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The Cracked Conch/Macabuca Oceanside Tiki Bar & Grill
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| Cuisine | Seafood | ||
| Hours | Cracked Conch daily 11am-3pm and 5:30-10pm; Macabuca Tiki Bar open daily 10am-midnight or later | ||
| Location | West Bay Rd., near Cayman Turtle Farm, Around the Island | ||
| Reservations | Reservations required | ||
| Phone | 345/945-5217 | ||
| Web site | www.crackedconch.com.ky | ||
| Prices | At Macabuca CI$17-CI$21 (US$21-US$26/£10-£13); At Cracked Conch dinner CI$14-CI$36 (US$18-US$45/£8.40-£22), all-you-can-eat Sun brunch buffet CI$26 (US$33/£16) | ||
| Credit Cards | AE, MC, V | ||
Frommer's Review
This place reopened with fanfare in 2006 and immediately became the focus of recommendations across Grand Cayman. Nestled into the jagged rocks of West Bay, on the seacoast near the northern terminus of Seven Mile Beach, across the road from the Turtle Farm, it serves some of the island's freshest seafood. It's also a dining and drinking destination in its own right, a magnet for young, attractive residents of Grand Cayman, who frequent the place when they're not otherwise hard at work on other parts of the island.
The best way to appreciate this setting involves drinks and perhaps a focus on the big-screen TVs at the Macabuca Tiki Bar, and then a migration to a table on the open-sided veranda at the Cracked Conch. As a whole, the experience encompasses views of flickering torches and the sound of surf crashing against the jagged rocks nearby, hallucinatory rum punches and martinis, and very good food.
Management works hard to define the Macabuca Bar (whose name translates as "No Problem" in Taíno) as informal, relaxed, and irreverent, and The Cracked Conch as a venue for fine dining. Informal menu items available throughout the day and evening at Macabuca and at lunch at The Cracked Conch include salads; fried calamari; breaded and fried conch steaks; and beef, chicken, or conch burgers. More formal and elaborate dishes, available for dinner at The Cracked Conch, feature some of the most creative and upscale combinations of conch and turtle steak we've ever seen. Examples include a steamed-conch-and-snapper-coconut casserole; a skillfully prepared roulade of conch; and turtle steak braised with Parma ham, fresh tomatoes, and basil. Also available is a platter with fresh local tuna prepared three different ways: as marinated sashimi, as fried tuna rice rolls with pickled papaya, and as a tartare with fresh cilantro. Sunday brunches are festive, with buffet stations set up within the gleaming stainless-steel kitchen.
Note: This information was accurate when it was published, but can change without notice. Please be sure to confirm all rates and details directly with the companies in question before planning your trip.
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Frommer's Portable Cayman Islands, 4th Edition
Author: Darwin Porter |
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| 0 stars | Frommer's Recommended | |
| 1 stars | Frommer's Highly Recommended | |
| 2 stars | Frommer's Very Highly Recommended | |
| 3 stars | Frommer's Exceptional |
Frommer's ranks every hotel, restaurant, attraction, shop, and nightlife establishment it reviews for quality, value, service, amenities, and special features using a star-rating scale, an expression of the strong compare-and-contrast opinions that are a brand hallmark.
Other ratings provide stars based primarily on price and amenities; the Frommer's star rating is meant to quantify the kind of intangible, experiential elements that help travelers make informed decisions.
The "baseline" recommendation is zero stars--every hotel, restaurant, attraction, shop, and nightlife establishment that Frommer's chooses to review is recommended; otherwise, we simply wouldn't include it.