Essence Arenal - El Castillo

This is a lovely little restaurant with a hostel. Our lunch was excellent, and sourced from local ingredients. The host and cook were both really friendly. This is definitely off the beaten path but well worth it.

Lily the chef is amazing,...made me beautiful lunches during my 2 week visit. The dinners can be made vegan friendly as well. I'm going to miss eating here

Vegan options always available, breakfast 5 , 3 courses dinner 12,50 , staff very helpful. vegan are welcome we enjoyed our stay very much!

Very nice restaurant crew, nice atmosphere fresh food. breakfast gallo pinto rice with beans, toast, avocado, tomatensalat, agitated vegetables, coffee juice for 6 . the dinner varies daily. always 3 courses with suppe, a main course dessert for 12. updated by previous review on 2021-03-21

Ate breakfast here one morning. Told the owner I was vegan and he made me a grilled veggie salad with balsamic dressing (see picture). It was delicious! He was also extremely friendly. At the end, I asked where they get the majority of their produce. He said that depending on the season from their farm, otherwise, locally from other farms and families. All the more reason to support them! It’s well out of town but a beautiful location.