Pan Pay Café

One of the best ways to sample Costa Rica’s cornucopia of tropical fruits is with a batido, a fresh smoothie made with water or milk, and the convivial beachfront Pan Pay Café is one of many excellent places throughout the country to try it. Choices can be overwhelming, from tried-and-true banana, watermelon, cantaloupe, papaya, and pineapple, to the more obscure tamarind, soursop, and many fruits that have no name in English, like spiny mamones chinos. Also worth trying is coconut water straight from a chilled green coconut, sold by beach vendors everywhere.