Experience the edible garden, Nicuesa style.

When traveling, one of the highlights should always be to experience local food. The beauty of trying new flavors and fusions is an amazing way to learn more about the destination you are visiting and push your culinary boundaries a bit.  When you add fresh, organic and locally grown produce into the mix, the scene even gets better. But, let's not stop there! Imagine yourself in the middle of the rainforest, overlooking the ocean, savoring fresh, homegrown produce from an edible garden.  This is Nicuesa Rainforest Lodge!

Nicuesa is located on a 165-acre rainforest laden property with breathtaking views of the Golfo Dulce in beautiful Costa Rica. This amazing little corner of the world is rich in biodiversity, adventure, serenity, and natural beauty.  This is where you come to get away from the rush and where you treat your body and soul to a close to nature experience.

This is where you come to treat yourself to a culinary experience too.   Nicuesa believes that breakfast, lunch, and dinner are just as important as hiking through the rainforest or kayaking in the ocean or just listening to the music of the jungle as you sit on your verandah. This is where fresh food from the property and the edible garden is served daily thanks to the creative masters in the Nicuesa kitchen.

Fresh, organically grown herbs and spices to make delicious local food. 

The edible garden guarantees freshness

The edible garden is part of Nicuesas sustainable practices that include a tree nursery, and composting organics to fertilize the garden and the orchard full of tropical fruit trees.  The Edible garden has basil, parsley, mint, sweet peppers, celery, tomatoes just to name of few of the delicious ingredients that will be freshly picked and added to your dishes or cocktails!

And these delicious garden to table delights taste even better when you are sitting around the communal tables in the open-air dining room overlooking the ocean and surrounded by the rainforest sights and sound. Nicuesa believes that even having a meal should be memorable.

An afternoon cocktail on your verandah or a morning juice before a rainforest hike! 

Those fresh juices and afternoon cocktails! 

The delicious produce from the edible garden complement the other ingredients that Nicuesa uses to create a mouthwatering menu during your stay.  The orchard has mangoes, pineapple, oranges, lemons, papayas, bananas and coconuts which means a morning juice takes on a whole new meaning to start your day! And let`s not forget an afternoon cocktail made from the herbs from the edible garden and the fresh fruit to sip on while chatting about the day's adventure with your party or fellow Nicuesa guests.

The opportunity to meet people and make new friends over a freshly made meal at the canopy level of rainforest in Costa Rica, Nicuesa style is what the late great Anthony Bourdain was getting at when he said: "Context and memory play powerful roles in all the truly great meals in one`s life".

Nicuesa also loves to mix the herbs and vegetables from the edible garden with the fresh fish you just caught in the spectacular Golfo Dulce that translates to Sweet Gulf thanks to its lake-like, calm waters. It is also sweet to catch a red snapper or Mahi Mahi and have the chefs cook up with the fresh local produce for lunch or dinner. Imagine fresh fish with a tropical sauce and some basil or parsley from the edible garden?

Patacones, pico de gallo and guacamole! A Nicuesa favorite at the open-air dining room

Local food with fresh ingredients from the edible garden

Other amazing dishes the Nicuesa chefs create include the famous Patacones or Fried Green Plantains.  This is a really typical Costa Rican dish and you can add some fresh pico de gallo made from freshly picked tomatoes, cilantro, and onion from the garden to really mix the Costa Rican flavors and make it unforgettable.   This is a Nicuesa favorite!

Nicuesa Lodge's favorite way to do tourism is sustainably too and you will find eco-friendly practices in every corner of this beautiful property which makes your stay even more meaningful.  All the landscaping and gardens, including the edible one, is maintained without the use of pesticides or artificial fertilizers as part of our philosophy in protecting the earth and especially the rainforest we inhabit.

This means that when you sit down for a delicious meal at the restaurant or decide on a refreshing juice or cocktail from the bar, the homegrown ingredients are organically tended and nurtured. And they taste so much better because of it. 

We do recommend that you leave some room for the amazing desserts made with the herbs and spices from the edible garden.  They are definitely last but not least! Just imagine some fresh mango pie with homemade ice cream while you enjoy the night sky and the symphony of rainforest animals to seal your day in paradise.