At the Ram Luna Restaurant in the hills above Aserrí, the food is authentic, the atmosphere is elegant and the view is breathtakingly amazing. Guests will feel they have the stars at their feet as they enjoy a deliciously authentic Costa Rican dinner above a vast sea of lights twinkling in the valley below.

The history of the popular Ram Luna Restaurant began in May of 1967, when a young newlywed couple named Gilbert and Moraima Ramírez moved into a small mountain cabin with a view and dreamt of building a restaurant where the atmosphere was classy and the food delicious.

Today, the Ram Luna has become all that and more. The elegant multilevel building boasts a beautiful exterior view and a classy interior where candles warm the comfortable ambience. The service is excellent and the food is uniquely Costa Rican.

Appetizers on the Ram Luna menu include traditional delicacies such as Fish “Ceviche,” made with chunks of sea bass cooked in lemon juice, or the Mushroom Fry, made with fresh Cartago-grown mushrooms sautéed in butter with ham and covered with Béchamel sauce.

Soups include Seafood Chowder, with a broth of octopus, fish, shrimp and clams; and the traditional “Sopa Negra,” a black bean soup with boiled eggs and six different spices.

Rica and pasta entrées include “Arroz con Pollo” (rice with chicken), “Arroz a la Marinera” (rice with seafood), and “Fettuccine a la Crema,” Fettuccine noodles with Parmesan cheese, pepper and nutmeg mixed perfectly into a smooth cream-and-butter sauce.

Fish plates include the Breaded Corvina, Garlic-buttered Corvina and the “Filet Mirador,” a boneless filet of corvina cooked in a shrimp and heart-of-palm sauce.

Chicken and beef dishes include “Pollo a la Barbacoa,” golden brown chicken roasted with barbecue sauce and honey, “Pollo al Vino,” a boneless breast cooked in wine sauce, “Lomito a la Pimienta,” a 230-gram beef tenderloin cooked with green pepper and spices, and the highly recommended “Lomito El Mirador,” a tenderloin served with three savory sauces to please all facets of one’s palate.

For dessert there is a sweet selection of tropical favorites such as Coconut flan, fruit mousse, chocolate cake, coffee with ice cream and “Tres Leches,” a sweet and creamy dessert best described as a sweet, milk-soaked sponge cake.

The restaurant’s extensive wine list includes fine bottles imported from Italy, France, Spain, Germany, California and Chile. Select from the lengthy list of options or enjoy a glass of one of the house wines, from Spain: Vallformosa Vall Fort Crianza 95, Vallformosa Viña Blanca or Vallformosa Viña Rosada.

Every Wednesday night, the Ram Luna Restaurant becomes a joyful Costa Rican street festival with delicious and authentic dishes arranged into an extravagant and all-inclusive dinner buffet for a memorable evening named “Tierra Tica.”

The “Tierra Tica” buffet tables are replete with tasty typical foods like rice and beans, marinated fish and “guineo” (a banana cousin) “ceviche,” fried “yuca” (a potato-like root), cheese “empanadas” (corn pockets), “Russian” potato salad, barbecued chicken, meat tacos and much, much more…

In addition to the open bar, there are non-alcoholic drinks at the buffet table, such as fruit punch and “horchata,” a sweet and creamy drink made with milk and rice with a touch of cinnamon. Speaking of rice, there’s “Arroz con Leche” rice pudding for dessert, along with “Cajetas” (homemade Costa Rican sweets) and a smorgasbord of sliced tropical fruits.

Not only will you find a wide selection of delicious food and drink, but a vast repertoire of Costa Rican festivities to match. The marimba, a traditional percussion instrument resembling a giant Xylophone played by up to four musicians, brings the sound of Costa Rican festivals to your table as the dancers liven up the room with colorful costumes and cheerful smiles.

Soon the “Cimarrona,” a folk dance that cannot be absent from any Costa Rican festival, makes its appearance: drums, trumpets and the “Payasos” of Aserrí lend more festivity to the party. The giant “Payasos,” traipse into the dining room and select partners to join them on the dance floor. Soon everyone is dancing, clapping and laughing.

No Costa Rican festival is complete without the closing light show, and so out to the patio everyone goes to watch the fireworks display. Dancing “Payasos” and fully satisfied diners follow the musicians outside as the Ram Luna is showered with displays of exploding shooting stars in the night sky above.

The lights of the Central Valley glow beneath the Ram Luna as the glow of the fireworks fades and the “Payasos” bid good night to their guests. It has been a memorable night.

The Ram Luna Restaurant is open Tuesday through Friday from 5-11 p.m., and Saturdays and Sundays from noon to 11 p.m. It is closed on Mondays. Reservations are required for the Wednesday night “Tierra Tica” dinner buffet and party, which begins at 7 p.m.