One of the joys of travel is discovering local cuisine, tasting the local treats and dishes that make up a vital part of the nation you’re visiting. Belize is synonymous with warm, friendly people and absolutely delicious food. From treats found roadside during a road trip to the elevated, gourmet cuisine of restaurants, Belizean food is infused with culture, history, warmth and spice.
A typical day of meals in the life of Belizeans covers a range of delights such as meat pies, tacos, fry jacks, flour tortillas with eggs, avocadoes, cheese or some combination thereof for breakfast. Lunch can be fresh fish, stewed chicken, the classic rice and beans (Belize’s unofficial national dish), or white rice and stewed beans, a side of greens, even curries and vegetarian stews. And don’t be surprised if even in the heat, a delicious hot soup lands on the menu! Dinners often feature leftover stews or meats with an accompaniment of tortillas (corn or flour), maybe freshly baked bread.
Celebrations bring out the ethnic cuisines known to make any gathering special: escabeche, relleno, chimole, tamales, ducunu, pibil, hudut, cohune cabbage. For Belizeans, a hearty, delicious meal is a celebration in and of itself.
So again, when visiting, we highly recommend that you take the routes that will keep your taste buds singing all the way to your destination. Let’s drive down the Hummingbird Highway on our way to Umaya Resort in Placencia, shall we?
While you get the car started and meander down, let’s review a bit. Belize is often referred to as a ‘Melting Pot’ of cultures. See, even when discussing nationalities, we’re thinking food! And yes, Belize is home to an extraordinary mix of beautiful people and ethnicities who have brought with them their traditional cuisine and over time, have become as much as staple to the country as our rice and beans.
Besides the Garifuna, Mestizo, Maya, Chinese, East Indian, Creole, and Mennonite, the country is home to quite a number of Central American expatriates. From Honduras to Nicaragua, Guatemala and El Salvador, many settled in the Western region and have become a wonderful part of our colorful community.
On the road to Sleeping Giant Rainforest Lodge, you’ll pass through the idyllic village of Armenia, home to Pupuseria Beatriz. Pupusas are the Salvadoran national dish. Similarities to a corn tortilla are that it’s made with corn flour. These babies are thick, often stuffed with cheese, beans, chicharron or some other meat. Cooked up on a hot griddle, they are served with a tangy slaw and red sauce. Pop into Pupuseria Beatriz and taste a little bit of El Salvador on your road trip. There is nothing like biting into a freshly made pocket of cheesy goodness, topped with a cooling slaw and sauce to balance it all.
As you continue driving down one of the most scenic highways, you’ll realize maybe one pupusa wasn’t quite enough. Lucky for you, Bertha’s Tamales await you. A now-iconic red & white building, Bertha’s is home to some of the tastiest wrapped bundles of goodness. Tamales in Belize are made with corn dough/masa, filled with a recado-tinged sauce known as k’ol (cull), bone-in chicken cuts, then folded and wrapped with a banana leaf. A running joke told by countless guides involves a tourist being introduced to the Belizean tamale. After lunch wraps up, his guide asks him what he thought of the meal, and the visitor replies, “The inside was really tasty, but I thought the lettuce was quite tough!”
So, word of advice, don’t be that guy! Remove the smoked banana leaf used to wrap the tamale for steaming. With locals taking road trips just to indulge in a couple of these tasty bundles, Bertha’s simply closes when they run out. Here’s hoping you make it.
As you continue driving down one of the most scenic highways, you’ll realize maybe one pupusa wasn’t quite enough. Lucky for you, Bertha’s Tamales await you. A now-iconic red & white building, Bertha’s is home to some of the tastiest wrapped bundles of goodness. Tamales in Belize are made with corn dough/masa, filled with a recado-tinged sauce known as k’ol (cull), bone-in chicken cuts, then folded and wrapped with a banana leaf. A running joke told by countless guides involves a tourist being introduced to the Belizean tamale. After lunch wraps up, his guide asks him what he thought of the meal, and the visitor replies, “The inside was really tasty, but I thought the lettuce was quite tough!”
So, word of advice, don’t be that guy! Remove the smoked banana leaf used to wrap the tamale for steaming. With locals taking road trips just to indulge in a couple of these tasty bundles, Bertha’s simply closes when they run out. Here’s hoping you make it.
If you don’t think you’ll catch Bertha’s (no speeding!), comfort yourself with some of the freshest, tastiest ice cream you can from Country Barn. Just a few miles before Bertha’s, this dairy farm is known for its rich homemade ice creams, especially coconut and soursop. Their iced coffees and shakes also hit the spot and can tide you over as you make your way to your destination.
Once settled in at Umaya, be sure to enjoy some elevated cuisine using fresh ingredients and drawing inspiration from all things Belizean. Restaurante Laguna, with its gorgeous setting on the lagoon, provides stunning vistas while you sip on a craft cocktail and decide on which tasty delight you’ll have. Pastas, fresh seafood, even a scrumptious sorrel red wine rib eye if you’re feeling fancy, will cap off an incredible day of delicious meals.
Truth be told, these places mentioned don’t even begin to cover the many hidden gems throughout the country. We always encourage our visitors and friends to buy that bag of sliced fresh fruit from the vendors along the way. Taking a few minutes here or there to stretch one’s legs while browsing the fruits in season is a great way to see the real Belize; her true, authentic vibes. If there is one way to bring people together, it’s with food. You may not understand the language or dialects as you move from place to place, but you can understand sweet, sour, salty, bitter, spicy and umami. And in Belize, we have spades of those to spare. Let’s eat!
