AmbergrisCaye.com Home Forums About Belize Culture Food, Drinks & Recipes Aqua Sushi: Chef Chris Aycock brings sushi to Grand Caribe Resort

On January 1st the Grand Caribe Resort family opened the doors to their newest restaurant, Aqua. With a culinary team lead by notable island chef, Chris Aycock, Aqua has brought an elevated seafood dining experience to north Ambergris Caye. Serving Japanese style sushi with a Caribbean twist every Wednesdays and Fridays, visitors and locals are welcomed to enjoy a dining experience unlike no other.

From blackened shrimp salads to local charred octopus, Chef Aycock creates each dish to satisfy even the most discerning palates. Nevertheless, his true mastery in the kitchen shines during Aqua's Sushi Nights. Accompanied by his sous chef, born and raised islander Samuel Gonzalez, the team puts on a show creating unique sushi rolls and nigiri platter right in front of their customers. A favorite is the Voodoo roll - tempura shrimp, crab mix and pickled jalapenos topped with blackened tuna, masago, tempura crunchies, green onions, and eel sauce. For those nigari lovers, Aqua offers Monkfish, tuna, shrimp, albacore, saba mackerel, and even surf clam.

Click here to read the rest of the article and see more photos in the San Pedro Sun

Wow.... Sounds amazing..... Great job Chris & Sammy....

An example of the ever-evolving culinary arts of Belize

Aqua Sushi and Steakhouse at Grand Caribe is a prime example of just how much our local chefs have grown. Chef Samuel Gonzalez Jr. (Samii) is a fantastic success story of a young man who moved his way through the kitchen to become an executive chef, with intimate knowledge of the inner workings of the cooking sanctum. His mind is always working, and as he tastes food wherever he goes, he has lots of ideas on how to re-create, improve, re-design or replicate. It's no surprise that when he was trained to take on sushi that he would pass the test with flying colors!

During a girls' night out, we had the delight of watching him and Chef Gian Cortez craft a variety of rolls that brought inspired flavors. The Serpent Roll was a fun, familiar sight that we enjoyed from tip to tail. Chef Gian's Salmon Okaki was also quite the fun bite: I thought it looked like mini salbutes or tostadas, with its crunchy base of crispy fried sushi rice. While we ate and chit-chatted, we sipped on refreshing cocktails - inspired and innovative like the food we had before us. For more info please visit their website at www.aquabelize.com or find them on Facebook as Aqua Belize.

Click here to read the rest of the article in the My Beautiful Belize Blog