A New Look & A DELICIOUS Meal at Rain Restaurant at Grand Caribe Resort

Yesterday we headed to Rain Restaurant at Grand Caribe Resort for a 5pm reservation.  The rooftop restaurant had a new look – and we were invited to check it out.

Or more broadly – we headed to the “village” of Caribeville – the tongue-in-cheek name for the ever-growing community that surrounds Grand Caribe, one of the largest resorts and residences in country.

We pulled up just as the large construction crew at Sunset Caribe coming off the clock.  I’m ALWAYS surprised to see many of the guys, who have just labored for 8+ hours doing construction, changing into their football shorts and PLAYING FOOTBALL for fun!  After a long day of sweating in the hot sun…

Oh to have that energy!

It was a beautiful night.

We took the elevator up to the top floor – the rooftop terrace.

There is a new covering, an open roof – set high above the terrace to shield the sun but still give you a sweeping view around the restaurant.  A view of Grand Caribe…

A better view.

To the south, you can see the road to town, the guys playing soccer below and the Sunset Caribe project.  (I was there for the original cement pour less than one year ago…she is going up QUICK!)

And to the west – the island’s inner lagoons, western shoreline and smaller cayes.  It’s a FANTASTIC spot to watch the sunset.  Unfortunately, that view was cloudy last night.

I took a few pictures – we arrived early so I’d have some light!

And I was excited to see that sushi was available…I haven’t had sushi in months.  And mango cheesecake?  Hooray!

Rain has an extensive menu – and everything sounds delicious.  A modified sushi menu with a wide selection of rolls.  And a menu that has delicious seafood selections – including snapper, grouper and our favorite, snook, steak (I know the filet with blue cheese is a very popular item), homemade pastas…

It’s one of those menus where you have a hard time picking because so many things sounds SO good.

We decided to order a bunch of things and share.   Mexican Street Corn Soup – topped with Cotija cheese, cumin cream, slice jalapeno, cilantro and smoked bacon.  We ordered two sushi rolls – a Voodoo Roll and a Ocean Roll and Black Bean Crusted Snook.  Here are the pictures I took.

The soup was DELICIOUS.  With the warm sesame rolls with butter.  Super chunky, a good amount of bacon and cheese…yum.

Our lovely waiter Jonathan brought the sushi rolls at the same time.  How impressive are these?

Crunchy tempura shrimp…lightly seared tuna on top….so tasty.  And pretty!

We finished ALL the soup and ALL of the rolls.  Next up was Black Bean Crusted Snook with Coconut Rice and Carmelized Banana Curry.

They brought us two beautiful plates – the dish split for us…super thoughtful.  This is just half!

And delicious – the crunchy veg…the fish perfectly cooked.  We were both really really impressed and asked about the chef.

He came up to say hi (we were starting to feel VERY VIP) – Chef Sammy.  A Belizean who’d worked his way up in San Pedro.  Starting at Wet Willie’s over the water – and then under Hugo and Victoria, the original owners of Rain in 2014.  He’s made his way up to Executive Chef.  And not only does the food LOOK gorgeous but it tasted so great.

I saved some room for dessert.  I’m the type of person who would like to eat dessert first and then see what else I have room for…

We shared a few bites and then it was packed up to enjoy later at home…

Both Jeff and I were super impressed by our meal.  The staff is so great – super knowledgeable and friendly.  Ask who the chef is?  And he is sent up to say hello!  Mention that you are going to split the main course – and they split it into two beautifully plated entrees.

I would ABSOLUTELY recommend Rain Restaurant – especially for a special occasion or romantic sunset wine and dine meal.  Prices are listed in US dollars (taxes included) – and sushi rolls ranged from $8 to $18US (and are BIG), appetizers, soups and salad from $10US to 20 (for items including lobster), the fish entrees around $25US, steak dishes were about $40US.

Three things that really stood out to me at my meal at Rain Restaurant:

1. The View.  A full 360 view from the highest building in the area – Caribbean Sea to the cayes on the west side of the island.  A great place to watch the sunset.
2. The Menu and the Food.  Some spots have overly complicated, stuffy menus that can make it hard to pick something you actually want to eat.  Not here.  A wide array of selections that will make vegetarians, local fish fans and red meat-eaters very happy.  The food was also DELICIOUS.  I can easily say “better than ever”.
3. Our Staff.  The lovely knowledgeable staff – our waiter Jonathan who offered suggestions, thoughtfully plated our split entree on two beautiful plates and checked in on us just enough.

Grand Caribe has been open (to varying degrees) since the pandemic began and trying to keep all employees working.  Even if it means being a bit flexible.

Now, they are offering deals if you want to stay at Grand Caribe starting at $199BZ for a night.  Please reach out to them for more information.

Oh…and Happy Birthday to the lady at the table across the way last night!  There was a fun group of 8 celebrating – I hope you guys had a great time.