Yesterday we arrived in Belize. It’s a beautiful country from the air and the ground. We landed at the international airport, and took a quick transfer to the municipal airport to catch a flight over to Ambergris Caye, our final destination.

(Read about our other Ambergris Caye adventures here and here.)

When we arrived at the municipal airport it was lunch time. With a few minutes to spare we dropped in here, The Hangar Cafe, for a quick lunch.

It’s two doors down from the terminal building, a small bar, with a few tables, overlooking the water. Not sure what we expected. Hungry and pooped, we were ready to get to our final destination, so quality of food was not high on the list. But boy were we surprised. There was no menu to order from. The kind waitress just kept saying “Beans and rice, chicken or pork or beef.”

Beans and rice. You know I like beans, but I could live off of rice and beans. I ordered the pork, while the rest of my family ordered the chicken. I could smell it wafting through the little space. It was coming from behind this curtained screen door.

I caught glimpses of aproned women shuffling back and forth whenever the door opened. The waitress soon brought our drinks and that was the first indication that this may be more than just an average lunch.

Extra tall, cold Coke bottles, the last of their stock. And I had ordered a water.

Dang.

The food soon followed and oh, my, it didn’t last long, but was able to snap a few photos before it disappeared. Here’s the pork.

Tender, juicy, in a savory red sauce, served with a plaintain, potato salad and rice and beans.

Rice. Beans. Yum.

The chicken was cooked in a similar sauce and falling off the bone.

I wish I had the nerve to have asked the ladies in the kitchen if I could watch and learn for a while. Not that I had a while, our plane was departing shortly. We finished our meal and headed to the last leg of our trip. But boy, was that a tasty welcome to a country that I can’t wait to learn more about.

So have you had any tasty travels lately? Where to? I’d love to hear about em.