If you come from either Mexico, Honduras or Guatemala and are planning to hop into Belize you should really brace yourself; the prices of food in Belize can come as a bit of a shock. Your dollar suddenly doesn’t stretch that far anymore in Caye Caulker. Now that’s no fun!
Unfortunately a lot of stuff has to be imported to this small country (and this island in particular) and that’s why it’s all a tad pricier in here compared to neighbouring states. But no worries, even if you’re travelling on a budget you can survive out here. Personally I needed $15,- USD for a dorm and something like $20,- USD for food per day, without really cooking myself (apart from making breakfast or lunch from time to time). Just to give you a bit of an idea.
Veggies can survive in Belize too, hurray! Apart from ‘Steve’s Grill’, all of the spots below are quite cool for the leaf eaters. For vegans life can be a bit rough on Caye Caulker, but I actually think you’d also manage at the same places as the veggies.
Anyway, here’s where to go on that island of sunshine!
Namaste Cafe
Yup. A hippie cafe. And a pretty darn good one too.
Namaste Cafe offers daily yoga classes at 9 am that are donation based. Afterwards a lot of people stay for breakfast and coffee, so it might be a little busy around 10 am.
Namaste has great lunch combo’s (a sandwich with a salad or hummus) for 15 BZD ($7,50 USD) and really lovely smoothies on top of that. Open ’til 4 pm.
Errolyn’s House of Fry Jacks
Fry Jacks are one of the most popular foods in Belize and one of the cheapest too. Essentially Fry Jacks are just pieces of dough, that are quickly fried and filled afterwards with all kinds of goodies – either savory or sweet.
I wouldn’t recommend you eating them every day – that would clog your arteries probably – but once in Belize you have to try them out for sure!
I had a fry jack with cheese, eggs and beans for only 4 BZD ($2,- USD). Not bad right? Okay, I’m not saying that it looks good ↓, but believe me.. it does taste good for sure! Plus I can assure you it’ll fuel you up for quite a while.
Errolyn’s has the best one of the island!
Falafel Bar
It’s slightly weird, stepping into this little shack. With all the jewish music and decoration I had the feeling that I suddenly was in Israel. But the change was much appreciated. In case you need a (cheap) break from all of the seafood, this place will be your salvation for real.
The falafel is yummy and so is the ‘sabih’. I’d never heard of it, but this is a sandwich with eggplants and tomato salsa and hummus).
Again, it doesn’t look so nice (I think I’m just not really good at picturing food..) but it was really really good! ↓ Pinky swear.
Ice ‘n Beans
When I saw the funny name of this coffeeshop I just knew I had to come down here. If you’re looking for great coffee, creamy juices and yummy waffles and donuts – this is your spot!
They give you little samples of juices and donuts too while you wait :), now isn’t that smart!
You’ll probably overshoot your sugar levels for the day after a visit, but ah well, just live a little. You’re in the tropics after all!
Ice n Beans also has a great terrace right on the beach ↓
Steve’s Grill
With a couple of other backpackers I walked into this spot on a whim and ended up enjoying absolutely delicious seafood. There are only a couple of seats at this little restaurant on the corner (next there’s a supermarket on both sides) and the place was absolutely packed when we were there.
The cheapest dish on the menu is the jerky chicken (for 18 BZD / $9,- USD) and it was really good. The average fish dish is something like 25 BZD ($12,50 USD), which is very decent too.
Comes with free rum punch!
The paper-napkin, plastic chairs joints
There are also a lot of other paper-napkin, plastic chairs joints along the beach. Locals over here are grilling their freshly caught fish and seafood. I guess all of these are quite decent. Other backpackers told me that there even got a big lobster for 30 BZD ($15,- USD) at one of these places. Quite lucky!
If you’ve found another great affordable hotspot, let me know and I’ll add it to the list with your recommendation!
And remember, a Belikin works well with all of the fishy dishes 🙂 ↓
