Eating locally in Belize means (part 2)...

... lobster for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

The Caribbean spiny lobster, panulinus argus, is on every restaurant menu in coastal Belize, the small Central American nation that lies east of Guatemala and south of the Yucatan peninsula of Mexico. Two locations renowned for the quality of their lobster are Placencia and Caye Caulker, both of which host annual lobster festivals every June and July, respectively. These two places — villages where tourism has in the last couple of years supplanted lobster fishing as the leading source of income — happened to be where my travel companion and I spent most of our time in Belize. Coincidence?

Caye Caulker

Rainbow Restaurant
This was by far the most traditional of the restaurants we sampled in Caye Caulker, an island off the northern coast of Belize. I tucked into a tasty lunch special of lobster with coconut sauce on a terrace overlooking the Caribbean while sipping a refreshing glass of watermelon juice. On Front Street, north of the dock.

Rose's Cafe
Every evening at sunset, many of Caye Caulker's restaurants set up grills on the street. The most popular of these grill restaurants is Rose's Cafe. The popularity of the place is due in equal parts to the restaurant's display of impeccably fresh lobster and snapper and to the talents of the hawker that cajoles you to try the restaurant's goods. Fish and lobster alike are brushed with Creole spices and butter and served with a choice of sides, including the ubiquitous (and much beloved throughout Belize) cole slaw and delicious pan-fried bread fruit. On the dock street.

Rasta Pasta
The Jamaican-style jerked lobster sandwich I ate for lunch one day was so tasty, I persuaded my travel companion to return with me that same night for dinner. Rasta Pasta's menu is enticing and original and the bar, in particular, is popular with local artists, kite surfers, and divers. Be sure to try a glass of their homemade ginger beer, either on its own or mixed with the local dark rum and lime juice to make the freshest Dark & Stormy on the planet. On Middle Street.

Wish Willy
If you were to eat at only one place in Caye Caulker, it should be Wish Willy. Truth be told I didn't have lobster at this funky gem, a place so unassuming and informal I hesitate to call it a restaurant. There is no written menu, and you dine seated at mismatched picnic tables scattered around a grill outside the chef's bungalow, all while listening to a delightfully eclectic playlist. I'm confident that anything that the dreadlocked local celebrity chef Maurice Moore cooks — lobster included — will be as delicious as the gingery shark he prepared for my travel companion and me. To give you an idea of how laid back this place is, when I mentioned that I was opening a restaurant, Maurice put me to work julienning the chayote, pumpkin, and carrots that served as our dinner's side dish. Off Front Street near the Split.

Placencia

Mare Restaurant
The fritto misto of lobster, conch, and snapper was my favorite of the items I sampled at this California-Italian inspired restaurant that's part of Turtle Inn, one of two resorts in Belize owned by the Bay Area's own Francis Ford Coppola. Party like a Hollywood director by washing down your delicately fried seafood with a pink can of daughter Sofia's sparkling blanc de blanc or one of the other California wines from the all Niebaum-Coppola list. Be forewarned that prices here run double what you'd pay elsewhere in Belize, on par with what you'd spend at a nice restaurant in San Francisco. 1 mile north of town.

Sadly, I didn't have a chance to try French Connection, reputed to be one of Belize's finest. The restaurant was closed while the owners were traveling in their native France sourcing ingredients. On the Sidewalk.

When you've tired of lobster, be sure to sample the greaseless, light-as-a-cloud fry jacks that accompany a breakfast of local fresh fruit and farm eggs at Merlene's (eat overlooking the Caribbean Sea at daughter Yoli's restaurant, both located on southern tip of the island by the Moorings), coffee and tea at Secret Garden (off the Street, behind Wallen's market), tasty lunch salads and smoothies at the cheery Shak (near Wallen's), and a gelato at Tuttifrutti (near Wallen's), where French and Italian expats churn the best frozen treats in Belize, honestly as good as anything I've had at Ici or Sketch in the Bay Area or Il Laboratorio or Cones in New York. Laurent makes his rich gelato from traditional Italian recipes with locally grown fruit, coconuts, nuts, coffee, and chocolate (yes, cacao is a local product native to Belize — more on that in my third and final Belize post).

Belize City

Bird's Isle Restaurant
The setting of this laid back thatched roof bar/restaurant in the southern part of Belize's largest city is magical. Watch the sun set over the Caribbean while you nibble on conch and shrimp ceviche and drink ice cold local Belikins, imported Red Stripes, or tiki-licious tropical drinks with umbrellas in them. Lobster was also on the menu. South end of Regent Street across the bridge on Bird's Isle.

Please only eat the locally caught Caribbean spiny lobster in season, from June 15th through February 15th. The local conch season runs from September 30th through July 1st.

Comments

[Nina]

I was in also in Belize for lobster season a few years ago... Ah, so good... And Sour Sop ice cream for dessert!

Was there a restaurant called Habenero (I think?) still on the main drag in Caye Caulker? They made the best Key Lime Pie -- um, served in a glass -- that I ever had in my life.

[brett]

Habanero is still there, but we didn't make it there. Another cool feature of Caye Caulker were the little dessert stands that local women set up on the sidewalks, er dirt paths, after sunset. I had a yummy slice of key lime pie made by one of these local dessert ladies that was the perfect sweet ending to my night.

[Nina]

Oh, I'm glad to hear that it's still there. :) And yes, I loved the homemade desserts you could buy on the streets/paths... and on the beach -- I would always chase down anyone with a tub of baked goods. :) I still dream about a kind of sweet coconut empanada/pasty that I once got.

[art]

If you had made this trip a month earlier you may have persuaded me to book a trip to Belize instead of Grand Cayman. We love Cayman but I have a feeling there is a lot more interesting food to discover in Belize. Definitely a place I would like to explore in the future.

[matt]

Brett, will you PLEEEEEEEEASE take me with you next time? C'mon man, I'm a great guest.

:)

[sam]

Belize is somewhere I have always wanted to go. I had an Insight guide about a dozen years ago I read from cover to cover. I think Green & Black's use Belizian chocolate for their Maya bars.

[Sarina]

Bird's Isle Restaurant blew me away! I hadn't been there in over 5 years and I always taught that it was the little thatch restaurant/shack near the entrance. But boy was I in for a surprise. It was transformed into this lovely seafront restaurant with a beautiful bar with a seaside mural and stars painted in the sky. And there strawberry daiquiri was the best in the whole county of Belize. And the food was great very reasonable and served piping hot by a courteous wait staff.

I also visited on a Thursday night which is karaoke night, had such blast! Sang my heart out. And they have a karaoke master who has loads and loads of selections to choose from. So I'd suggest Bird's Isle Restaurant to anyone visiting Belize!