Food, Eating and Supplying on the Island of Utila:
As a human you will likely experience the need to consume
nutrient rich sustenance, the good news is Utila is rich in such nourishments,
you just need to know where to find it.
Supply on this island is governed by the winds and waters.
All goods come via freightor, it is rather spotty, and for first world citizens
you will certainly end up wanting something you will not be able to find. But
you will never go hungry. The produce, both fruit and vegetable is fresh and as
such only certain produce is available at certain times of the year, the winter
holds avacados for 10L each and you can get 10 sweet delicious oranges to snack
on all day for one US dollar. The summer holds strawberries and mangos and all
sorts of wonder that I can only regretfully imagine since I leave on the
turning of spring. I say this because you will fare much better cooking
yourself beautiful meals rather than eating out.
A Review:
I will simply list the best and worst of the island.
Grocery: There are around ten grocery stores, you may
have to go to all ten to find what you are looking for. I will mention the two
good ones, both owned by members of the two big island families.
Bush’s on the east side is the largest on the island.
You can’t miss it. Closes early
Wardies on the west side is the friendliest, with his
father always sitting out front waving to everyone that passes by, he is always
fair with his prices, and always smoking a cigarette. There are no signs, it is
the white building across from Rehab. Stays open later than most grocers.
Roneys is under a big house up on stilts heading west
past “Float Utila”, he usually has the best fruits and vegetables for the best
price. He is the only real outside
market.
I recommend becoming friendly with the proprietor and only
go to that particular shop, this keeps your costs down.
Baleadas: Baleadas and Pastelitos are the main diet
for many divers, heavy users doing 9 a day. Island fast food, some reaching your table in less than a
minute. They cost from 10L to 45L
depending on their contents. The two big ones are:
Neyti’s: She is friendly and makes everything fresh, a tiny bit pricier though. She is in a yellow hut next to Skidrow.
Rosa’s: Rosa means business, on the east side she
sits perched in her chair from sun up to well past night fall, this is where
you go for a late night snack. Cheap, cold greasy pastelitos for 10L.
Resturants and Bars:
Munchies: is always a safe bet, the food is
consistently consistent decent, as are the drinks. Great in quantity, Mondays
is all you can eat pasta (that no Italian would put down (too hard). And free
salad bar with meals twice a week.
Mainstreet: ‘s menu is small and rigid, some of the
best prepared food around. It also has open mic, which sometimes turns out to
be a brilliant night of full Jam bands including trumpets, dobros and sax’s.
Excellent mixed drinks as well.
Mermaids: Their slogan is “good and cheap”, it is
neither. The menu is essentially what you can pour out of a can and warm. On
Thursday you can get a two for one pizza that tastes like poor quality
cardboard, I will wait to get back to New York for another pizza. Mermaids is a
good place to pass up.
Che Pancho: has a nice breakfast and lunch menu. But it’s
smoothies are the best around, you choose the fruit and assorted wonderful
additions, milk, orange juice, yougurt…And you can wither sit down with the
mighty glass or take it to go in a plastic bag with a straw.
Skidrow: is a good place to hang out. Always packed at
night, open all day to the early drinkers. This is where the real characters
assemble, expats and backpackers alike enjoy the rum and lemonades and eat food
so greasy your sweat becomes dangerously combustable. If you need a new shirt
you can do four shots of Guiffiti (Honduran moonshine infused with whatever
washed ashore that morning and some old mans cigarette butts) and “win” a
Skidrow shirt. This is good for blending in, for on any given day, half the
population is wearing such apparel.
El Picante: Terrible food and terrible drinks, they claim to
be “authentic Mexican”, I hope Mexico is nothing like that. Best restaurant
location on the island though.
Piccolo: So enticing the sign out front is as it lures you in with goganzola ravioli and pesto, in truth it is nothing more than good, it probably has the finest dining atmosphere on the island though, if for some reason you find yourself having "clients" take them here.
Tranquila: The biggest busiest bar on the island, typically
a young crowd of several hundred people throughout the night. A beautiful dock
that extends far into the water, with nice rickety second story deck on the
end, this serves as both a urinal and naked diving board. There is tequila
Tuesday with 10L tequila and 2 for 1 rum on Wednesday. Your money goes a long
way here.
Treetanic: is a wonderland. The bar is in a tree house ship and
there are bridges, tunnels and ladders that trail off into a fantasy
world of stained glass, contorted gazebos, mighty mango trees and general psychedelia. There are also cabins about for those who want to escape into their imagination.
Rio Coco: This is the only place you want to go for coffee,
Starbuckesque drinks and snacks (but much better than starbucks), I also don’t
know any starbucks that has an ocean view. A bit pricier, but worth it.
