Fuego - San Ignacio, Belize

After the lunch we had at Eva's we were as desperate for a quiet dinner as a girl in the bathroom line after three beers at the bar. Fortunately, the owner of our hotel understood our need to go a little gringa for the night and pointed us toward Fuego, a tasteful, modern place overlooking the well-lit center of town.

If nothing else, the cocktails relaxed us enough to at least laugh at some of the creepy catcalls we heard on the way there. I tried my first Michelado, which is basically a beer in sea water with a hint of spice. It was definitely well-made, but all it did was make me more thirsty. The Kiwi Lime Mint Mojito made for a pretty good thirst quencher, though. The sweet took away the salty and the sour washed the seawater down.

We knew our experience at Fuego would be different the minute we tasted the ripe Roasted Plantains. The plantains were soft and sweet, covered in a crazy creme fraiche-y sour cream.

The same sauce did well as a dip for the crunchy Cassava Fries, and we marveled at the fact that we had yet to get a single catcall and could actually hear ourselves speak.

The Pibil Tacos were a taste of simple street food minus the side of street trash we encountered that morning. Dripping with savory shredded-pork juice, topped with a sprinkle of red onions and cheese, these three tasty tacos were messy yet marvelous. 

Belizean meals are undoubtedly delicious, but all those carbs were making us covet the cows. And not just because no one catcalls a cow. Fresh greens are hard to come by, and we were begging for some bunny food. I didn't expect much from the Lamb and Apple Salad, but it ended up being one of the better salads I've eaten. The crusted-sugar glaze on the lamb cruised well with crisp fall apples and sweet red watermelon.

After all that, we were still hungry for an extra taste of Belize so we got the Fettuccini with Chicken and Tomato Cream Sauce to go. Even the microwave couldn't zap the flavor out of the tender dark meat and creamy sauce with a touch of tomato. The noodles were so al dente they even reheated that way. Not exactly a homage to authenticity, but we'd already had enough culture for the day.

To be fair, Fuego had it easy. It was impossible not to exceed our expectations after Eva's, but despite clearly catering to tourists, the food was still fairly fun, and I can't say anything less than fabulous about Fuego.