almost everything, sign me up! Luckily this was part of our package. You can choose from a few different set menus, the meal came with 5 courses along with 5 different wines paired with each course. Oh my goodness, this was a highlight of the trip. So delicious!

Asia Luna

My husband and I tends to cook a lot of Asian food, and we always love trying new places for inspiration. At this restaurant we shared some sushi, spring rolls, a wok dish and dessert. Although I will say as great as this restaurant was we found its portions to be a little small. My favorite from Asia Luna was the grilled pineapple, I think I loved it so much because it caught me off guard, I wasn’t expecting to like it as much as I did!

Amor Loco

If visiting without children I would suggest going over to Nayara Springs, an adult only section of the resort. Amor Loco is located pool side, with indoor seating as well. We went back to this restaurant twice! We felt like this restaurant served meals that left us feeling fulfilled, and more of a fine dining feel. Not one bad thing to say about our dinners here. Everything we had we thoroughly enjoyed. They offered any thing from zucchini blossoms, steaks, seafood and desserts. Our favorite was the filet migon, topped with a foie gras and coffee sauce.

Drinks

I want to leave you with a tip for drinking at the resort. If traveling on a budget, as we were, make sure you take advantage of their happy hours. Ask at the bar about times and specials. We also picked up some wine in town and enjoyed a glass on our porch before or after dinner as well. This really helped minimize our bill at check out!