San Pedro's BEST according to Celeste

I have a reputation for working out a lot. Most would assume that I'm a fitness/health nut, actually I just love food. I burn excess calories just so I can eat more. I'm constantly researching new recipes, trying new dishes and eating out. One thing that I definitely look forward when I visit Belize is the the food. Everything in Belize is grown locally, free of preservatives, so eating in Belize in an entirely different experience. Here is a list of all the things that I crave 11 months out of the year and some new gems that I discovered on my recent visit.

BEST Margarita and Bloody Mary-
TripAdvisor.com superstar Ivan Luna of Palapa Bar makes the best margaritas in the world, hand down! I've traveled north, south, and central Mexico and I have yet to find a margarita quite like Ivan's. Even in Rosarito where Margaritas were invented, they don't measure up.  Ivan squeezes fresh limes into each Margarita to ensure that it has the freshest lime taste possible. Ivan has shared his secret margarita recipe with me countless times but I still have yet to duplicate it. I was never a Bloody Mary person until Ivan converted me, his Bloody May recipe includes: fresh limes, Worcester sauce, Marie Sharps, Season salt, black pepper and V8 juice. It has a distinct acidic spicy taste that can not be found anywhere else on the planet. Ivan's Bloody Marys nursed me through my career as a sales person at Reef Village.

The Famous Ivan

BEST Frozen Drinks-
I spent an entire month patronizing Wayo's Bar. On my last night Trevor mentioned that his forte is mixed frozen drinks. I jumped off my bar stole and headed to four different produce stores in search of fresh mint leaves. I came back with fresh cantaloupe, watermelon, mangoes and mint leaves. Trevor immediately went to work chopping up the fruits in the kitchen. He made me a blended watermelon mojito, a coconut rum smoothie, and a frozen mango daiquiri. They were all amazing just as he had promised. When you go to Wayo's, go bearing fresh fruits.

Trevor of Wayo's Bar.

BEST Belizean Home-style Cooking.
Bernadine Reid is famous for her Belizean home cooking. She can be found next door to Wayo's Beernet and she will cook you a feast anytime, day or night, by simply knocking on her door. I ordered my lunches and dinner's from her daily. Her menu includes: lobster, t-bones, pork chops, fresh fish, jerk chicken and anything thing else you can think of. All of her food is delicious but her cassava pudding is beyond exceptional! I know that I will be craving it until next year, when I make my way back to San Pedro.

Bernadine of Nadine's Kitchen

Bernadine only cooks up the freshest catches

BEST Seafood Tostadas
I've eaten at Waruguma countless times but I never thought to order tostadas because I like to orders foods that are more exotic. I had no idea what I was missing out on. I can't even describe what made this tostada unique because I ingulfed it so quickly. I didn't even get a chance to snap a quick pic of it. I think I recall the shrimp being sauteed in butter, garlic and black pepper, then covered with a layer of mozzarella cheese, but I'm really not too sure. All that I can say is that it was amazing! The coconut cream shrimp is also on the top of my to do list when I'm in San Pedro.

Waruguma's Coconut Creme Shrimp

BEST Chocolate Cake
I'm very particular about chocolate cake. I usually find it to be too sweet, so much so that the sugar overpowers the delicate cocoa. Finally someone agrees with me. The fine San Diegans at the Ambergris Brewing Co, have perfected black forest chocolate cake. Their cake is so moist, fluffy, rich yet not too sweet. Hands down the best around! Even San Diego's renowned Extraordinary Desserts can not compete with this chocolate cake.

A touch of San Diego graces San Pedro's beachfront

BEST Pulled Pork
Cooked for 14 hours, Palapa Bar's pulled pork sandwich is nothing short of perfection. The pork is so tender that chewing is optional, each bite just falls apart. Plus I'm not a huge fan of BBQ sauces because I find them to be overwhelmingly salty and spicy, but not this one, Palapa Bar's sauce has the perfect combination of sweet and spicy without being too pungent. It compliments the perfection of the pork.

Post Pulled Pork Sandwich at Palapa Bar

BEST Teriyaki Burger and Chicken Wings
Cori at Lola's Pub doesn't mess around when it comes to beef. She mixes crushed red peppers and cilantro, among other things into her beef patties. Cori prides her burgers in being the juiciest on the island. I knew that I was in for a treat when I placed my order and I saw Cori walk out the front door and quickly return with a fresh pineapple in hand. In addition, I've had okay wings, good wings and then I had Cori's wings. I've sampled at least a few dozen varieties of wings in my culinary life time but none came close to Cory's Vietnamese chicken wings.  When you go to Lola's Pub, add a dollar to the wall and say that Celest-tay of Barracuda Bikini sent you.

Lola's Pub

Lola's Dollar Wall