Decisions

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Every day while traveling we have to make plenty of decisions and yes sometimes these decisions are not always the right ones. However the most important decision we make and take the most time deciding, is where are we going to eat. The biggest factor in this decision is people, are there people eating in the restaurant and are they local people. Secondly can we see the kitchen, if we can then it's a good sign and if there's local people eating there, then decision made.
The thought process behind these decisions has resulted in us enjoying some fantastic and delicious food, none more so than Lil' Bites in Placencia, Belize. This 4 metre square wooden shack painted green and white served some of the best food we have ever tasted. Behind the small opening is 23 year old Carla, with a small work station, sink, cooker, fridge freezer and barely enough room to turn round. Everyday she'll prepare and cook fresh food then when it's ready she'll walk over to the chalkboard outside and write on the board the menu for the day along with the price. We stayed 6 nights in Placencia and really enjoyed the meals such as stew beef, stew chicken, fry jacks, salbutes, rice 'n' beans, key lime pie, Jamaican patties and so much more. I asked here one evening "how come the beef is so tender"? She said that it had been slow cooking from the night before. Carla really has a passion for cooking which I presume has been passed down from her mom. For 20 years or so her mom along with her dad, owned Omar's the restaurant right next door to Lil' Bites and built a good reputation that everyone knows about in Placencia. Now it is owned and run by her 2 sons (Carlas brothers) who also have a passion for cooking. The best thing I like about this family affair, is Carlas mom and dad was at Lil' bites nearly every night either sitting on the little bench outside or just passing by and dropping off a home made key lime pie for Carla to sell. What was funny was watching one of her brothers come round from the restaurant and ask Carla to prepare something that the restaurant had run out of.
If we had judged this little shack by the appearance then we wouldn't have eaten there. The fact that we could see the kitchen through the little opening and there was a local couple sitting and eating on the small bench at the front of the kiosk, meant that we could enjoy some great food, good company, good conversation and meet some wonderful people while in Placencia.

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Photos

Mahahaul
Watch out for stereo typical Mexican

Lil' Bites
Some of the best food we have ever tasted came from here.