You get a lot of restaurants, a local "pub" from Amazon Beer brewery (go try their beers), some small tourist souvenir shops and the Lá em Casa restaurant.
Now... Lá em Casa, my favorite eating place in Belém is not exactly cheap. It is a tourist restaurant in a tourist stop. But at lunch it's in a all-you-can-eat model and dinner is menu only. But oh boy what a menu (see their sample everything dish below).
Lunch is the best option. But leave space for dessert, they make sure you have brazilian popular desserts with a Amazonic twist (like caramel cupuaçú pudding - best pudding ever in my life). But back to food - make sure you try the Belém dishes - duck in tucupi and maniçoba, and the best fish in the region - Filhote. The maniçoba from Lá em Casa (you can try it at lunch) will be the lightest. The real maniçoba is as fat as a good feijoada and it is not for the faint of heart. Duck in Tucupi is a local creation, obviously taking inspiration from the classic Canard à l'orange.
I am really trying to avoid writing an essay on Amazonic gastronomie. Maniçoba takes days to be ready (I couldn't find a proper description to post - look at the pictures), tucupi itself can be used to make a gentler version of the indian soup called Tacacá (below).
Tucupi you can buy off any street cart where you see a crowd. It will be safe.
Writing this post is perhaps the closest I can get from a gastronomical flashback. It is a flood of names, tastes, flavors, smells.
Coming next - Ver-o-Peso Market, Frutaria do Val.
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