Fancy a delicious, juicy, finger-lickin’ spit-roasted chicken lunch for about US$2.50 each?

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Don’t you love finding those little hidden away places that have great food at a terrific price? When you make an effort to explore, you will find lots of ‘local gems’ around. My teenage son and I just wolfed down a chicken lunch in one of those ‘local gems.’

We’re not referring to a fancy hotel restaurant or ‘fast food’ (‘comida rapida’). And when people tell me that they ‘loved’ Costa Rica, that they stayed in a big ‘brand’ name hotel that’s the same no matter where they might be in the world and that they ate in Dennys, McDonalds, KFC and Subway – I am flabberghasted!

What’s the point of visiting this gorgeous country if you’re going to stay in the same hotel you could find in any major US city and eat the same junk food? Let’s get out there and explore! Try a new restaurant, taste a new wine or a local beer. Live a little! Heck no! Scratch that… Live alot!

We’re talking about a local restaurant called ‘Malé’ where for only US$10 you’ll get a whole, golden coloured, coffee-wood roasted chicken, five tortillas, 2 litres of your favourite soda and two cabbage salads or potato chips… The coffee wood gives it a unique and tasty flavour and it’s easily enough for four people.

It’s a real basic, ‘no-frills’ (and no booze) restaurant around the corner from the Post Office in Escazu and it’s named after the owners. Unfortunately, they will not give you the secret recipe for the mouth watering coating that they splash over the chicken while it’s roasting.

The ‘chef’ wouldn’t even confirm if his ‘secret’ had a little honey in it, but he declined to tell me with that big Costa Rica smile that we have become so accustomed to… This surely is the land of stunning scenery, sunshine & smiles.

If Starbucks is looking for a great coffee wood roasted chicken recipe – this is it!

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