Wong's Restaurant

Siu Mai

Still on the restaurant note, I must have an entry on Wong's Restaurant. It's a Chinese restaurant that has become popular because of its dim sums and good prices. The trend here is to go with a group of friends and order different dishes to share from the dim sum's menu which are small  dishes of food served in  steamer baskets. My favorite ones are the Siu Mai dumplings which are steam-cooked rolls with shrimp and pork inside.The order of two dim sums and a drink can be around 5000 colones ($10). The place is located on the north side of Plaza de la Cultura on a hill that is called Cuesta de Moras. The famous Cuesta de Moras that is on the end of the street where buses to Tres Rios are. Now, it is easier if you just walk 300  meters East from the end of Central Avenue. You'll have to pass by the Mas x Menos supermaket and 50 meters or so later, you'll see the restaurant's entrance to your left. It has also the traditional menu from a Chinese restaurant, so provecho!

Cuesta de Moras

Vishnu Restaurant

This is one of my favorite restaurants in San José. Why?  Well, even though I'm not a vegetarian, the food is very good, it's healthy, and accessible. You can go for breakfast, lunch, dinner or just go in the afternoon for coffee or ice cream. I love the fruit salad with ice cream, the ice cream is a combination of regular milk with soy milk, and even though there are only two flavors, strawberry and vanilla, they are delicious!

The place has  a very relax atmosphere and a friendly layout that makes people feel comfortable. Most of the dishes come with two small recipients with salsa to accompany the food, if the dish does not have it, you can ask for them and if you like spicy, they also have their own spicy salsa, only given if requested. The place is not fancy but it is clean and pleasant to the eye and it can be a little expensive depending on what you order.

My suggestion is to go the first time for lunch, and order the "Plato del Día", the Day's Special, and make sure that you are hungry enough because you'll get plenty of food. The "Plato del Día" includes an entree, the main course and a small dessert plus a drink, it has a cost of 3550 colones which is around $7.

There is a great variety of choices on the menu,and  if you want to check on the  "Plato del Dia" available for the day, you can see it at their Facebook page Here.

On my last visit, I decided to try the "Vigorón" which is a Nicaraguan dish that consists of salad with fried pork and  cassava. The vegetarian version uses fried cheese dices instead of the fried pork.

Vegetarian Vigorón

Vishnu is one of those restaurants that I go when I want to catch up with a friend, have lunch after a morning running errands or to buy a quick snack to go. My all time favorite is the "Copa de Helados" which i basically a plastic cup with ice cream, and granola on the top, it has a cost of $1100 ($2).

At the Cashier bar, you can buy granola, sweet dried bananas, honey, vegetarian pastry and many other vegetarian products.  There are 4  restaurants in downtown San José, the biggest one is the one located behind the Perimercados in the Avenida Central (Central Avenue) which is a well-known supermarket in Chepe.  This will the the proper address :

Restaurante Vishnu Himalayas. 

AV. 1 Calle 1 y 3 Frente al Edificio Cristal.
2256-60-63 / 2222-25-49

These will be the addresses for the three other in downtown San Jose and in Heredia as well:

Restaurante Vishnu Montaña: 2223-99-76 / 2256-57-86
AV. 3 Calle 0y1 Costado de la Iglesia del Carmen.

Restaurante Vishnu Valle Verde: 2223-44-34 / 2222-57-85
AV. 6 y 8 Calle 0 Frente al antiguo Cine Metropolitan.

Vishnu Natural: 2223-30-95
AV. 4 y 6 Calle 1 Costado Banco Popular.

Vishnu Mango Verde: 2237-25-26 / 2560-02-36
Heredia, De la entrada principal de la Universidad Nacional 100 Oeste y 75 al Sur.