A new column that is embarking in discovering the exciting dining experiences that Ambergris Caye has to offer.

Hummingbird Café
Satisfying your Sweet Tooth!

After claiming the prize for Best Dessert at this year’s Savor San Pedro Food Festival, Hummingbird Café was on our list of places to visit. Although we had sampled some of the café’s tasty treats, we were eager to sample some more. To our delight, we were invited for lunch and had more than just dessert.

Lunch comprised of five excellent items that we really enjoyed because they were out of the ordinary food options that you normally don’t find on the island. The Spinach & Artichoke Dip and Hummus Dip were excellent spreads served with fresh home-made bagel chips. The cooks at Hummingbird pride themselves in preparing fresh bagels from scratch. In fact, most if not all, of their breads, tortilla, salsas, dips and ingredients are freshly prepared on a daily basis and not store-bought products. These two delicious dips are part of their “Munchies” section of the menu which includes other appetizers like Spicy Shrimp Dip, Wings and Stuffed Halapeños.

The Wings and Stuffed Halapeños are the only items on the menu that are fried; all other food items are healthy options that can help you on your way towards a balanced diet. With that in mind, our next item on the lunch menu was the Carries Cobb Salad – mixed greens with diced chicken, sliced ham, crumbled bacon, cheddar cheese, tomato, olives and boiled eggs. “Everything but the kitchen sink!” notes the menu; all the salads are fresh and delicious. You can also try the House, Ceasar, Mexican, BBQ Chicken Salads or try Rebecca’s Chopped Asian Chicken Salad.

Shrimp, Chicken or Fish are your options when it comes to the delectable Wraps at Hummingbird Café. These are wrapped with lettuce, tomato and cheddar cheese. The one thing that makes these wraps so delicious is the choice of sauce you put in them. Either the Chipotle Mayo, Regular Mayo, Sun Dried Tomato Pesto or Plain sauce.

Our next indulgence was the Fish Tacos – three corn tortillas filled with fresh fish and cabbage, served with Chipotle mayo. These are very good, perhaps our favorite – although everything we ate was excellent. Of course, we could not try everything on the menu but we are sure to go back and try what we missed, which were the burgers, American-style tacos and one of my favorite dishes the Fajitas. Oh and we cannot forget to mention that breakfast is also really tasty at Hummingbird Café. Start your morning right with Grilled Ham and Cheese, Home-made granola and yogurt, BIG Home-made Bagels with cream cheese, Ham and Cheese Fry Jacks, Eggs prepared to your liking and Breakfast Wraps.

And let us not forget the main reason why we went over to Hummingbird Café – the pastries. To top of lunch was a very, very, very delicious Flan that was ‘gone in 60 seconds’. Everyday there is a tantalizing array of dessert items on display, from cookies to éclairs, cheese cake, chocolate cake, brownies and much more. Just a small taste of these great desserts and you know why they won the best dessert at this year’s Food Festival.

Here are few things to note:
* Service is on the top of the list with an assurance that your order is done within 15 minutes.
* Hummingbird Café is one of three establishments on the island that serves Gallon Jug Beef.
* Pastries can be made to special orders including Wedding Cakes, Birthday Cakes, Pies and almost any kind of dessert. You can go in with an idea and they can work on it.
* Quality Food and Strong Coffee is what they strive for.
* Opening Hours: Monday to Saturday from 8a.m. to 5p.m.

Hummingbird Cafe is located at Vilma Linda Plaza, across the Primary School. Tel: 206-2254.