While Hopkins doesn't have a huge selection of restaurants, almost every single spot sells popular local Garifuna dishes. These are the most popular dishes & snacks you should try.
Popular Dishes
- Hudut: coconut milk soup, plantain, fish
- Bundiga: seasoned fish, grated banana, coconut milk gravy
- Darasa: green plantain in tamale form, fish/chicken
Local Snacks
- Cassava Chips: akin to potato chips but made from the traditional ingredient, cassava - found at most supermarkets.
- Coconut Cassava Ice Cream: a fantastic combination local to the area - found at Nice Cream.
Hudut Dish
The staple ingredients in Garifuna dishes include: cassava, plantain, fish and other sea food. Locally in Belize, Hudut is referred to as a popular soup dish made with coconut milk served with mashed plantain and fish.
The plantain is prepared by using a traditional hand-carved large wooden mortar with a 4-foot-long pestle. The most popular restaurant serving Hudut is Ella's Cool Spot.
Here's a short list of my favorite places to eat: 👇
Street Food
BBQ Stalls
- $5.00 USD
During weekends, it's common to see many BBQ vendors pop up selling roasted food. This is usually paired with local rice & beans or tortillas.
- 🏆 What To Try: Classic BBQ
- 🌱 Vegan Option: Roasted veggies
Restaurants
Innie's Restaurant
- $7.50 USD
Because of my intimate love affair with pupusas, my friends recommended me this food spot. Their specialty is pupusas, which are small tortilla-looking food that is packed with one of a combo of these fillings: beans, cheese, mora, eggplant chipilín, or meat.
- 🏆 What To Try: Hudut
- 🌱 Vegan Option: Veganized hudut
Siomara's Restaurant
- $5.00 USD
This tiny restaurant is a classic. Every time I come to Hopkins I go grab the usual Belizean breakfast. If I'm not mistaken, the owners are immigrants from Honduras. And... the food is good, fast and cheap. Well, cheap for Hopkins at least.
- 🏆 What To Try: Fry jack with beans & eggs breakfast
- 🌱 Vegan Option: Fry jack with beans only
North Side Kitchen
- $5.00 USD
Like many of the local restaurants in Hopkins, the business location is merely an extension of the people's home. And that's not a bad thing, it means that the cooking is just like mom's cooking. Bundiga, a traditional dish with fish, coconut, and green plantains as ingredients is normally a special of the day.
- 🏆 What To Try: Special of the day
- 🌱 Vegan Option: Stew beans with rice and veggies
Tugucina Gloria
- $5.00 USD
Chef Gloria is quite the cook in Hopkins. So much so that she has prepared meals for Prince William and Kate Middleton. She offers authentic Garifuna cooking classes if you're interested in the cuisine as well.
- 🏆 What To Try: Hudut
- 🌱 Vegan Option: Rice & beans with steamed veggies
Cafes
Nice Cream
- $2.00 USD
After walking around the village for a while, we found dairy-free ice cream with coconut & cassava! This place is found in a colorful little verandah with a homey feel because it's actually someone's home converted to an ice cream shop.
- 🏆 What To Try: Coconut vanilla
- 🌱 Vegan Option: Coconut cassava
Kat's Coffee
- $2.00 USD
While not locally owned, this unique little cafe offers gluten-free options that use local ingredients like cassava. They also have french press coffee which is not very common in Belize.
- 🏆 What To Try: Waffle sandwich
- 🌱 Vegan Option: Vegan sandwich
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