AmbergrisCaye.com Home Forums About Belize Culture Food, Drinks & Recipes Home Style Cooking and Flavors at El Fogon

You dine under an outdoor palapa that gives you the feeling of a Mestizo dwelling where you can see the actual Fogon on which the food is prepared. It's very homey, with tables set on a sandy floor, typical of a traditional island home back in the days. It's Belize comfort food at its best where you enjoy local food in a local setting. Lunch time is usually the busiest at El Fogon as the restaurant prepares daily specials which locals on the go find it very convenient to drop by to quickly pick up a delicious meal. Of course there is always the regular stuff like rice and beans or white rice infused with coconut milk, hearty soups like Escabeche or Relleno, fresh catch of the day (fillet or whole fish), conch fritter and lobster tails (when in season), BBQ chicken, stew gibnut, and salbutes just to name a few. It's that authenticity in traditional Belizean flavors and the distinct flavor that cooking in the fire hearth creates that has people going back for more at El Fogon Restaurant.

Click here to read the rest of the article and see LOTS more FABULOUS photos in the Ambergris Today

Pig Tail at El Fogon Restaurant

El Fogon has expanded quite a bit over the last year. And though it was empty when I first arrived at about 11.50am, the place was pretty packed up by 12.15. In Belize, lunch time is lunch time. Mid-day. Noon. It's as if everyone is programmed with some sort of internal clock that rings at that time.

And just delicious food. The coconut rice is worth the visit alone. Moist and tasty. I went for a favorite of mine. Pig tail.

A "meat" that is very popular in Belize. It is sold from a bucket called a pigtail bucket and though I am hesitant to show you a photo…but…how bad can it be?

ANYWAY…it's salty and meaty and delicious. Just not exactly a first date kinda food.

El Fogon Restaurant in San Pedro

Ms. Susana started El Fogon restaurant due to the lack of authentic local Belizean food - fire hearth cooked.

Delicious Traditional Food at El Fogon Restaurant

Yesterday we drove past El Fogon Restaurant on the way to an errand in the San Pedrito area and passed the specials board. I've been wanting to try the Tamalitos de Chaya for years! (I LOVE chaya - and need to find lots more ways to eat it. Especially since we have TREES of the stuff at the camp)

When we circled back, we parked and went in. El Fogon is named after the fire hearth - the traditional center of the Belizean kitchen. El Fogon spanish for Fire Hearth = Faya Haat in Creole They are still making their rice & beans and their stewed meats on the fire hearth. And the result is ridiculously good.

Salbutes that are SOOO good. The BEST conch fritters I've ever tasted. Seriously. Fluffy and conchy and not-oily and SO GOOD.

One of the top ten things to do on San Pedro is getting a bite to eat at El Fogon. So Good, so Very Good....

Let's have lunch while we learn a little history about El Fogon.