4 Best Restaurants in George Town, Cayman Islands

Actuaries, bankers, and CEOs frequent this contemporary throwback to a colonial country club for lunch and for "attitude adjustment" happy hours with creative cocktails and complimentary canapés. Inviting fusion farm- and sea-to-table cuisine, which emphasizes local ingredients whenever possible (the restaurant has its own boat and garden), includes terrific bar tapas. Dishes deftly balance flavors and textures without sensory overload: this is serious food with a sense of playfulness. Save room for dessert, from an artisanal cheese plate to an ice-cream-and-sorbet tasting menu and elaborate architectural confections. Lunch is more reasonably priced but equally creative; the adjacent Market excels at takeout, and the wine list is well considered.

Owner Tony Crescente and younger brother, maître d' Carlo, offer a simpatico dining experience, practically exhorting you to mangia and sending you off with a chorus of ciaos. There's some decorative formaggio (cheese): murals of grape clusters and cavorting cherubs, paintings of the Amalfi Coast, and una finestra sul mare ("window to the sea") stenciled redundantly over arches opening onto the harbor. The kitsch doesn't extend to the kitchen. Sterling Italian favorites include lemony veal piccata; gnocchetti in velvety four-cheese sauce with a blush of tomato; and the seafood grill in parsley-garlic-lemon sauce. Enjoy grappa at the marble bar of Il Bacio lounge amid its wooden wine racks (the impressive selection isn't overly Italian-centric). The patio juts over the harbor, and moonlight, abetted by a soundtrack featuring Bocelli and Bennett, can transform an amorous coward into a Casanova.

This rustic, waterfront bar is popular for sunset drinks, nightly farm-to-fork dinners, and delicious local offerings like conch fritters, wild snapper, and lobster.

This classic clapboard seaside shanty couldn't be homier: constructed from an old fishing vessel, the structure is an authentic representation of original Caymanian architecture. The deck is perfectly placed to savor the breezes and water views, and the chill Caribbean vibe makes it feel as if you're having the freshest seafood at a friend's home. The owners source fresh, local ingredients wherever possible and have developed relationships with Caymanian fishermen, who often cruise up to the dock with their catch. Savor jerk fish tacos, saltfish fritters, coconut shrimp with pineapple-tomato salsa, and golden crunchy breadfruit fries. Landlubber selections run from pork chops with pineapple butter to baby back ribs braised in Jack Daniels. Free Wi-Fi and occasional DJs are bonuses.