Great Things I Ate and Other Pictures From This December

I hope you all had a lovely Christmas and enjoyed Belize’s Boxing Day (sooooo civilized to have another day off after Christmas – it’s one of the British empire’s better legacies).

I did. A perfect lazy Christmas.

December was a busy month – getting the new camp, Rocky Point Permit Camp, ready for the official opening, getting the old camp, Cayo Frances Farm & Fly, prepared for the new owners, visiting with Jeff’s mom who flew in from Connecticut with her friend Ken for a week and baking baking baking.

I ate some exceptionally delicious foods – and took a ton of photos that I didn’t share on the blog. So now seems like a good time. Here we go…animals, food and art. Three of my favorite things.

A Really Delicious Lunch at Portofino Resort

Portofino Resort is a gorgeous resort located at about 6.5 miles north…only about 7 minutes from our home. But I haven’t been in ages. (See my 24 hours at Portofino in 2014!)

But we had visitors, and we thought we’d try it for lunch. They have a beautiful beachfront restaurant and the lunch was FANTASTIC. The most delicious burger (they have a great burger menu) and a huge serving of cracked conch. (I could hear the chef pounding out the meat or “cracking” it minutes before it was served.) Highly recommend both.

(If you stay away from conch because you think it’s tough or rubbery, you’ve only had a prepared badly. It is sweet and flavorful and sooooo delicious. Fresh conch ceviche or fried conch is absolutely delicious)

Next delicious food I ate: The Daily Special at Island Eat by Sherlz

Sherlette Belisle is known all over the island for her cooking AND for her years as a queen of the September jump-up parade – you can see my pictures of her here in the parade – she is THE BEST. A year ago…more? she opened this small spot tucked next to the Maya air terminal.

Last week, Jeff stopped in for the first time, and the food (and the very cute spot) are amazing. I need to get the full scoop and share it with you, but for now…here are some photos.

BIG portions, cute sitting porch, great pasta salad…delicious. Jeff and I both loved it. DEFINITELY recommend for local food.

Back to food – yesterday I saw a Boxing Day special at Elvi’s Kitchen Restaurant in downtown San Pedro and I HAD TO HAVE IT. We were all the way up at Cayo Frances (about 10 miles north of town on the west side of the island) and it was already 1230! We rushed to town, arrived just after 2pm and ordered a pair to go.

Elvi’s Kitchen was PACKED. I waited in the new entrance/bar area. The restaurant looks absolutely beautiful.

Ham, turkey (tasty moist dark meat), cranberry and mashed potatoes on a soft homemade bun and crazy crispy sweet potato fries. It was even better than the high expectations I set as we raced to town in the boat…soooooooooo delicious. I could easily eat this once a week.

I ate other great things…I mean…it’s Christmas – if not now…when?

If you don’t know about conchas – you can read about them and where to get them in San Pedro here.

My favorite johnny cakes at Celi’s Deli.

The best fish panades I’ve ever tasted by Chef Albert at Rocky Point Permit Camp.

I’ll leave you with these beautiful tiny paintings that I bought myself from one of my favorite artists in Belize, Kelvin Baizar. You can find some of his work on Facebook at Depiction Paintings.