I had no luck finding a Belizean restaurant in the city, but there is an annual festival that features a few specialties from the Garifuna people, who make up about 20% of Belize's population. The festival (Garifuna Day) was held in the Mott Haven neighborhood of the Bronx on April 12 at the Evangelical Garifuna Church.
The food choices were few with only 2 vendors, but we enjoyed a tasty fish soup known as
hudutu, served with freshly mashed plantains (
machuca). We also sampled up a few options from the pastry table, but these were unremarkable. It seemed for a while that we were the only people outside the neighborhood to have heard of the event, so we lingered for about 30 minutes to enjoy the simple, yet charming affair.
If anyone is interested in trying Belizean food any other day of the year, there is an option just across the Hudson in Teaneck, NJ :
My Belizean Gourmet.
