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Sentido Norte Costa Rica

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Sentido Norte Costa Rica is by far one of the most breathtaking, beautiful restaurants with amazing food, anywhere in Costa Rica.

The open air bar and dining area sits high atop tall cliffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean, town of Las Catalinas and the offshore islands.  The bar area has a combination of sofas and chairs that are arranged so that all seats face the ocean making this the perfect place to catch one of Costa Rica's amazing sunsets.  The dining room is also completely open air with spectacular views of the ocean and rugged coastline.

Sunset along with a thunderstorm on the horizon at Sentido Norte.

Each day at sunset, pool torches are lit just below the bar and dining area.

Pool torches are lit at sunset.

Below is the view from our table as the sun went down.  Thunderstorms could be seen far out in the ocean on the horizon making the view even better.

Sunset view of the Pacific Ocean from our table.

Sentido Norte serves breakfast from 7 to 10am, lunch from 11am to 5pm and dinner from 6pm to 9pm.  The kitchen is closed between 10 and 11am plus between 5pm and 6pm to start preparing for the next seating.

We started our meal with crispy calamari that had Huancaina sauce and yellow aji onions.  It was one of the best calamari appetizers that I have ever had plus the portion was very large, enough for two people.

My main entree was the panko crusted ahi tuna.  It was amazing and prepared perfectly.  The sauce consisted of soy, ginger, vanilla with a spicy caramel coconut milk.  It came with a small portion of greens that included fresh basil, carrots and squash.

Panko crusted medium rare ahi tuna with greens.

The garlic shrimp with sticky rice was also fantastic.  The shrimp was sweet and tender.  The entree included a delicious sticky rice and came with basil, arugula and a jalapeno oil.  Similar to the calamari appetizer, it was a very nice portion size.

Tender and sweet garlic shrimp with sticky rice and greens.

The braised short rib with mushroom risotto was extremely tender and the risotto was the best that we have ever tasted.

A super tender braised short rib on a bed of risotto.

Sentido Norte Costa Rica has a nice selection of appetizers, main dishes, shared large portion dishes for two, side dishes and desserts.  They also offer a nice selection of vegan, vegetarian and gluten friendly selections.

Sentido Norte Costa Rica Menu

Shown below is the bar area as viewed from the dining room.

Sentido Norte's open air bar area.

Reservations

Sentido Norte is a relatively small restaurant with about a dozen tables in the dining room and maybe a half a dozen or so in the lounge areas of the bar.  Therefore reservations are strongly recommended and can be made via phone (506-2103-1200) or OpenTable at the following link:

https://www.sentidonorterestaurant.com/contact/

How to get to Sentido Norte Costa Rica

Sentido Norte is located about 4km (2.5 miles) north of the soccer field in Potrero.  The road is paved but hilly and usually not in the best condition due to large pot holes, especially in rainy season.  Four wheel drive is not needed.  At night, and in the rain, it is very difficult to tell a puddle from a large pothole, so drive with caution.  A large section of the road does contain a feature not normally seen in Costa Rica, several bright street lights, that make the drive a little easier.  The restaurant is located on the left on top of the last hilltop before descending into the town of Las Catalinas.  Valet parking is available at no charge but tips are always appreciated.  There is limited self parking on the side of the narrow road.

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