Jul 29, 2014

For such a small place, Caye Caulker has a serious amount of places to eat. And amongst them is quite a variety. I will start this post by saying how impressed I was with the food on Caye Caulker. Bravo to you little island.

Now onto the show...

Upon arriving from Chetumal, we asked Madi where we should go for dinner – it had been a long day of travel (11 hours to be exact) and she quickly said “Go to Syd’s.” That was a decision we would not soon (or ever) come to regret.

They say in sports and business to lead with your best. Syd’s was the best thing on Caye Caulker. Known for their fried chicken it DID NOT disappoint. Being someone who likes to eat and likes to eat chicken, I must say that fried chicken is something virtually never eaten in our house. Luckily Syd does not feel the same way.

I do not know the blend of spices, shit I am not even certain that spices are even involved. All I do know is that Syd cooks up the best damn friend chicken I have had in months… years. I’ll go with years. I hate to be vulgar (not really but pretense is everything), but his chicken is really fucking good. Plus it’s cheap. $4.50 for a quarter chicken plus two sides. Like seriously. It’s crazy good. Went back several times good. Plus On Saturday nights (get there early or you’ll miss out) they do grilled BBQ chicken. Not as good as the fried version, but still excellent in its own right. 

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But you cannot eat fried chicken for every meal. Well I mean you could, but that is gross (read: awesome). For a quick and delicious breakfast, you’ll want to get a Fry Jack. A Fry Jack is a piece of fried dough, split open and filled with whatever you would like. Herrolyn’s has by far the biggest, best, and cheapest Fry Jacks on the island. 

 

A tiny shack with a single picnic table outside for seating, Herrolyn’s can fill you for breakfast for less than $2. It all depends on what you get in your Fry Jack. My favorite was eggs, ham, beans and cheese. Served hot (sometimes almost too hot) this Belizean take on the breakfast burrito really hit the spot.

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 If you feel you still have room for some breakfast sweets, turn 90 degrees clockwise from Herrolyn’s order window, walk less than two blocks and stop in to the Caye Caulker bakery. For $1 you can get one of their famous cinnamon rolls. Frosted, and dotted with raisins, it is an inexpensive and mighty tasty way to get your early morning sugar rush. The bakery also sells other sugary treats such as strawberry doughnuts (Elissa’s favorite) as well as savory items, like a ham and cheese wedge (also Elissa’s favorite). The sliced bread is ok, cut thick, but really nothing to write home about. So I will stop doing so.

 

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For $9 USD you can get a full dinner and all the drinks (yes beers and rum punch included) you want.

You just have to have said meal in someone’s backyard. It might have been a side yard technically but that is of no consequence. That someone is Willy. The place is called Wish Willy’s. I do not know where the name Wish Willy came from, but I guessed it was simply Willy’s nickname.

The food Willy makes all comes off the grill. You simply choose the protein you wish to have (there is also an all veggie option) and Willy grills it up for you. Sides are also grilled. Our side was a grilled vegetable medley.

The jerk-spiced chicken was good, but in no way was it jerk seasoning. It was much closer to teriyaki than jerk. Incorrect name aside it was good.

The rum punch was good at the start, but after a few rounds it tasted much more like grapefruit juice with some strawberry than rum. But I cannot blame them for watering down the free cocktails after a while.

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"Hey guys, come in. I want to feed you" he shouted from the mostly shaded shack covered in various bits of driftwood and scribbled on by its previous customers and employees alike. 

"Seriously, its the best on the island. If I see you come back this way again I am going to make you come let me feed you" he said without an ounce of threat in his voice and a big smile on his face.

This is the hawking of Pizza Caulker. A tiny shack pizzeria/bar. They specialize in super thin crust pizza.  The topping choices are numerous but typical. The four of us split a single pizza and we all really enjoyed it.

The only problem was it was expensive. Easily US prices without getting US portions. Not that four people need to share several pizzas, but one Pizza Caulker pie did not fill four people. The value for the meal just simply wasn’t there.

 

All in all most of the eats on Caye Caulker are both tasty and inexpensive. A combination any roamer would be happy with.

 

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