Every Tuesday, Kaibo Restaurant invites you to dine barefoot
(most people don’t) on the beach. It’s a beautiful set-up and as the ferry
approaches the beach I couldn’t help thinking this is what vacations are all about. Sure, I knew the food wasn’t
going to be fantastic, but when you have a setting like this, some flaws can be
ignored.
Yet, the food wasn’t bad and the operations well organized. After
disembarking the ferry, staff greeted us with treys of rum punch on the beach –
a sweet Malibu rum, orange and cranberry juice cocktail. Sipping the drink, we
waited a short while before being seated, a rather spacious one for our table
of three.
Kaibo was already 80% full by the time we arrived; you don’t
have to take the ferry and some stay at places nearby or spend the day at the
small but pretty beach before continuing onto dinner. Since people arrived and
were seated at different times, there wasn’t a long line-up at the buffet and dishes
were hot and available.
There’s plenty of proteins to choose from, I tried
everything:
- The BBQ chicken was moist, brushed in a sweet caramelized glaze.
- Pick your piece of jerk pork carefully as with various cuts the all-meat ones are tougher. I found a smaller thick piece with the bone-in and that was succulent. Yet, the jerk sauce was too mild and I had to add hot sauce. Kaibo: consider offering warmed jerk sauce on the side as sriracha and Tabasco doesn’t have the same flair.
- Similarly, even though the Cayman style fish has scotch bonnets in the recipe, the most prominent flavours was from the tomatoes and onions.
The oxtail and goat curry were impressive and had me going
back for seconds; paired with rice and beans I was utterly satisfied. The
oxtail, stewed in a tomato-based beef sauce, is comforting and the cartilage
softened and jellied. Meanwhile, the goat curry was spicy enough and simply
melted off the bone.
Aside from the proteins there was a small selection of
salads (potato, macaroni and a green salad with a great ginger vinaigrette),
buttery corn, chocolate chip cookies and Tortuga Rum cake.
The all-you-can-eat BBQ is CI$25 for adults and CI$12.50 for
children aged 3-12, the 30-minute ferry to and from Seven Mile Beach (pick up
in Camana Bay) an additional CI$20. I suggest making a reservation as the
restaurant was full during an April visit (we were able to secure one the day
before).
Throughout dinner, Bonafide played a wonderful mix of
Caribbean and top 40 songs, all the while encouraging diners to dance. Shortly
after dinner there was a resort-like limbo competition and *shudder* conga line
– even the cute children leading the line wasn’t going to persuade me to join
the human chain, my friends and I manage to stay out of it and instead entered
the bar area to play foosball.
The night ended with dancing on the beach and taking in some
beautiful views. The memories of under seasoned jerk and conga lines fade away.
After all, how can you visit the Caymans without dining under the stars?
Overall mark - 7 out of 10
How To Find Them
Location: North Side, Grand Cayman
Address: 585 Water Cay Road
Address: 585 Water Cay Road
Website: http://kaibo.ky/?page_id=98
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____________________________
Gastro World's Grading System
- Anything under 5 - I really disliked and will never go back
- 6 - decent restaurant but I likely won't return
- 7 - decent restaurant and I will likely return
- 8 - great restaurant that I'd be happy to recommend
- 9 - fantastic restaurant that I would love to visit regularly and highly recommend
- 10 - absolute perfection!
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