Editor’s Pick: Best Roadside Lunch in Honduras

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Photo by: Becky Strauss

It’s a good thing I’m one of those people who takes pictures of her food everywhere she goes, since I’ll be sharing my culinary conquests with the blogosphere from now on. I dug into this delicious plate on Roatán, the most well known of Honduras’ Bay Islands. I was staying at an all-inclusive resort (meaning I’d just eaten lunch) when I passed by Bertie’s Criolle Cuisine. But as a serious chowhound I felt duty- bound to stop at the roadside diner, recommended as it had been by, well, everyone. “Best local food on the island,” the woman at the front desk of my hotel said. I think Bertie might be her cousin too, but never mind. The bright yellow and green building with lattice instead of windows doesn’t look like much from the outside, and inside you’ll find a small bar (this day blaring the World Cup) and rows of communal picnic tables. I missed the lunch rush, so I had the place to myself save for a raucous group of locals watching the game. I’d been told to order not from the menu — which looked delicious as well — but to try the daily special, whatever that may be. So try it I did — a plate of stewed brown chicken, rice and peas and fried plantains soon arrived to test the capacity of my belly, and as you can see I kept it local with the beer too, and washed it down with Honduran brew Salva Vida. The chicken was tender and flavorful, the sauce a creamy, slightly spicy gravy. The rice and peas were the perfect vehicle to sop up any sauce and the plantains were crisp on the outside and tender on the inside — perfect. There are no doubt some amazing meals to be had in the poshest of restaurants throughout the Caribbean, but if you pull off the road occasionally you’ll find local gems like Bertie’s are everywhere, just waiting for discovery. Even if you just ate lunch.