Best Dining Bets

Chez Willie (Nassau, New Providence Island): This is one of the newest, but also the classiest, restaurants on New Providence Island, overshadowing its competitors on Cable Beach. It's a throwback to the grandeur of Old Nassau in its Duke and Duchess of Windsor cafe society heyday. Your host, Willie Armstrong, oversees a smoothly run operation serving some of the best French and Bahamian cuisine found on the island.

Buena Vista (Nassau, New Providence Island): Overlooking Nassau Harbour, this restaurant retains the elegance that the city had when the Duke and Duchess of Windsor were in the governor's mansion. Its take on both a continental and Bahamian cuisine still attracts the serious foodie drawn both to the cuisine and the expert service by tuxedo-clad waiters.

Dune (in the One&Only Ocean Club, Paradise Island): The most cutting-edge restaurant in either Paradise Island or Nassau is this creation of French-born restaurant guru Jean-Georges Vongerichten, he of several of New York City's leading lights. Every dish served here is something special -- from shrimp dusted with orange powder to chicken and coconut milk soup with shiitake cakes.

Bahamian Club (Paradise Island): A notch down from the superb Dune, this establishment is one of the leading restaurants in The Bahamas and our favorite at the sprawling megaresort of Atlantis. Strictly upscale, it presents a superb French and international cuisine nightly against a backdrop that evokes the British Colonial era. The restaurant serves the island's finest cuts of meats.

Villa d'Este (in the Atlantis Paradise Island Resort and Casino, Paradise Island): This is the finest Italian restaurant on Paradise Island, with nothing in Nassau to top it, either. The setting is gracious, tasteful, and Old World, but it's the food that keeps visitors and locals alike clamoring for reservations. All the old favorites are here, including veal parmigiana and fettuccine Alfredo as fine as any you'd find in Rome. Fresh herbs add zest to many dishes, and the pasta dishes are particularly good.

Mangoes Restaurant (Marsh Harbour, the Abacos): For the best and most authentic Bahamian food in the Abaco chain, head for this welcoming spot, where both visiting yachties and locals flock for the fine cuisine. Order up a conch burger for lunch, then return in the evening for the catch of the day -- straight from the sea and grilled to your specifications. The namesake mango sauce really dresses up a plate of grilled pork tenderloin.

The Landing (Harbour Island, Eleuthera): This attractive restaurant at the ferry dock has awakened the sleepy taste buds of Eleuthera. Brenda Barry and daughter Tracy feed you well from a choice of international cuisines, often prepared from recipes gathered during world travels. Under mature trees in their garden, you feast on delicious pasta dishes, freshly made gazpacho, pan-fried grouper, or a warm duck salad.

Rock House Restaurant (Harbour Island): On the increasingly chic Harbour Island, the restaurant in the Rock House Hotel serves a superb international cuisine. Its hip bodega aura evokes Miami, but it's thoroughly grounded on the island. At lunch you can get a rock lobster sandwich, but at night the chefs display their culinary prowess with an array of satisfying dishes.

• Grand Bahama Island
• Nassau