Islander

Horrible dinner!
I’m not sure who wrote the good reviews for this place. It’s basically a bar at a marina with a few tables.
We started with oysters and hand cut French fries as apps. The oysters were fresh $ 15 for 6. We also ordered a $ 14 yes $ 14 order of French fries. They were good but for $ 14 they should been dusted in 14k gold or something.
2 of us had the fish taco special for dinner. It was the skimpiest portion and for $ 21. The tuna was just okay and smothered in this glaze that tastes just like the fake duck sauce they sell in jars at the supermarket. 3 tacos with minimal salsa and sour cream. No homemade guacamole or anything.
The hubby had a fish sandwich — meh
The last meal was the island fried rice. It comes with pulled pork on top. It was basically a huge bowl of rice with a clump of pulled pork and more of that sweet fake duck sauce all over it. Yuck– almost inedible.
Then comes the bill: $ 117 ! Plus tip the meal cost us $ 137 and we all left hungry.
The waitress was sweet and somewhat attentive.
Ambiance — think 50-​something divorcees at a bar trying to find a date
View — okay
Don’t waste your money.

Bring your wallet but not your high expectations. Watery drinks with NYC prices. Small portions with some interesting ideas on what makes a good meal… slow service. If it wasn’t for the view, it would be one star. Seems that the well heeled local drunks get the 3 oz pour but the rest of us get the shaft.
Adiós

The Islander is a great restaurant. The location is beautiful, the food is very tasty, and the service is fast. I love the nachos they are appetizing and large portioned. Our waitress was also very nice and helpful.

Great food with a spectacular sunset over the docks! Prices are in line. Service was fantastic we love to run in and no wait.
A must try in Oville!!!

Drinks take FOREVER to order and to receive if even slightly busy. Décor is HIGHLY lacking given how amazing it could be especially with the amazing view (get rid of those chairs!) BUUUUT, the nachos are off the charts amazing and again cant beat the view at sunset. Been coming to this specific restaurant spot since it was the Black Gull. I’ll keep coming back of course, but they need to tighten things up a bit and keep the prices low– trying to make this place a high end spot would be a mistake given its history.

5 stars for the location.5 stars for Ting, Jamaican Grapefruit Soda.5 stars for the views.5 stars for the great bartenders and waitresses…
Prices are high but alas, we are in Osterville, Dorothy. this ain’t Kansas… portions are smaller so order a few courses. the nachos look amazing. the deconstructed rare Ahi tuna tacos pleased my palate.
The Painkiller was over iced but the Sonoma Cutrer pour was massive. stick to wine or beer…
Love that it’s dog friendly. my Caribbean rescue enjoyed chilling on the deck. ya, this is Cape Cod at it’s best.

This poor excuse for a bar-​restaurant deserves 0 stars but it was not possible. Simply said-​my rating is STAY AWAY. If you like watery bland drinks in a glass full of ice with a tiny amount of liquid for $ 10, or an overpriced taco that looks like appetizers for $ 22, or a burger that looks like a poor meatball with cold fries for 17 $, and then get a bill with higher prices than on the menu, then you deserve the Islander. The view is great if you’re into parking lots.
Save your hard earned$ and go elsewhere.

Simply put, the Islander is one of the best spots on the Cape to have a drink. The atmosphere is so upbeat — you can’t help but be in a good mood when you walk through that door. The place is a lot of fun and has really great food to boot. Delicious cocktail overlooking the harbor at sunset — doesn’t get much better than that.

I had lunch here last weekend with some friends. Another place I found during a bike ride. On the water deep in Osterville, we tried the nachos with pork from the appetizer menu. Be warned: this is a monstrous plate of food. We all considered passing on ordering anything else for lunch it was so large and filling, and good.
Other items we got include the fish tacos, and fried scallops, and a special, black bean cake, with seared scallops. All were very good and delicious. I feel like others on Unilocal have said, that it’s a touch pricey, but the food was very good, we were all satisfied with the taste, presentation and quality — and it is Osterville on the water — I guess.
We also had some cool drinks. Draft beers, and a Cape Fizz cocktail, which I’d get again. I will go back for sure. Wait staff was friendly and pleasant and took care of us too. Enjoy!

A great place for cocktails at sunset. Get the pulled-​pork nachos and you’ll be full. Promise.

Garbage Food garbage Service Do Not Waste Your Time.
When is the last time you paid $ 14 for a hamburger which didn’t rate McDonalds?
You order a pear salad and 40 minutes later, the waiter who was not only rude, but was still home in bed mentally, informs you the chef is out of pears, really?
He offered us no condiments, for the over cooked piece of shoe leather, burger.
He brought diet coke instead of Coke which was all ice and no drink in a dirty glass,
which looked like it was used first to bail out a sunken boat.
I had to ask the waiter to change out the diet coke, which he insisted was regular coke. Now coke that tastes like kerosene, means the mixer needs to go back to bartenders school.
Needless to say, the atmosphere is a large box and very hot, with large styrafoam squares cemented to the ceiling, are you kidding me?
The door slams so load you feel like your in Viet Nam with incoming rounds ready to
ruin your already ruined leather burger for $ 14.
Try to take out the remaining left overs, to feed the sea gulls, and the waiter wanted to know if and why you want take out.
Don’t waste the time or the money, go to Baxters.

Ever go somewhere and actually HOPE you can’t get a table? I walk into the Islander and secretly wish there’s a wait. Beause then you get to order a drink at the bar and take it out onto the deck, plant yourself on a bench or post up against the railing and look out over Crosby’s Boat Yard, take in the water views and (if you’re lucky) catch some of the most beautiful Cape sunsets. Soak up the day’s last sunbeams with a glass of wine, a beer or your cocktail of choice.
Feeling a little more bronzed (and buzzed) head inside for the kitchen’s offerings. Don’t be fooled by the white table clothes, this place has a casual upscale vibe and the bar can get pretty packed on weekend nights. The menu isn’t huge but what they do offer has always been quite good. They make use of local seafood often on the regular menu & the specials with fresh catches being served up daily. The pulled pork nachos could have fed a football team and I spent longer than technically necessary marveling aloud to anyone willing to listen at how they got layers of melty cheese and BBQ pork on so many levels of this behemoth. The Griddled Brie appetizer w/​strawberry compote is good, although I kind of miss last year’s preparation which paired the brie with pears and honey *hint hint*. Cajun Salmon & Jerk Chicken entrees are delicious, and the sandwiches (a few burgers, pulled pork sandwich, etc.) don’t disappoint.
They offer some solid wines by the glass (nice Oregon Pinot Noirs!) and I like the different Mojito variations on their cocktail menu. Plus I’m happy to report that after our last visit’s adventures in cocktail making (see Damien S.‘s review) they’ve gotten themselves together and actually make a pretty good Maker’s Mark Old Fashioned.
Only real drawback for me is that the pricing feels off. It’s Osterville (Read: Folks Can Afford It) so it’s not shocking but I think in the quality/​quantity-​for-​cost department the Islander comes in too steep for what you get. Regardless, this place is a summertime favorite. Come here to start your night on the deck, but be warned you may not want to leave.

Upscale? Nah. The dude behind the bar was cranking a stogie inside and our barkeep was either fresh out of Islander Boot Camp or sippling on what she’s tippling because the first fifteen minutes after sitting the pine were among the most surreal I’ve experienced.
The slightly contested ingredients for an Old Fashioned: whiskey, sugar, bitters, cherry, orange, soda.
The never-​argued ingredients of a What The Fuck: whiskey, orange juice, and entire jigger of sweet vermouth and (almost) olive brine. «Oops, I wanted simple syrup.»
Of course you did.
Fortunately, the WTF wasn’t made for me. It was crafted for another customer who, upon realizing as I did that they did not have oranges, said to «make something up.» My thoughts and prayers go out to her taste buds.
On the plus side, the crazy expensive pulled pork nachos ($ 14) are MASSIVE with cheese melted throughout the layers and surprise pockets of guac, salsa, sour cream throughout. The mound is iced with a whopping half pound of shredded swine, making an easy meal for two.
But nachos are nachos, and the oddity that is the bar experience may have been an anomaly, especially when you look over your shoulder to see white linens on the tables. For these reasons (and a fully loaded Dark N Stormy), I’ll round the 2.5 up.

After checking online for a restaurant — checking both locations and reviews — we decided on trying The Islander in Osterville. What a great choice it ended up being.
There were 5 of us and we started with drinks and apps. We each ordered different meals and everyone loved their dinners. I had the encrusted tuna steak on seasoned mashed potatoes with a mango drizzle. Awesome! My wife had fish tacos that were equally as tasty.
The other component and, sometimes the most important, was the waitstaff. They were very friendly and efficient. We had Alix (with an «i») taking care of our table and she was awesome!
It’s a little off the beaten path but you won’t regret it. I would suggest making reservations.

Maybe this place is better in the evening, but we chose to drive there (being down the Cape already) on the basis of some good Unilocal reviews and particularly to have those scallops everyone was writing about. Anyway not on the lunch menu and, actually, there wasn’t much of anything on it. My companion’s did enjoy the fish (but not the chips), I had the pulled pork salad which was drowned in a very sweet dressing (ugh schoolboy error, on the side in the future). All in all a bit of an anticlimax.

My thought at first was that it was a bit pricey, but when my seared scallops arrived I could validate the cost and I was pleasantly surprised and happy.
Very nicely done scallops seared with bacon (real bacon) and honey on top of arugula with a glaze of maple grain mustard… perfectly done, nice presentation… it went perfectly with the «house» salad that was a surprise to me as it was topped with feta and chopped apples and not your typical dinner salad of cucs, tomatoes and shaved carrots. A nice light savory meal that went well with my perfectly made cosmopolitan.
It all was topped off with a beautiful sunset overlooking boats… and an out of town guest who was impressed too.

I absolutely love this place. The harbor views can’t be beat, and the atmosphere is lovely. The décor is warm and inviting, open and airy. The drinks are fabulous, nice and strong. The service was extremely friendly as well. Everything that I ate there was beautifully cooked and prepared, but my favorite were the seared scallops. I’m excited to return and try the rest of their menu, which looks amazing!

This is an upscale wine bar situated in a boatyard — your night will be what you make it. Don’t expect a hip scene or city-​paced service or anything at all and you won’t be disappointed.
I enjoy the Islander best for sitting on the porch with friends/​cousins/​strangers on a warm summer night, drink in hand, under the stars. Relaxation Station.

The Islander is one of those, tucked away places that, once you find it, you feel like an «in the know» local. Service is friendly, but a can be somewhat slow. The drinks are strong and the food was excellent. I highly recommend the crab & mango salad, the burger and the cubano sandwich.
The cocktail menu took me to the Virgin Islands, with their painkillers and dark and stormy’s.
Located in upscale Osterville, you never know who you may be sitting next to. Fishermen, billionaires, and everyone in between… Lt. Brass from CSI was even there!
The islander is an all around, feel-​good kind of place that is warm, welcoming and serves up great food and great drinks.

I was a bit timid upon hearing the news that the place was recently bought — I heard a few negative reviews etc… But I kept and open mind.
The scene was fun — open and airy — incredibly noisy (slate floor),
yes a few annoying «beautiful people». Smack dab in the boatyard so you and the hubby can daydream about sinking a ton of money on a boat while drinking rummy drinks.
I had the fish taco’s wonderfully fresh and very spicy — yes over priced but hey people need to make a living on the cape! The apps were fresh and inventive (approx 12 dollars a hit if I recall right) — citrus seared scallops. a bean medley with tuna. The only miss were the crab cakes — dry not enough crab and reeking of bay colony spice (indigestion pill). The pulled pork entrée was soooooo good, with croquettes etc huge portion that my man ate up. (24 $) YUMMY
As others noted the service is nice but I think a bit short handed. You can dress up or down, come for early dinner and watch the sunset and stroll after dinner with your honey in hand!
I love you chef at the Islander!