Robert's Grove, Belize.

[FabulousFoodBabe]

Yeah, I posted this on the Caribbean board because I'm a knucklehead.

So -- anyone been to this place, or nearby? In-laws are considering it for their 50th anniversary next year, taking the whole family. All twenty of us, adults and kids. MIL would like to put everyone on a hotel meal plan, but I really don't want to do that. The rest of the family is not really adventurous about food, and likes "regular" mealtimes, but the four of us (Mr. Foodbabe, and teenaged sons) like to find good local stuff and write our own schedules.

[phaelon56]

I've been in the San Ignacio area (near the Western border), at a jungle lodge for a few days for caving and then on Caye Caulker for diving. Did plenty of research on food/dining options before going there and found little of interest in advance.

The reason proved to be that there's no significant cultural culinary tradition in Belize that's indigenous to the area (perhaps apart from dishes favored by the Mayan population but I did not find any Mayan cafés or restaurants). I suppose the lack of culinary legacy might be attributed to Belize's past as British Honduras but the "national dish" is stewed chicken with rice and peas (pigeon peas I think). Cow's foot soup is also reputed to be a favored dish but having tried it I wouldn't venture out to look for it again.

I don't know the restaurant scene in Placencia but if it's like most other areas in Belize where tourists visit you'll find an Italian restaurant, a pizza joint or two, possibly a place with Mexican influenced food and maybe some sort of "upscale" joint or two run by an expat Canadian or American.

As might be expected you'll find fantastic fresh seafood everywhere - quite often in humble little joints like the one I dined at in Caye Caulker - a BBQ grill and two picnic tables on someone's front lawn and a cooler full of Fanta. But at $8 for grilled herb buttered barracuda steaks with a side of rice 'n peas and potato salad it was a heck of a good dinner. But variety and inventive cuisine was not present in abundance.

You might want to visit The Belize Forums and post your food inquiries in the general topics section (their food discussion section is almost totally inactive).

[Jaymes]

We've had several threads here on the food in Belize, and the general consensus is that it's a pretty uninspiring food destination.

Unfortunately.

[phaelon56]

Yes it is uninspiring. I actually had a mind-bogglingly good shrimp seviche and a very good sauteed snapper over pasta on Caye Caulker not the mention a remarkably good cappuccino (considering the location). But I think that was a bit of a fluke and the place changed hands the next year (the owner when I was there was actually a young guy from Milan who had a deft hand with the local ingredients.

Get the meal plan at the resort and just plan on getting our for one or two meals for the sake of adventure. But do visit Belize - wonderful country.

[joiei]

Roberts Grove is not that far from Francis Ford Coppola's resort, Turtle Inn. When I stayed in Placencia at Christmas last year we dined often at the Turtle Inn. I prefered the food there over the food at the Grove. Native foods of Belize are not exciting, I am guessing because of the native and the british influences. THey just do not use a lot of spices and seasonings. There is a little roadside bar in Placencia that was a lot of fun after the sun went down. It was up near the Nautical Inn. A comfortable mix between locals and tourists. The taxi driver knows where it is. And if the gelato lady is still there, her product was very good during a hot afternoon.

The lobster pizza at the Turtle inn, if it is on the menu, is excellent.

Edited September 14, 2005 by joiei (log)

[FabulousFoodBabe]

Roberts Grove is not that far from Francis Ford Coppola's resort, Turtle Inn.  When I stayed in Placencia at Christmas last year we dined often at the Turtle Inn.  I prefered the food there over the food at the Grove.    Native foods of Belize are not exciting, I am guessing because of the native and the british influences.  THey just do not use a lot of spices and seasonings.    There is a little roadside bar in Placencia that was a lot of fun after the sun went down.  It was up near the Nautical Inn.  A comfortable mix between locals and tourists.  The taxi driver knows where it is.  And if the gelato lady is still there, her product was very good during a hot afternoon.

The lobster pizza at the Turtle inn, if it is on the menu, is excellent.

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Ah ...turtle Inn. Amazing! And the bartender makes a terrific mojito. It was grill night when we were there.

We got back from our trip Saturday night and I'm still in catch-up mode. You are correct, joiei, about the foods in Belize and the lack of seasonings. I also noticed that every piece of chicken we had (outside of the Turtle Inn) was overcooked, and that the rice and stew beans appeared to be converted white rice,and canned kidney beans. (Marie Sharp's orange hot sauce is great on those ...)

Since this was a family celebration/vacation, and others were not interested in joining us, we ventured out just a few times. RG's food was just okay, the little kids were happy and my MIL was happy, so that worked for us. Went to the Mexican restaurant across the street from there once or twice; better than RG food, terrific guacamole, but not much else. We took the arduous trip into Placencia a couple of times -- the stretch from RG to the airport was cratered with basketball-sized potholes -- and both times, the gelato lady was closed (snif).

I'll write more later about it, though I can say that it was pretty blah, food-wise, except for LobsterFest! That's the local celebration for the beginning of lobster season. Very un-touristy, all of Placencia town turns out for it, and lots of vendors and contests, from arm-wrestling and tug-of-war, to fishing.

[Carolyn Tillie]

I just returned from a week in Belize as well... We were on a chartered sailboat and brought some provisions with us for cooking on board (nori, rice, wasabi, soy...) Ironically, it was not until day three or four that we actually started to do our own cooking.

Arriving in San Pedro to pick up the boat, I had a great fish taco at a bar that is right next to the Mayo/TropicAir airport while the boat was being provisioned with ice. We sailed immediately to Caye Caulker and tried to have dinner at Caribe. Getting less than bad service on a cevice starter, we took it to go and found a converted front yard of someone's house; Wet Willie's was barbecuing chicken, lobster, and barracuda and we settled in there for a great meal. Willie came out to our boat the next day and we arranged to trade some of his fresh fish for some of our fresh wasabi. Consequently, we returned to Willie's that evening. Seems they aren't used to eating raw fish in any fashion other than ceviche and loved the Red Snapper rolls we prepared. We did have lunch at one other place at the end of the island (sorry, don't recall the name) which was -- yes, more lobster -- most of which came back to the boat for left-overs.

The next two days were spent on Caye Chapel. This is an island that is wholly and entirely a golf course with a fabulous club house. They let us moor our boat for an attempted 18-holes. We got through the first five before the lightning started and it was quite surreal to be the only ones in the two-story, elegant clubhouse eating lunch (very good club sandwich and their version of a Philly cheesesteak). After that rain stopped, we tried to finish the first nine but were literally run off the putting green with torrential rains and lightening. Dinner in the clubhouse with other staying guests who were not as stalwart to play in the rain provided very good surf-and-turf (more lobster), a very decent mushroom soup, and a great German chocolate cake (fresh coconut!).

We then sailed down to St. George and Belize city, mostly eating leftovers on the boat from the previous few days. Our last day in Belize was waiting (in the rain) for a flight to Panama and eating VERY standard grill food at the local Radisson.

[FabulousFoodBabe]

(snip snip ...)

The next two days were spent on Caye Chapel. This is an island that is wholly and entirely a golf course with a fabulous club house.

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Carolyn! You've just provided me with a way to get my husband back to Belize!

Your trips sounds like big fun. We did a charter in the BVI a couple of times and loved it; a few people we met on our trip were on a boat up near San Pedro prior to coming to Placencia.

[Carolyn Tillie]

(snip snip ...)

The next two days were spent on Caye Chapel. This is an island that is wholly and entirely a golf course with a fabulous club house.

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Carolyn! You've just provided me with a way to get my husband back to Belize!

Your trips sounds like big fun. We did a charter in the BVI a couple of times and loved it; a few people we met on our trip were on a boat up near San Pedro prior to coming to Placencia.

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Caye Chapel is a quite a fabulous stop -- we met a number of folks who were staying there. The island has both over-the-top villas which can be shared by two or three couples, or smaller casitas. Some folks had been there an entire week while others were there for a long weekend. Kevin went several years ago when use of the golf course required the renting of accomodations. We just sailed up and because it was off-season (quite rainy), they let us moor-up and stay to use the facilities.

The funny part was that we met a couple of teachers on a trip with students at St. George. When we described Caye Chappel, both said something like you; "now we know how to get our husbands down here!" It is stunningly beautiful but I know there are folks who can't vacation anywhere without some form of golf. For one of the wives of the golfers on the island, she said she spent her time going to the other islands, having a massage, etc. Then everyone would meet for dinner. On our particular night with these folks, we did bring in some of our own wine (a Copain Roussanne) which was much enjoyed. Their list is okay, but hardly remarkable. Most people are drinking rum cocktails anyway.

[FabulousFoodBabe]

Caye Chapel is a quite a fabulous stop -- we met a number of folks who were staying there. The island has both over-the-top villas which can be shared by two or three couples, or smaller casitas. Some folks had been there an entire week while others were there for a long weekend. Kevin went several years ago when use of the golf course required the renting of accomodations. We just sailed up and because it was off-season (quite rainy), they let us moor-up and stay to use the facilities.

The funny part was that we met a couple of teachers on a trip with students at St. George. When we described Caye Chappel, both said something like you; "now we know how to get our husbands down here!" It is stunningly beautiful but I know there are folks who can't vacation anywhere without some form of golf. For one of the wives of the golfers on the island, she said she spent her time going to the other islands, having a massage, etc. Then everyone would meet for dinner. On our particular night with these folks, we did bring in some of our own wine (a Copain Roussanne) which was much enjoyed. Their list is okay, but hardly remarkable. Most people are drinking rum cocktails anyway.

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Yanno, before Mr. FB fell in love with golf, he and I went diving together all the time. I like it -- the golf -- but think there's a time and place for it, and not when there's a barrier reef and blue hole just waiting to be inspected. We'd planned to go to Ambergris Caye last year, but had to cancel at the last minute.

I had no wine the entire week we were in Belize. At the Turtle Inn, only Francis Ford Coppola wines were on the list, so we drank Mojitos. Man, that bartender is amazing (and charming). The food was so good, and the setting so lovely and peaceful. (In-laws picked RG, I think, for its "variety of activities," most of which weren't available. Dive boats only went out twice during the week, and visibility was not great at any depth.)

I think Belize is one of those "one week is not enough" places.

[phaelon56]

I think Belize is one of those "one week is not enough" places.

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You're so right about that and there's such an abundance of things to do inland, such as Mayan ruins and caving expeditions, that a full week could spent there. But the dilemma is that the food usually becomes even less varied and of poorer quality as one moves further inland.

[Jaymes]

Well, Carolyn, you're back from your trip to Belize and Panama. In the "nations with bad foods" thread, many of us voted for Belize. You said that you had heard the food in Panama was worse.

Now what say you?