Placencia, Belize Has a Serious Food Scene: Great Restaurants You Want to Try

The Placencia Peninsula has a relatively small population.  Placencia, the most visited village at the tip of the peninsula, has only about 1000 permanent residents.  So it’s shocking to me each and every time that there is such a diverse selection of restaurants and bars.   How do they do it?  A smarty pants friend had the answer for me:  lower rents, lower food costs, lower barriers to entry can equal more room for experimentation and creativity.

And in Placencia, it definitely does.

The list of great eateries is long & DEFINITELY includes the amazing gelato shop called Tutti Frutti.  The flavors change all the time.

May I suggest Hazelnut and Dark Chocolate on a cone for your walk down the Placencia Sidewalk?  Or a late morning affogato…a shot of Bailey’s gelato with hot espresso drizzled over it?

This most recent visit, I asked a friend in the know what the “hot spots” are in town, and the list kept me busy (and stuffed) for the next two days and nights.   Let’s start with Rumfish Y Vino.   Called a gastro-bar…Central American style.  I went upstair in this colonial style building for lunch.

Rumfish has been around for a few years and has been featured in magazines like GQ, Playboy and US Weekly (my bible) – Reese Witherspoon dined there TWICE.  I’d say it is THE upscale spot in Placencia Village.  Here is a look around.

The entire restaurant spreads out around this very cool central bar…

The infusing rums and vodkas…

For some seriously good sounding cocktails.The front dining deck that is beautifully candle lit at night.

Bar dining.  I love the options…booths, tables, the bar, this great built in table for larger groups.  This is where I imagine that Reese and her family dined…

Oh yes…let’s get to the food.  Chocolate Habanero Cannoli?

I sat at the back deck to catch the sea breeze.

The menu…the starters, everything on this page is available for lunch.

And then main courses for dinner.  I NEED to come back.

And the drink list…

I went simple…from the specials board, the Crudo.  Thin raw fish slices with lemon grass and a few other seasonings…

Just gorgeous.  The fish was so unbelievable fresh and tender…I could have eaten 8 plates of this.  I also HAD to try a fish taco.  The gentlemen behind me (who were from Sanctuary Belize (perhaps you’ve seen the ads on FoxTv or MSNBC?) were going crazy for theirs…

and rightly so.  This was the best fish taco I’ve ever eaten.  Seems simple but the fish, again, was so fresh and tender and perfectly fried.  The creamy…the crunch of the cabbage…the lime-y tang of the fresk salsa.  There was something special in that pico de gallo…I could not figure it out.  SO SO SO SO GOOD.  I actually barged into the kitchen to find out and was told it was just the usual.  Maybe I was tasting the cilantro?

Rumfish Y Vino is special.  You will want to stop by here early (and probably often) in your trip.  I’ll be back in February and most definitely eating dinner here.  I gladly give Rumfish the SanPedroScoop.com sunglasses of Excellence.  

Let the celebrations in Placencia begin!

And lucky for me?  I saved room for Tutti Frutti.

I still NEED to tell you about Dragonfly Moon and its Fer De Lance snake at the bar…

and Mojo Lounge…a very cool spot.

I can’t wait to get back down to Placencia in the middle of February.  My room is already booked.