Several small comedores (basic lunch counters) in Portobelo serve the same food locals eat every day: a plate of rice and beans, a piece of chicken or fried fish, and a pile of patacones. The meal costs almost nothing and is exactly as filling as it looks. These are not tourist restaurants — there is no menu in English, the tables are shared, and lunch service ends when the food runs out.
Look for the places with handwritten signs or no sign at all, usually on the main road through the centre. Arrive between noon and two; later than that and you may find the pots empty. The cooking is home-style Afro-Caribbean: beans simmered long and slow, rice made with coconut milk, plantain fried twice until golden. Simple and good.