Cafe Rico: Best breakfast in Puerto Viejo

Why are we writing a dedicated full blog post about Cafe Rico? Because we had breakfast there few weeks back, and that whole day we kept talking about how awesome that morning was. Cafe Rico has definitely been our best breakfast experience in Puerto Viejo de Talamanca, the Caribbean town in Costa Rica. Nope, it is not just about the food, but instead the whole experience. Read on.

The setting of Cafe Rico

Cafe Rico cafe is located on a road parallel to the main road of Puerto Viejo de Talamanca. It is a small restaurant set-up with wooden chairs and tables inside. But it has more seating options in the garden area, at the stone carved tables and benches. The garden is filled with several big and small plants that lend the amidst-nature feel to the cafe. Pebbles are laid on the ground instead of concrete flooring. Some stone carved statues decorate the area.

Close to nature

This is the primary reason why we enjoyed our morning so much at Cafe Rico. There were so many elements of nature simultaneously at play to wow us.

Frogs

As we were about to get ourselves seated at one of the garden chairs, Indranil noticed a tiny red frog on the bark of the tree next to him. He said to me, “Look, they have decorations with these red frogs, they look so natural”. It was as tiny as the blue-jeans poison dart frog we had seen in Sarapiqui.

When the girl serving us visited our table to take our order, she said, “Oh you have got yourselves a nice sunny spot. There are a lot of red poison-dart frogs here, do not touch them”.

Indranil and I looked at each other, wondering, so was that red frog on the tree bark NOT a decoration? We looked back at the tree bark to validate our assumption. But, nope – not there, it was gone! It was a real red poison-dart frog! Then we observed and listened more carefully. There were several of those moving around and croaking on the dry leaves and wet grounds around our feet.

Lizards

When you are in a garden in Costa Rica, expect to see a lot of different kinds of lizards – iguanas and/or basilisks, busy with their sunbathing routine. At Cafe Rico garden, it was no different. The only difference is that instead of iguanas or basilisks, smaller black colored lizards were having a field day.

Crabs

During the course of our breakfast, we suddenly noticed a blue land crab, about two feet away from our feet. However, it was busy in its own world, using its tentacles to feed itself.

Sloth

When we were almost done with our breakfast, the owner came up to us and asked, “Would you like to see a baby sloth?”

“Yes please!”, was my instantaneous response.

So he took us to the porch of a cottage and pointed us to the top right corner on the porch ceiling. I saw a small sloth like creature clinging to a rolled up hammock.

Speculating that to be a toy and looking for the real animal, I asked, “Where is the sloth?”

“There it is”, he said, pointing again to the same small creature.

“But that one is a toy right?”, I uttered, slightly baffled at why he was trying to pull off a silly joke on us.

“No! That is not a toy. That is a real sloth.”

Just then the baby sloth, who absolutely looked no different than a stuffed toy, opened its eyes and moved its limbs at lightning speed (pun intended). I screeched with joy. Having lived in Costa Rica for more than a year, we have seen plenty of sloths, in various postures in different parts of the country. But I don’t think I have ever seen anything cuter than this!

But real life is much more complicated. The owner later explained to us that the baby sloth had fallen off the tree the previous day. Although the mommy sloth came looking for her baby, she did not take it back while returning. So the owners at Cafe Rico decided to observe the baby sloth for some days to assess if it was feeding itself properly. In case they notice any deterioration in its health, they would take it to the Jaguar Rescue Center, an animal rescue center in Puerto Viejo.

Birds

Costa Rica is a paradise for birdwatchers. You may easily spot exotic colorful birds from wherever you are – mountains, beaches, jungles or the balcony in your apartment in the city.

The garden at Cafe Rico was set up with some natural feeders like bananas. Those, in addition to the fruit and flower bearing trees, attracted the birds to the garden. So we had different varieties of birds for company during our breakfast – hummingbirds, flower peckers, blue tanagers, Passerini’s tanagers among others.

The breakfast at Cafe Rico

Yes, let’s talk about the breakfast! After all, that is how you landed on this article about Cafe Rico, while searching for the best breakfast places in Puerto Viejo, right?

The food

Indranil ordered the American breakfast. It consisted of two scrambled eggs, two bread toasts, bacon, avocado and tomato. I ordered their Special Omelette. It was stuffed with cheese, tomato, onion and is served with two slices of bread toasts. Jam, butter and salsa were served separately on the table. Both our plates were delicious and well satisfied our morning hunger pangs. They looked great too!

The coffee

The tagline of Cafe Rico is ‘Damn good coffee’. Also, the literal English translation of Cafe Rico is ‘rich coffee’. Boy, they take their name seriously and they aren’t wrong with their branding. Both of us ordered a cup of cafe con leche (coffee with milk) each. The coffee had the perfect blend of taste and texture. Indranil happily ordered a second cuppa! They serve the coffee in cute colorful cups with some hand-painted scribbles.

Books exchange program

If you like to read, you will love this place as Cafe Rico offers a books-exchange program. Browse through the books kept on the table and the shelves. Pick up the ones you like. You can get one book in exchange of two of your books. In case you have only one book to give away, you can still get a book in exchange of one of your books + US$2. If you do not want to exchange your books at all, but still want to get a new read, you can pay US$4 to get one.

Cycles for rent

One of the most popular activities in Puerto Viejo is to explore the area on a bicycle. There are several shops from where you can rent a bike. If you are starting your day in Puerto Viejo with a breakfast at Cafe Rico, you don’t need to get too far looking for a bicycle. They have bicycles for rent as well. Just be sure to check all the details about the security deposit and documents requirements before you get rolling on the paddles.

Other details

If you want to spend some good amount of time at a cafe, there are two essentials that must meet the required standards, WiFi and restroom.

WiFi: The WiFi worked fine for us. The internet was available without any fluctuation during the entire period we were at the cafe. The speed was good enough for normal browsing.

Restroom: There are two restrooms that are clean and have proper supply of toilet papers. There is wash basin just outside the restrooms.

Cafe Rico Schedule

Cafe Rico is not open all day long, neither is it open all days of the week. And that is why we missed grabbing a breakfast here during our prior visit to Puerto Viejo. So, in case you plan to visit Cafe Rico for a hearty breakfast and some wildlife sightings, we decided to save you the trouble of checking their operating hours by clicking a photo of this schedule stuck on their main gate. You are welcome!

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