Here are our Top 10 Local Dishes. When we’re craving local soul food, we go to Ko-Ox Han-Nah (Let’s Go Eat), formerly Hannah’s.

1.) Rice-And-Beans, Stewed Chicken With Fried Plantain And Coleslaw/Potato Salad (Creole) – Chicken rubbed in recado (Red Achiote Paste), slow-cooked in broth and served with beans mixed with coconut-flavored white rice.

2.) Split-Pea Soup And White Rice (Creole) – Split-pea soup served with coconut-flavored white rice and baked or fried plantains.

3.) Journey (Johnny) Cake (Garifuna) – This is the Belizean version of a crepe: flat, fluffy round biscuits – Cut in half and cover with melted butter or smother it in Marie Sharp’s Pineapple Jelly like we do!

4.) Tamalitos (Ducunu – Maya) – A roasted corn and coconut milk tamale, served with or without stewed meats and wrapped in corn husks.

5.) Bollos/Chicken Tamales (Maya) – Boiled pockets of corn dough (Or “Masa” as locals call it.), stuffed with chicken and wrapped in banana leaves.

6.) Escabeche (Mestizo) – An incredibly flavorful chicken and onion soup, with an acidic/vinegar base and local spices.

7.) Sere Soup (Garifuna) – Made with shrimp, fresh fish, coconut milk and half-ripened plantain rondelles.

8.) Relleno (Mestizo) – (Or “Black Dinner” as locals call it.) Slow-cooked chicken and ground pork in a black-colored (Black Achiote Paste) broth, served with warm hand-made corn tortillas.

9.) Boil Up (Creole) – Boiled eggs, fish, pig’s tail, and ground staples: cassava (yuca), plantains, sweet potatoes and yam – all dowsed in a tomato sauce made with green peppers and onions sautéed in coconut oil.

10.) Pibil (Maya) – Tender chunks of flavorful pork just begging to be bathed in salsa, topped with Pickled Red Onions, and wrapped in warm hand-made corn tortillas.

“Every Meal Should Tell A Story”!

And the story you’re about to experience with Chef  Kuylen (pronounced Kwee-Ln) will take your taste  buds on a cultural and inspiring journey through Belizean history.

Meet our new chef, Sean Kuylen. Born and raised in beautiful Dangriga, Belize, Sean’s passion for the kitchen was nurtured by one of his greatest influences-his mother. Appreciation of Belizean cultural cuisines was fostered from a young age and later fused with other styles when he ventured abroad in 2004. Through training at the City College of San Francisco, Chef Kuylen learned American and French cuisines and did internships at both the historic Cliff House in San Francisco and the Canadian Pavilion in the Epcott Center at Disney World in Orlando, Florida. He returned to Belize in March 2008, where for a year and a half, he worked as Head Chef at Hamanasi Resort in Hopkins Village, Stann Creek.

Now Chef Kuylen has joined the Ka’ana family as Executive Head Chef. His challenge, he says, will be to put a different spin on Belizean cuisine. “Some people say there is no such thing as Belizean cuisine”, Chef Kuylen shares. But like Leela Vernon asks in her popular Creole song, “Who seh (Belize) noh have no culture?” Chef Kuylen answers and says “Belize does have exquisite cultural cuisine!”

La Ceiba Restaurant will be taking an exciting direction under Chef Kuylen. Our creative modern flair will be infused with classic Belizean flavors to take our menu to another level. We invite you to join us on this new culinary journey””a journey, which according to Maya belief about the Ceiba Tree, will act as a portal between earth and heaven.