If you think you smell pizza…
Shortly after arriving in Nuevo Arenal, we caught a ride from Agua Inn to town to grab something to eat and some groceries. We walked down the main street so Kim and the girls could check out old places they remembered. The only place we could fathom going for our first meal together in Nuevo Arenal was Moya’s. Kim and the girls knew owners Moya and his wife Robin from when they lived here a few years ago. Tayler baked desserts for the restaurant and both girls helped paint the murals that adorn the fronts of the metal doors that close up the place at night. You can visit Moya’s FB page HERE.
…you’re probably near Moya’s Place.
As we walked up the steps and found a table, I said, “It smells like pizza!” I either did not know or had been told and forgotten that Moya’s is a restaurante and pizzeria. (It could really go either way with me. I don’t have a great memory and I readily admit that.) The place smelled great and we were so hungry; we couldn’t wait to sit and dig in to something good!
Naturally, we started with drinks. Kim and I ordered Imperial Silver beer. Aubrie had a watermelon drink and young boozer Tayler ordered something pina colada-ish. Everything was ice cold and very refreshing after our long car ride from Liberia to Arenal.
I tried to pace myself and my enjoyment of the beer as I studied the menu. It was difficult. Reading over everything, I listened to what the seasoned travelers at my table liked and always ordered when they would come here years ago.
Decisions, decisions.
Kim and I couldn’t decide on just one thing, so we split a freshly made salad and a chicken burrito.
The salad had a refreshing balance of balsamic vinaigrette and crisp, fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, chayote and onion. We also had crumbled cheese and buttered toast to indulge in. And our burrito consisted of deliciously seasoned chicken, chopped tomatoes and onions and cheeses all wrapped up in a grilled flour tortilla. We love pizza, don’t get me wrong, but we were in the mood for fresh, local cuisine. And I’m on a big hot sauce kick, so I’ve been ordering foods that are great with hot sauce. Lately, though, I’m putting hot sauce on anything and everything, so I guess we could’ve gotten pizza after all…
But I digress.
Aubrie ordered the same chicken burrito and Tayler ordered a Hawaiian pizza. She was very protective of this pizza, as I would have been, so I did not get to sample it. She said it was amazing, snarled at me when I reached for a slice, and ate two pieces before promptly asking for a box to take the rest back to the Inn.
If I HAD been able to eat a slice, I would have made full use of the sauces that Moya’s offers. I think the intent is to add them to pizza, anyway. One is a pesto; beautiful green and garlicky with a little oil. The other is a hot sauce (yay!) that is orange with a pasty consistency. The third bowl in the picture is Parmesan cheese. I couldn’t help but smother the toast we got with the salad in each sauce. I alternated between green and orange until I was out of toast. It was a sad time in my life.
Before we left we had to stop by the dessert case to see if there was anything we needed to take back to the Inn. Of course, there was. We got a sampling of filled chocolate candies, banana cake and chocolate zucchini cake. With a little willpower, we made our desserts last until the next day! Everything I ate was satisfying in a way home-cooked food is; my stomach and my heart were full in no time.