Eating and drinking

Dishes suffer a wonderful preponderance of rice'n'beans - a cheap staple to which you add chicken, fish, beef and so on. For the cheapest meals, order rice which will come with beans and (as often as not) banana or plantain, or chicken, vegetables or even a blending of beef with coconut milk. Belize has some of the best burritos in Central America but you have to seek them out, normally in hidden-away stalls in the markets. Along the coastal region and on the cayes seafood is abundant, fresh and reasonably cheap, but avoid buying lobster between 15 February and 14 June (out of season) as stocks are worryingly low. (Conch is out of season between 1 July and 30 September; Nassau grouper, between 1 December and 31 March.) Better restaurants offer a greater variety and a break from the standards, often including a selection of Mexican dishes; there are also many Chinese restaurants, which are not always good and are sometimes overpriced.

Belikin beer is the local brew. Many brands of local rum are available too. Several local wines and liqueurs are made from available fruit. One favourite, called nanche, is made from craboufruit and is very sweet, as is the cashew wine, made from the cashew fruit rather than the nut. All imported food and drink is expensive. A 9% sales tax is added to meals and a 10% service charge may be added as well.