Where a local eats in Cayo District

I have issues with guidebooks and sites like Tripadvisor that review local places to eat.  The guidebook writer probably ate one meal at the reviewed restaurant, and most online reviews are written by tourists who probably eat... one meal at the restaurant.  The highest rated places to eat around here pretty much cater strictly to tourists, and the prices and food quality reflect that.  If a restaurant only has to impress you once, they don't have to try very hard.  And $9 burritos?  You have got to be joking.  I wouldn't say you can expect gourmet cooking at any of the following places (if you are looking for gourmet restaurants you are in the wrong country), but you will get decent food at decent prices.

Benque and Succotz

1.     Benny’s kitchen

      We eat here a lot, because it is the only restaurant in Succotz.  The service and quality can be inconsistent, but when you hit a good day it’s well worth it. Stick with local specials such as rice and beans, or smaller items like tostitos and burritos.  The breakfast is serve all day, and is pretty consistently good.  Juices are freshly squeezed.  Avoid the pizza and burgers. 

2.     Xu’s chinese restaurant

Chinese restaurants are legion in Belize.  Randomly, the best thing to get at any one is probably a $5 plate of fried chicken.  This comes with large section of breast or thigh along with French fries and your yearly recommended dose of sodium.

3.     Panaderia la Gracias de Dios

Right up the street from the Catholic Church in Benque.  This has serve-yourself breads, pastries, and DONUTS.  My favorites are the spicy ham and cheese pastry and the custard-filled donut.  This place is seriously cheap too.  The only problem is the baking hours are kinda random.  I’ve gone in at 10am on a weekday, and they don’t have any stock because they haven’t started the day’s baking.  Well worth checking if you are in Benque.

4.     The BBQ stand across from the Catholic Church (no name as far as I know…)

They only BBQ on Friday, Sautrday and Sunday nights.  It is consistently  the best BBQ stand in the area.  A large piece of thigh or breast + a tortilla and beans = $5bz.

San Ignacio

1.     Sanny’s Grill

This place is hard to find, it is in a residential area outside of the center of town.  The menu is more varied than what you usually see, with interesting chicken and beef dishes.  The salad is good also.  Two caveats: it is only opened after 6pm, and it has a major mosquito problem.  Wear long pants.

2.     Hot Taco

A bit of a step up from the usual taco vendors, this place is clean with freshly made food and friendly service.  The food is more Americanized, but you get plenty for really cheap prices. The chocolate chip cookies are really good too.

3.     Mr Greedy’s

I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with this place.  It is pretty touristy, and has a sand floor (which ick, how do you clean it?)  But they have really good calzones.  For $12, you get a huge calzone with your choice of fillings.  The salads are pretty good too.

Belmopan

1.     Puccini’s

This place is pricey by local standards, but worth a splurge.  I’ve had their calzones and hot subs—really good.  My favorite is the chicken bacon ranch sub.  Also, sometimes they have root beer on tap (the only place in Belize I’ve found).

2.     The Calladium

Right across from the Bus station.  I usually stick with their chicken sandwich because the menu is a bit pricey.  But the food is good, and best of all there are CLEAN bathrooms.  If you are stuck at the bus station and desperate for a bathroom, go here instead of the absolutely filthy restrooms at the station.  You’ll have to buy something, but it’s well worth it.  Avoid the lunch hour if possible, lots of government workers eat here and it gets packed.  

Spanish Lookout

Midway gas station and diner

Ok, this is totally random.  The set up is downstairs is a gas station/ fast food bar/ convenience/ hardware store.  Upstairs is a variety store (with a pretty good selection of camping equipment and musical instruments—see what I mean about random?)  Separate and through glass doors upstairs (and AIRCONDITIONED) is the restaurant.  It is head and shoulders above any other place to eat in Spanish lookout (and actually better then most places in Cayo).  Large menu, reasonable prices, and CLEAN.  Last time we were there we split a massive chicken Caesar salad and a BBQ beef sandwich.  It can look a bit crowded, but there is more seating out of view around a corner.  

Belizean cheese dip

Guys, I am so conflicted about posting this recipe.  On the one hand, it is a food that is present at 99% of social functions in Belize.  Weddings, wakes, birthday parties, Quince Anos.... chances are good that if you've been to any sort of gathering here you have been served cheese dip along side your rice and beans. And probably scarfed it down as it is universally good, and perhaps want to recreate the goodness at home.  On the other hand, it is made from cheese so processed that it actually doesn't melt and has to be blended.  Although I have eaten this countless times, I have actually only made it twice because seriously? I don't want to think about the ingredients. I just want to enjoy.

 If you want to experience the non-gourmet but quite enjoyable cheese dip, here is the recipe.

1 small (220g) can of salsa.  La Costena is a Mexican brand and quite possibly the best salsa in existence
1 small can of condensed milk (unsweetened)
1/4 lb block of Happy Cow Cheese.  This is processed, shelf stable cheese that is available here in Belize, but I'm sure you can find an equivalent.  Look for a solid, processed cheese that doesn't need refrigeration.  Or use a block of American cheese.

Now prepare yourself for the complicated instructions.
Cut the cheese into small squares, and add to the blender.  Pour in the salsa, and about 2/3 of the can of condensed milk.

Blend until completely smooth.

Pour on tortilla chips, eat.
If you need it a bit more spicy, add a few drops of your favorite hot sauce.
Enjoy!

ufo

unidentified fruit object

I have no idea what this is, but apparently it was planted on purpose by one of the farm workers, as it is a homeopathic cure for something.  I'm guessing it's a homeopathic cure for astronauts.  Or aliens.

challenges

Over the past month or so I have started to challenge myself to experience life in Belize more.  Since I love my routines so much I tend to do the same things over and over, and then I get bored.  Then I get frustrated at myself for being bored, because I live in Belize for goodness sakes.  People pay a lot of money to vacation here.   Anyways, the first challenge is to explore more food at the market.  There is a whole row of food vendors at the market, and I had mostly avoided them because I can’t figure out how you are supposed to know how to eat there.  The vendors don’t have signs advertising what they sell or how much it is.  There are no nice lines to wait in till it’s your turn to order.  People sit or mill about,  and somehow yummy food appears in their hands, at least that is how it seems to me.  So I have started stalking vendors.  First I walk around a bit to see if anything looks or smells particularly good.  Then I hover around the edge of the stand, and spy to see what people are eating and how they order.   Ordering usually involves shoving your way through the crowd and yelling what you want to the cook.  (Don’t worry, the little old ladies do it too).  Since often I don’t know what the food is called I mostly just point, ask the price, and order so-many-dollars worth. 

So far I have sampled:

 Papusas, which are corn tortillas with beans, cheese, and chicken baked inside it

Chicken tacos from several different vendors (hey it’s easily identifiable)

Pork tacos, which I was going to get a picture of but inhaled instead.  Ahem.

And yes I am eating these foods at about 8am in the morning.  Somehow I now find myself craving tacos with spicy onions in the morning instead of a donut.  It’s weird. 

Where I get my food: eggs

I have a sister-in-law named Carla.  She is short and energetic, and has been known to kill snakes as thick as her arm using a fence post, a useful quality in a sister-in-law.  

Carla keeps a lot of chickens, which is good for me, because that means I do NOT have to keep chickens.  I hate chickens. When you enter their territory they slowly wander up to you, looking at you out of one yellow eye, until before you know it you are surrounded by creepy chickens making weird noises.  They don’t cluck, it’s more like baaaaawk bawk bawk.   And their feet are gross and rubbery.  Also, the reason why Carla has to kill snakes is because they come looking for eggs.  

So I go to Carla’s to get my eggs.  She lives right down the driveway from me.

Some of the eggs are brown, some are speckled, and some are the loveliest pale green. 

And there is no comparison with a fresh, fresh egg

  

A new breed of head less chicken they are developing here in Belize. Less noise, more meat.

Shortly after I took these pictures, I wiped out on a patch of mud and dislocated my shoulder (it’s fine now). Coincidence, or did a chicken give me the evil eye?

(people here have a very strong belief in the evil eye.  Babies wear red bracelets to protect them. I have heard people seriously blame illnesses, livestock deaths, even curdled milk on the evil eye. You can get the evil eye if a drunk man looks at you, so why not a glare from a chicken?)

saturday at the market

3 pounds beans

onions

purple, red, and green peppers

potatoes

bananas

avocado

pitajaya

dried jamaica flowers 

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$10 US

So, what the heck is a pitajaya? (pronounce it peet-a-hi-ya)  It's that weird pink fruit behind the beans in the picture.

This also is called the dragon fruit, and comes in a yellow version too.  But I like the pink, because this is what it looks like when you cut it up:

You peel the skin off like a banana, then eat the inside, seeds and all.  It is sweet and mild- kind of like a blueberry, only slightly slimy.   The yellow version has white insides.....not nearly as interesting.  I'm planning on blending it up with some orange juice and freezing it into popsicles- yum! 

Saturday at the market

1 pound onions

1 pound cucumbers

1 pound carrots

1 pound potatoes

bananas

avacodo

pineapple

oregano plant

some yellow dishes

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$6 US

I'm not counting the movies, because of course I would never buy non-original copies of dvds..... but just in case you were wondering Shrek 4 is good.  The fat cat was amazing.

Where I get my food: pineapples!

Ok so technically I just buy my pineapples at the market.  They cost US $1.50.  But I had no idea pineapples grew like this!  And all you have to do is cut the top part with the leaves off and stick it in the ground.  And then wait like 3 years.