8 Best Restaurants in Capri, Ischia, and Procida, Italy

Follow your nose to this legendary, sweet-smelling Caprese fave for breakfast, beach picnics, and on-the-hoof snacks. Buonocore lures you down its steps on a Capri Town lane with all manner of pizze, panini, gelati, and paste, including their specialty almond and lemon Caprilú biscotti.

Amid its own terraced vineyards with inspiring views to the island of Ischia and beyond, this is much more than just a well-reputed restaurant. The owner's mother was a friend of Axel Munthe, and he encouraged her to open a food kiosk, which evolved into Da Gelsomina; today the specialties include pollo a mattone (chicken grilled under bricks) and locally caught rabbit. It has an immaculately kept swimming pool, which is open to the public for a small fee—a buffet is served as you lounge here. Close to one of the island's finer walks as well as the Philosophy Park, it's an excellent base for a whole day or longer. There's also a five-room pensione, with free transfer service by request from Anacapri center.

Occupying Sant'Angelo's main square since the 1950s, this family-run institution has views of the beach and La Roia promontory. Dine inside or out on creative pizzas and seafood and pasta dishes, or simply drop by for house-made ice cream (often with unusual flavors), liquors made in-house, or sumptuous desserts like a Cava Grado beignet cake or pear and chocolate tart.

Just above the Grotta Azzurra with a to-die-for view of the Sorrentine coast and Vesuvius, Il Riccio is a true Mediterranean experience. Capri Palace Jumeirah's executive culinary chef Andrea Migliaccio, supported by executive chef Salvatore Elefante, has created a menu featuring innovative takes on typical Neapolitan recipes, based mainly on seafood. For those with a sweet tooth, the famous dessert room offers the widest selection of local pastries on the island. Alas, sun beds at the beach club are reserved for the hotel's guests.

Tucked away from Via G. Orlandi, there's always a warm, relaxed family welcome and deliciously simple Caprese food here. Do book a spot in the gorgeously gnarled, vine-dappled garden setting. Opened in 1960 as a rustic family inn, each generation has added innovative menu touches, including scialatielli pasta with potato in the mix, tuna with sesame seed crust, and homemade desserts including torta Caprese

Part of the Regina Isabella and set beside a suggestive bay (the restaurant’s name is inspired by the color of the sea just before nightfall), this Michelin-starred spot offers four degustazioni menus based on chef Pasquale Palamaro’s inspired use of fresh local ingredients. Try the ravioli with Genovese sauce, a typical onion-based Neapolitan dish, with red shrimp and pearls of tarragon, and for dessert, the mio mare, which looks like canned tuna but is actually made of caramelized muscovado cream, peppermint madeleines, wild strawberry gel, and fiordilatte transformed into a crispy fishbone.

Near the busy piazzetta and long one of Capri's most celebrity-haunted restaurants, La Capannina has a discreet flower-decked veranda that's ideal for dining by candlelight. Specialties change daily depending on the season, but the menu always includes ravioli capresi, linguine con lo scorfano (with scorpion fish), and an exquisite "Pezzogna" (sea bream cooked whole and topped with a layer of potatoes). They also own the nearby gourmet store and small lunch spot and late-night bar across the side alleyway.

This iconic eatery has occupied the space below the Santuario del Soccorso since 1936, when the original Umberto began to grill the local catch on the seafront. The setting is divine, with a terrace overlooking the Bay of Citara and the green tuff scogli degli innamorati (lovers' rocks). Vincenzo Pietroluongo now presides over the kitchen, conjuring up gourmet dishes such as the  scampo (langoustine) antipasto with ricotta, soya, and lemon followed by citrus risotto with crudo di pesce (raw fish) and mullet roe. There are also 11 guest rooms, all with sea views.