Charmaine’s Cafe in San Pedro: My Best Bite this Month
About a week ago downtown San Pedro welcomed an exciting addition – a dessert cafe. Charmaine’s Cafe is located on Back Street, on the second level, so you can enjoy your slice of cake or scoop of gelato looking out over the hustle and bustle.
I ate my best bite of food this month in Charmaine’s Cafe…so let me tell you about it.
But first, an editorial note. This is a new column: My Best Bite this Month. I will attempt to pick my favorite food that I ate (out) during the month.
This will be hard – there is SO MUCH GOOD FOOD in San Pedro – but I think I’m up to the task. I love to eat. But the main goal of this is to get your suggestions.
Read All About Belizean Food: My Take if you are unfamiliar with the deliciousness that is Belizean cuisine.
What is the Best Bite you had this month? Or the best food you tried on your trip to Ambergris Caye? Conch Fritters at El Fogon, the frozen caye lime pie you tried at Elvi’s Kitchen, the pigtail with split peas at Briana’s Deli (yum), the street taco you ate at midnight in Central Park, the fry jacks, the coconut rice…this isn’t easy.
I would LOVE to hear from you in the comments. And then I can try too.
Before I start on Charmaine’s, I think it only fair to outline my favorite categories of food. #1 by a long-shot, dessert. #2 appetizers/starters/yummy salads with cheeses and nuts #3 bread of any sort #4 snacks/street food. A distant last, the main course. Oh…Also, I’m not too fond of an amuse-bouche…it’s generally a mish-mash of leftovers. But that’s neither here nor there.
Chairmaine’s Cafe is a new dessert cafe located where Iguana Juan’s Restaurant used to be. (See: 2018’s Iguana Juan’s: Fresh Food in a Fresh Location) Charmaine is an avid and very talented baker, her husband has experience in the food industry and they relocated to San Pedro from Vancouver, CA. They are an absolutely lovely couple. And they really revamped the space as a pink tropical oasis with the most beautiful mural on the back wall.
And a very cute logo.
There’s lots of seating, a coffee, tea and drinks bar (hot and cold) and…the…desserts. Ice cream, brownies, brownies with ice cream, lots of cheesecake flavors, rich dense chocolate cakes, pies, bars and my best bite, the coconut cake.
It is everything you want it to be. Soft buttery moist cake…springy not heavy. Lots of coconut flavor. And serious cream cheese icing (plenty of it – nothing worse than skimping on the icing!) that remains light though you can really taste the cream cheese. It is SO freaking good. And only $10bzd for a really good-sized slice. -big enough to share.
But I try not to share desserts.
Charmaine told me that cheesecake has been the most popular item during her first week of sales. And…it makes sense. A good slice of cheesecake is just the most decadent, rich dessert there is.
I had to grab a slice to go even though I PROMISED myself I would only pick up the donuts I had ordered as a gift! This spot is going to be trouble.
Pumpkin cheesecake.
Now how am I going to get this home…even slightly intact…with 8 miles of bumpy road and temps in the mid-80s.
The way we get most cold things home…a “cooler”. A bag of ice from the gas station and a box…
We got home and it was still chilled. It was…delicious. And I (secretly but now not secretly) resented each and every bite Jeff took from my slice. Next time I’ll have to get two. The good-sized slice was $12bzd.
Half in the afternoon, half for breakfast. Heaven is almost certainly cold cake for breakfast.
There you go. Best bite of November 2023. Coconut cake at Charmaine’s Cafe.
And again, let me know your best bites. I can’t wait to try more!
And know, please, that this was a very hard choice. Between the conch fritters and 2 kinds of salbutes at El Fogon, the pigtail at Briana’s Deli, some killer soups at Big Taste, the cookies at Matachica Resort, I had a verrrry good eating month – a huge thanks to Jeff’s mom and her friend Ken.
For more information on Charmaine’s Cafe, hours and specials and to message them, you can follow Charmaine’s Cafe on Facebook.
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We were in San Pedro earlier this month and bought your helpful book before we traveled. We ate at the No Name Taco Stand several times and would really like the recipe for the pork gingas. Can you help.
$12 seems a bit high for the Pie portion! I remember I saw an article on how to eat for $10 a day somewhere on line. It will not make the grade at this price. I understand you want to spread the word about this new venture and we appreciate it. It looks good and the pies look good but pretty expensive.
It’s in US prices and I guess it’s all about perspective. Compared to restaurants here – it’s cheap! Things that go into baking are PRICY here – like a lb of butter is $15-19bzd. Or a bar of Philly cream cheese is $8-9bzd. Or a bag of chocolate chips is $11-13bzd. Anything imported from the states is at least double the cost there. The only thing cheaper is sugar and flour and eggs.
I meant BZD!
The coconut cake at Charmaine’s Cafe looks like heaven. Can’t wait to discover Charmaine’s and savor the cake & other goodies when I’m on Ambergris in March. Love your informative daily blogs & pics. We’ve had our first substantial snow in the Rockies. . .looking forward to BZE water & sand.
Yum.
My favorite food is dessert
Yes, dessert is my favorite food. I had the COCONUT CAKE for breakfast. I. Also, love the CHOCOLATE CINNAMON ROLL.
I saw those chocolate rolls when I was there…what an amazing idea. I LOVE chocolate and cinnamon.
Every time we’re down, the best meal is beach BBQ with Suya Tours. The fish, conch & lobster freshly caught by the guides and great tortillas washed down with a Belikin or glass bottle Coke (like when we were kids).
Hmmm…I need to break that down – percentage attributed to food and percentage attributed to the whole experience!
If you’re looking for dessert, you can’t go wrong with the frozen key lime pie at El Patio Grill!
anything and everything at el patio… will be one of the best on the island… especially the lobster Thermidor…. amazing…!!!
I’ve heard it is great – it’s on my list! Gracias amigo
French’s has the best escargot and French onion soup!!!! The dessert is also fabulous too! I love all the cafes/restaurants in San Pedro. Especially ElForgon’s salbutes and anything Hidden Treasures makes!
Checkout the Key Lime Pie at the Mambo Lounge at Matachica Resort. AMAZING!!!!!
I’ve only seen it – and WOW! It tastes as good?! They make INCREDIBLE baked goods and desserts.
We just came across Charmaine’s tonight and fell in love with Charmaine and the sweet little coffee and pastry shop! We met the artist of her murals (and logo) and tasted a few of her homemade treats. The carrot cake and cinnamon rolls were delicious! They made us each a coffee (one hot and one cold) of our specific liking and nailed it! Charmaine and her abundance/kindness mindset are a true treasure of the island. We will be back and we will return for more delicious treats!
Ohmigoodness, that cake and cheesecake both look so so good! Desserts are my favorite as well. You are a very lucky gal to have such a lovely new spot for your favorite foods. Enjoy and keep posting; I love a good food post; no calories for me but still somehow satisfying.
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