Pages

06 October, 2011

Put on the Feedbag, Pardner

As luck would have it we found another place to further develop the table muscles. Yesterday, I rode over to Orange Walk Town with Mae and Craig. Mae and I both had appointments with Dr. Hoy.

Yummy, Yummy, Yummy, I got love in my tummy
And I feel like a-lovin you
Love, you're such a sweet thing
Good enough to eat thing
And it's just a-what I'm gonna do
- Yummy, Yummy, Yummy Arthur Resnick/Joey Levine; Ohio Express - 1968

About two weeks ago, Mae had had emergency surgery in the States for a detached retina and she was doing her follow-up visits with Dr. Hoy. I was doing my follow-up visits with him as well after my cataract surgery at Dr. Hoy's center in Belize City.

Mae had mentioned before our trip to 'Sugar City' (Orange Walk's nickname) that she had heard of a place there that made a very good pizza. She thought the name of the place was Pancho's Pizza. So, as we were on our way into Sugar City, with Craig driving, Mae and I were lookouts for a sign.

A little bit past the hospital, Mae saw a small white sign that read: 'Carlos' Pizzeria' with an arrow pointing up the hill. "That's It", she cried and we strained our little gray cells to remember what the intersection looked like as they had to hit the ATM downtown first.

After the ATM, we found the turnoff easily as there was also a sign posted from the other direction. Up the hill a couple of short blocks, then a left. About the second place on the left we saw Carlos' Pizzeria.

Not much to look at when you first approach, Carlos' is constructed of wood-framed bamboo in a greenish turquoise with large expanses of screen. Inside there's probably eight or so tables, very clean with white table cloths with plastic covering, ceiling fans and the usual plastic chairs.

As we came in, the proprietor, Carlos, met us and welcomed us to his place. Carlos is quite an engaging character. French Canadian with a strong accent, his eatery is an Italian restaurant.

But, don't let that cultural mix fool you, the food is excellent. Carlos grows his own beef on his property in Blue Creek (yes, that's Mennonite country. You'll have to ask him for that story). For his chickens, he gets them only from Caribbean Chicken. He's very particular about his meats and other ingredients.

His restaurant does have an impressive menu featuring several different pizzas, pasta and other traditional dishes, including hamburgers, etc. He and his wife, Ana, work very hard to provide a nice continental table. He said, "You notice, I don't serve rice and beans."

I had the spaghetti with home-made sausage. Very good. The sausage was slightly spicy and very tasty. The spaghetti noodles were done to a turn, just slightly al-dente, with a very nice and tasty sauce.
Spaghetti With Homemade Sausage
Mae had a sirloin steak, which she said was very good. Carlos was so proud of his meat, he even brought out Mae's steak for her inspection before he cooked it. Craig had the spaghetti with meat sauce. He thought it was good but not exceptional (he should have opted for the sausage - that would have sealed the deal right there).

Anyway, the Belikin was ice-cold. Carlos and Ana had chocolate cake for desert which they tried to get us to eat, but we were just too full. Besides, we had our eye appointments to keep. Another time, perhaps.

Prices? Very reasonable. Most dishes are under $20.00 BZD and beer is $3.50. A place well worth the effort to find and to savor once you're there. Carlos is a very interesting chap to talk to. We had a very enjoyable time and definitely will be back .

Carlos' Pizzeria is located at: 18 Tate Street, Orange Walk Town. Their phone number is 322-1600. Check it out. You won't regret it.

6 comments:

JRinSC said...

Well, Dave, you got me again. I've only eaten at the town square. They had some great food... but then you are there all the time and I just visit! I will endeavor to log this into my great collection of stuff (known as my brain) so we can try them the next time we come down.

Main problem for me is that we took the bypass when I drove and Vitalino Reyes took us to the square on the way to the zoo and tube caving.

Julian

Dave Rider said...

Hi Julian,

You've got to be able to stop and smell the roses, from time to time.

Here's another. A week or so ago, we went with Bruce and Colleen to Venky's Restaurant. Luckily, they weren't crowded when we got there. That's important as they only have 2 tables and 4 chairs, oh, and 1 menu.

But, and it's a big one, Venky's is Corozal's only Indian restaurant. The food was to die for.

One menu or not, you can't let what's printed on the menu intimidate you. We asked about and ordered several things that were not on the menu and Mr. Venky could produce everything asked for.

The food was very good. Perhaps the difference is in the spices in Indian food. The hotness is subtle, not so 'in your face' the way Mexican food can be.

The Belikin was cold, even though Mrs. Venky had to hop on her bicycle to fetch 4 beers for us. In fact, she did that twice. Full service!

All we knew was that we ate until we were ready to pop. It was a wonderful evening.

Venky's - definitely a place to keep in mind. Just don't get too wrapped up in the decor... There isn't any. But the food, Ummmm good!

Cheers,
Dave

JRinSC said...

Venky's sounds like the Purple Toucan. Great food in an unusual setting. BTW -- do you know if the Jaguar skin on the wall at the Toucan is real or not? Just curious I guess....

Had Mexican (American style) last night and it was good, but didn't help my weight loss campaign at all.. LOL.

Take care,

Julian

Dave Rider said...

Hi Julian,

As far as I know, it's real. Aren't Jose and Yolanda (Purple Toucan's owners) the nicest folks?

They have the coldest beer in town and Jose's beef fajitas just can't be beat.

Our electronic scale broke shortly after moving here... probably just as well.

Cheers,
Dave

JRinSC said...

Yes sir.. we loved our visit to the Purple Toucan. I cannot for the life of me remember what we had but I do remember that we came back a second time!! (She was very nice when I asked her if she could leave out the cilantro. I just can't handle that taste - bad, I know, but you can't help what you do or don't like, can you? She shook her head a time or two as she was working up in the kitchen... lol.

On the scale thing... I've trying to move ours to where something like a big hammer could accidentally fall on it from a great height. Wish me luck.

From the sunny (today) south,

Julian

Dave Rider said...

Hi Julian,

'Sunny' - must be nice. I just checked with Winjama Weather Central, we've had .54 inches of rain here at the casa since midnight. Forecasts are calling for off and on heavy rains around here for at least the next 48 hours. Oh joy! Now, we're not even getting thunder and lightning. Grays skies and drizzle. "Auntie Em, are we back in the Northwest?", he said, with a damp quiver of his lip.

Cheers,
Dave