Zanzibar has two ocean restaurants built on rocks in the sea, and they occupy entirely different registers. The Rock at Michamvi Pingwe is famous, photographed, deliberately sought out by the world and almost always delivering on its promise. The Island at Pongwe Bay is quieter, less known, and in certain crucial respects more interesting. It sits on a natural coral rock approximately 100 metres from Pongwe's immaculate beach. At low tide, guests walk to it across the exposed sandflat. At high tide, a small boat brings you over. The restaurant is built on an open-sided deck made from old dhow timber, and every seat faces the water in multiple directions simultaneously.
What distinguishes The Island from other Indian Ocean dining experiences is the kitchen's commitment to the Italian tradition in a context where that would normally seem incongruous. This is not Italian food imposed on an East African setting for the benefit of tourists who don't know better. The pasta is made fresh each morning — tagliatelle with bottarga, linguine with clams and local chillies, pappardelle with a seafood ragu that draws on the morning's catch. The kitchen handles Italian technique without the laziness that often attends resort cooking, and uses Zanzibar's own seafood as its primary ingredient with evident respect for both traditions simultaneously.
The fresh seafood platters are among the best on the island: lobster, king prawns, calamari, and whatever fish the Pongwe fishermen bring in — all treated simply, with olive oil, lemon and local herbs, in the manner of a good trattoria rather than an over-sauced resort menu. The wine list is small and well-chosen; a cold Vermentino with a seafood platter in the afternoon, water on all sides, is one of the more convincing arguments that the right meal in the right place constitutes a complete experience. Reservations are a must; this is a small lodge restaurant with limited capacity, and non-residents should contact the hotel in advance.