Dancehall Parties, Drinks, and Good Vibes: Costa Rican Reggae Lounge Pura Vida Opens in Poblacion

• Location: Don Pedro Street, Makati (beside Z Hostel)
• Operating Hours: Tuesday to Saturday, 6 p.m. – 2:30 a.m., Sunday, 4:20 p.m. – 10 p.m.
• Kind of establishment: Costa Rican Reggae Lounge
• Price per head: P400 and above
• Signature drinks: Pura Vida house shots (Black Cocaine, Mamadita, Miguelito, Chili Guaro, Rasta Fire), Summer Melted, Tico Rasta Mary, Healthy Rasta, and Guaro Sour

Costa Rican reggae lounge Pura Vida, the newest restaurant/bar to open in Poblacion, is a welcome addition to the area’s diverse and fast-growing bar scene. An afternoon visit here will make you feel like you’re not in the concrete jungle; the interiors, atmosphere, music, food, and especially the cocktails will transport you to the beach. It’s an escape from city life that’s perfect for after work hours or lazy chill weekends.

Pura Vida means “Pure Life.” It’s a Costa Rican trademark term that embodies a way of living. “In Costa Rica, we don’t say hello or how are you. We simply ask, ‘Hey, Pura Vida?’ To that we can simply reply, ‘Pura Vida,’ meaning I’m doing great,” explains Renato Robles, owner and founder of Pura Vida. “We also use it to refer to people, or to experiences. If you like a person you can say he’s Pura Vida or if you had a great trip you can say the trip was Pura Vida.” He says that though it’s hard to explain to someone from a different culture, Costa Ricans are just born with this mentality and worldview. “Reggae has a similar mentality, and that’s how it translates to what the Pura Vida Reggae Lounge is.”

The interior captures the little town called Puerto Viejo on the Caribbean side of Costa Rica, which has the biggest reggae scene in the country. According to Renato, you can find old houses in Puerto Viejo that have been turned into reggae bars. This is exactly what the atmosphere of Pura Vida exudes—a house by the beach, with its wooden tables and chairs painted with red, green, and yellow bands, a swing by the bar instead of the usual stool, a boat for a shelf, and wooden beach chairs by the balcony.

Renato was born in Costa Rica, where reggae is part of life. When he moved to Manila two and half years ago, he had a hard time finding good places to go to for reggae music. At the same time, he missed his mom’s cooking. In an attempt to marry his love for Costa Rican cuisine and good reggae music, Pura Vida was born. He opened the reggae lounge with some friends last November. “The concept of the bar is a friendly, homey, and warm place where you can escape from the city and feel just like in your home surrounded by good friends and a great atmosphere,” Renato says.

I was not very familiar with Costa Rican food, as there are not many places to get it in the Philippines, so trying the menu was a great delight. According to Renato, Pura Vida menu is made up of typical Costa Rican dishes that you can find in all corners of the country, but his kitchen was inspired by his mom’s recipes, standard table fare that he grew up enjoying with family and friends. The menu has choices of bar chow and rice meals which use ingredients found in Latin American cuisine like beans, rice and corn, meat, tortilla chips, cilantro, and avocado.

Renato suggests trying Chifrijo, which is a bar favorite. It is made up of layered pork, pico de gallo, beans, tortilla chips, and avocado over white rice with tomato and lime juice dressing. Other must-try dishes are Rondón, a mix of seafood in a stew of coconut milk and spices; Rice and Beans with Caribbean chicken; Patacones, a traditional Costa Rican snack made of deep-fried mashed unripe green plantains served with three side dish of beans, cilantro sauce, and guacamole (This was DrinkManila’s favorite—it tastes like savory thick chips that give you that deep-fried comfort); Chicharrones con Yuca (crispy pork chicharon with fried cassava); and Ceviche de Tiquicia (raw fish marinated in lime juice with onions, cilantro, and other spices.)

Renato flew his good friend, Lucas Floyd, all the way from Costa Rica to create cocktails for the bar. New to the Philippines, Lucas is working outside North America for the first time. He used to work as a bartender by the beach in Guiones Nosara, Costa Rica at a place called La Casa by Gonya and Gunther. Sit at the bar and chat with Lucas and he will gladly mix his summer-inspired cocktails while entertaining you with tales of his days in Costa Rica. He regularly plays the guitar and sings at a nearby bar (Alamat) so you can probably request for him to jam.

If you’re done for the day and ready to try the drinks at Pura Vida, go for the house shots with quirky names like Black Cocaine (chill—it’s just Jagermeister and Goldschlager); Mamadita (Bailey’s whipped cream and cherry syrup); Miguelito (coconut cream, simple syrup, and Costa Rican liqueur Cacique-Guaro); Chili Guaro (it’s like thicker shots of a Bloody Mary); and Rasta Fire (Banana liqueur, crème de menthe green, grenadine syrup, and a five ml shot of Bacardi 151, a bottle with 75.5% ABV).

For cocktails, try Pura Vida’s signature drinks sure to transport you to a sunny day by the beach:

Summer Melted – made with passion fruit, ginger beer, and rum. It is a crowd pleaser and Lucas’s favorite cocktail to make. It has a balanced sweet and sour taste—very refreshing. Pair this with Patacones.

Healthy Rasta – Lucas named it “healthy” because of the mixed herbs (basil, rosemary, and peppermint). It also has fresh watermelon, lime juice, and brown sugar. It’s like a red mojito, but sweeter because of the watermelon.

Tico Rasta Mary – (DrinkManila recommends!) It has the same ingredients as Chili Guaro shots. This one is lighter to drink but knocks you out with a chili punch. Made with Lizano salsa (a common household condiment in Costa Rica but usually hard to find in the Philippines), lime juice, tomato juice, hot sauce, and vodka, this drink makes a perfect pairing for Chifrijo.

Basil Jam – made with Bombay Sapphire, lime, orange, lemon, cucumber, basil syrup, and soda water. A refreshing spring sipping cocktail that always makes people smile when they order it.

Guaro Sour – Customers with a sweet tooth always order this from the menu. Made with vodka, grenadine, lemon juice, and soda.

Pura Vida supports the local reggae scene and usually schedules gigs. There are also regular DJs playing on Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday. Sometimes DJs even fly in from different countries, so we recommend following the Pura Vida Manila Facebook page for updates.

Renato says that Pura Vida complements the diverse offerings that Poblacion has in the area. The sense of community among owners is what he likes the most about being in Poblacion. “We really help each other, and just the vibe is different from other places,” he says. “You can always see all owners going around from one bar to the other and showing the constant support to each other. We in Pura Vida just want to bring out the best out of people and make them feel like [they’re] at home in a beachy and chill place. That’s what you can find and feel when you walk in. It doesn’t matter who you are, what you were or where you come from. In Pura Vida, we are one united community where anyone is welcome, and people seem to love this kind of vibe where no boundaries are found.”

Photos and video by Star Sabroso