Monday, August 18, 2014

A Caribbean Delight- The Island Seafood Restaurant - Cape Coral, Florida

 The Island Seafood Restaurant promises "The Best Mayan Riviera and Caribbean style Seafood in Cape Coral."  I'll happily extend that promise to cover all of Southwest Florida, and put it head to head with any Latin-Caribbean cuisines.


  Opened in late April, the restaurant sports al fresco dining, a full bar, and is very family friendly. 
  Freddie Garcia and  Jacqueline Vasquez are the owners. Chef Garcia painted the Caribbean underwater murals ( makes me want to SCUBA dive!), crafted the tropical bar, and did all the other decoration. 
He's so creative in various culinary and decorative arts. This is their second restaurant.

We started with appetizers. The quality of the food kept us ordering more and more.
Server Emilee is tops in her thoughtful suggestions warmth, and her personality made for  a wonderful evening.

Fresh fish ceviche ($12) is a large flavorful appetizer with perfectly citrus-marinated fish,  fresh corn, sweet peppers, diced tomato, onion, mixed garden greens and lime juice. 
This is a great deal for the fine quality and portion size.  Highly recommended.

Guacamole at $8 is enough for two-it's clearly prepared to order, served in a molcajete. 
Chef Freddie adds his delicious twists to a creamy traditional dish, including bits of sliced boiled egg with spices to chunks of Haas avocado and diced tomato.

The fresh mixed seafood cocktail appetizer ($12) is a meal in itself, attractively served in a large glass bowl with chips.
 Inside is an oceanic cornucopia with cooked Gulf shrimp, delicate octopus, oysters, scallops, fish, diced tomato and lime juice.  Highly recommended.

Salsa and chips are $1, how can one go wrong? The salsa is under-spiced, so one can add as much heat as desired from several hot sauces already on the table. The chips are ok, they are perhaps the only thing not freshly made on site. Very few places freshly bake/fry  corn tortilla chips anymore.   

The tropical pineapple ($16)  was the pinnacle of  our evening!  Chef Freddie
combines pineapple, tropical fruit, multicolored sweet peppers, ham and grilled chicken (or seafood) with an aromatic Mayan-Creole sauce.   
The generous portion is  served  in a half-pineapple, baked with a topping of mozzarella cheese, and served with crisp Cuban bread.  Highly recommended.

 Vegetarian molcajete ($12) is served hot and stayed hot for perhaps 15 minutes with the heat retained by the thick volcanic molcajete.
 The mix of  tomatoes, broccoli, potatoes, carrots and Mayan-Creole sauce, topped with mozzarella cheese is a vegan delight.
  
Save room for the signature dessert ($6) - banana cheesecake wrapped in tortillas and fried, served with vanilla ice cream and drizzled with luscious caramel. It's enough for three people to share. 
 Latin night is a must attend if one likes Latin American music with a Latin DJ and dancing. It's only offered Saturday nights from 10 pm -2 am.

1339 Cape Coral Parkway East, Cape Coral, 541-0722

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