5 Best Restaurants in Cook Islands

New Zealand–born celebrity chef Tony Bullivant, who has created meals for the likes of Mick Jagger, Paul McCartney, and opera star Kiri Te Kanawa, delights patrons at the Moana Sands Beachfront Hotel & Villas. The newly named Sands Restaurant and Bar serves a "Pacific fusion" menu, where classic international dishes get a new twist, and the island's freshest seafood is prepared to perfection. Start with the blue cheese, apple, and vegetable spring rolls, or the seafood Caesar Salad with smoked marlin and prawn tails. Mains include parmesan-crumbled parrot fish served with maniota fries (made from the root vegetable cassava), and baked pork loin rubbed with garlic and wrapped in bacon. If there's room, finish off with coconut cashew pie with vanilla ice cream and berry sauce. There's a good wine list featuring mostly Australian and New Zealand bottles, and a live band plays several nights a week.

Just on the fringe of Rarotonga's main town of Avarua, the Tahiti Cafe is the perfect lunch spot. It's small, with only about 15 tables, but the fish platters really pack a punch. Try the selection of raw fish prepared in several styles, from Tahitian (that's poisson cru with lime juice and coconut milk), Chinese (with various sauces), and sashimi. There are also fish and chicken platters and individual portions if you're not up for sharing. It's a breezy outdoor venue where you bring your own drinks—alcoholic or otherwise—and there's Wi-Fi.

Now here's a stylish setting to savor South Seas fare—a charming Colonial house, set amid lush grounds right on the lagoon. Built in 1910 to accommodate the managers of the Union Steamship Company, and later the home of the British Counsul, Tamarind House opened as a restaurant in 2004. Proprietors Sue Carruthers and Robert Brown had previously run a small café in Rarotonga but wanted a gorgeous setting for a more upmarket restaurant. Diners can start with ika mata (the Cook Islands version of raw tuna with lime and coconut) or shrimp with papaya, before moving on to a vegetarian lasagna with taro leaves and pumpkin, island fish or coconut chicken curry, or an array of fresh daily seafood specials. Tamarind is also popular for morning coffee and cake.

Two seafood-loving ladies have taken over a disused shipping container, applied some palm thatching to the roof, added tables shaded by blue umbrellas, and positioned it right in front of the gorgeous lagoon. Such is the Mooring Fish Cafe at the Avana Fishing Club on Avana Harbour, near the Muri lagoon and beach. Regulars flock here for the FOB (fresh off the boat) crumbed mahi mahi sandwich and the wonderful fruit smoothies and coconut drinks. There's a variety of other delicious fish sandwiches, made with locally baked Turkish bread and accompanied by homemade mayo and salad, including the "Tijuana Tuna," which has a kicky Cajun sauce. Also on the menu is ika mata, a raw fish salad specific to the Cook Islands.

A veritable Cook Islands institution, this beloved restaurant and bar is nothing if not a survivor. Opened by New Zealander Jack Cooper in 1986, it has been wiped out by three cyclones but is still trading strong on Avarua's harbor. Patrons go for the fresh seafood—consider starting with fish chowder, the sushi and sashimi, or a delicious stir-fried dish called "Wok the Line," with noodles and a medley of seafood. Main courses feature line-caught fish of the day cooked in a variety of styles, from pan-fried and crumbed to the exotic Bombay dish, a parrotfish steamed in a banana leaf with coconut, peanuts, coriander, and chili. Non-seafood eaters enjoy the pizzas, char-grilled beef loin strip, and roast chicken. Try to get a seat on the terrace to watch the sunset, cocktail in hand, to the strains of a ukulele band.