Cayman Restaurants – a tale of two Indians

I’m from the Black Country in England (a reference to the industrial revolution that led to an intense conurbation of industry and smog).  One thing we have really embraced in the Black Country (and the UK as a whole) is Indian food – we have several curry miles and everyone from the area has their favourite.

Cayman is remarkably well served with restaurants for such a small island, but when it comes to Indian restaurants it boils down to two (whilst I would heartily recommend Bombay Chopsticks it is a whole hour’s drive to the other side of the Island so I’ll focus on the main West area, but recommend that if you’re staying in the East).

Southern Spice is a traditional Indian restaurant, you don’t go there for the views, but for the solid Indian food.  They recently catered a charity golf tournament for me, and 78 lawyers and accountants demolished the meal after a hard afternoon of drinking, golf and networking!  Their head chef,  Rajeshkannan Srinivasan was born and trained in Trichy, Chennai in southwest India.  After working at one of my other favourite restaurants (Copper Falls, steak and cocktails) for six years he founded Southern Spice as an authentic Indian experience in Cayman.  I love their Onion Bhajias, and the Kadai Chicken Masala was scraped clean at the golf day.  They also offer the familiar fare, Tika Masala, Korma and Jalfraisse and the Lamb Rogan Josh was delicious and tender.  Their naan breads are a reminder of home.  I haven’t really given Southern Spice the custom it deserves over the years, mainly because my Welsh wife claims not to like spicy food (but seems to enjoy it every time she gets it…).

Sunset House is a different kettle of fish.  Principally a dive hotel, it has a more Caribbean feel to it.  The bar/restaurant is outdoors, on the sea, which means a lovely view during the day and the sound of the sea at night.  During the day, you can see divers preparing for an underwater adventure, and at night often see torches illuminating the surface of the water as they go about a night dive. It offers a range of food across three different menus – which means that I can get a curry more often as my Welsh wife is not so into spicy food and likes to have options available.  The curry is more in the style of a UK “pub curry” (although I recently heard that Wetherspoons is the largest seller of curries in the UK now, that seems to be down to the fact that there are few curry chains to compete, each restaurant owned through a family network).  But it’s probably the best pub curry I have tasted.  Combined with the fact that the bar does Ironshore Bock and White Tip lager on draft, this is a wider option for a night out, or a cheeky post dive curry to satisfy the dive hunger.

Don’t fancy Indian?  Try one of our Mexicans.

Or here for more on the Cayman Islands.