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Sure, Fiji's got plenty of sun and sand. But these days, the country's best resorts are dishing up amazing local flavors, too.

The cluster of South Pacific islands called Fiji has the corner on the ultimate indulgence: the private escape. Here you’ll find a plethora of stylish, intimate resorts, each with no more than 20 guest bungalows, called bures. Some of these properties are located on private islands; all dish up pristine white-sand beaches. The service is top-notch, too: The staff will prepare freshly squeezed fruit juice for you each morning, and shuttle you by boat to uninhabited patches of sand. In recent years, the meals served at these posh resorts have been pretty standard, usually a mishmash of heavy “international” dishes (mostly French and Italian) that seem ill-suited to a tropical locale. But all that has changed: These days most chefs are locals who’ve trained abroad—often at red-hot restaurants in Sydney, Australia. They’ve returned to the islands, and to the flavors of their childhood: fresh fish, tropical fruit and starches such as breadfruit and taro. Picking among Fiji’s magnificent resorts is no easy task, but you’ll love these four, where the cuisine is just as compelling as the views.

Fantasy Island

The Wakaya Club consists of nine thatch-roofed bures and a villa, all located on a remote, private island. You wouldn’t expect to find an impressive restaurant in such an out-of-the-way location, but you’d be surprised. Manager Robert Miller, a trained chef himself, has been with Wakaya since it opened, and has taught many a local chef in his kitchen. The food here is truly extraordinary: Most of the produce is grown organically on the island and the fish is plucked from the surrounding waters. More than a hundred years ago, deer were brought to the island (Wakaya remains the only island in Fiji with deer)—as a result, Wakaya serves tender venison, too.Four chefs work on Wakaya’s menus, and dishes include Szechwan-style whole fresh fish, maple-glazed venison and prawn curry. Curry, you ask? Southern Indians were brought over by the British colonists to work Fiji’s plantations at the end of the 19th century, and many of them stayed on; over time, their curries became a staple of Fijian cuisine. But, tasty as the curry is, save room for dessert: You won’t want to miss the tangy passion fruit soufflés or the lemon tarts, made with sweet bush lemons, of course.

The focus on food extends into the bures, which come stocked with fresh ginger-oatmeal cookies and a fridge full of bottles of Fiji Water. In the morning, order room service and relax in bed, feeding each other fresh fruit and sweet banana muffins, before heading for the beach wakaya.com).

Culture Club

After a recent $2 million renovation, the Yasawa Island Resort has some of Fiji’s most beautiful bures. Each of the 16 bungalows embodies a cool, understated beauty, from the paintings by Fijian artists to the vase of orchids on the bathroom counter, the parson-plain black wood furniture and the bed, topped with a cream-colored bedspread and garnet-colored pillows. French doors lead onto a private deck, where you’ll find a built-in daybed. Another deck leads off the bathroom to an outdoor shower (modestly secluded with vegetation, of course).

Of all of Fiji’s high-end resorts, Yasawa provides the most contact with Fijian culture. Once or twice a week guests are taken to the nearby town of Bukama to visit the school there, and the majority of the resort’s workers hail from Bukama as well. It should come as no surprise, then, that Yasawa’s chefs use plenty of local produce. Here, you’ll get to taste traditional Fijian dishes, such as kokoda, raw fish cured in lime juice and served with coconut milk and onions, and rourou, locally grown spinach cooked in the milk of locally grown coconuts. The island’s waters are rich in a variety of crabs and lobster as well as fish, from yellowfin tuna to coral trout, and the seafood is often served with locally grown root vegetables, including cassava. In addition, you can order sushi and sashimi (the fish for these Japanese treats are often caught by the guests themselves from aboard the resort’s game-fishing boat), and simple but flavorful entrées like grilled whole snapper topped with lime juice and chiles, and a rich mix of crabmeat and coconut milk served in a crab shell. The area’s tropical fruit, including watermelon, finds its way into sorbets and other desserts that are utterly divine—a mouthful of the island in every bite (yasawa.com).

Delicious by Design

Each of the Namale Fiji Resort and Spa’s 14 thatch-roofed bures and two villas has its own style and architecture, dictated by the island’s varied topography. Some bures sit on rocks amid the surrounding rain forest’s many trees, while others are located on crags overlooking the beach. The interiors share a sophisticated atmosphere: Polished rosewood floors contrast elegantly with chic white linen and mosquito netting.

This style extends across the property—where you’ll find a small, two-lane bowling alley and an impressive new 10,000-square-foot spa—and even to the resort’s menus. Namale’s long-time chef, Jimmy Deo Raj, recently worked with visiting San Diego chef James Crandall to fuse Fiji’s flavors with the latest in California-style cuisine, and to redesign the resort’s menu. The result: fresh, light dishes laced with island spices. They call it “tropical gourmet,” and it’s full of vibrant flavors. New Zealand salmon, for example, is topped with a refreshingly sweet mango-watermelon salsa. Local fishermen catch the rest of the fish for each evening’s meal, including wahoo and snapper.

Each night, guests gather for cocktails in the breezy main bure, which is decorated with artifacts from all over the Pacific and Southeast Asia. After a few drinks, everyone disperses to the resort’s quiet nooks and crannies for private dinners—perfect for honeymooners who want a table for two (namalefiji.com).

Jewel of the Isles

When Vatulele Island Resort opened 14 years ago, it set a new standard of sophistication for Fiji’s resorts. This 19-bure hotel hasn’t lost its touch, and today it has a “barefoot chic” style that’s intensified by stunning décor and architectural details, such as antique kava bowls and soaring thatched roofs.

For guests, the seduction starts on arrival, when they’re plucked from the seaplane that spirited them there and handed a glass of Veuve Cliquot. Come dinnertime, everyone gathers together at a long candlelit table under the stars for an utterly sublime meal. Most ingredients are imported from Australia or New Zealand, as is the wine—except for the Champagne, which is (of course) from France. The fish, however, is locally caught and incredibly fresh. Dishes here have a variety of regional influences, including New Zealand rack of lamb with herb-roasted potatoes and Vatulele’s own coral trout fillets, poached and served with an Asian-inspired chile soy sauce. Guests tend to stay at the table, chatting and getting to know each other.

Occasionally, the post-dinner friendly banter runs so late into the night that the bartender gives up and goes home, leaving the guests to amuse themselves, and make their own tropical frozen drinks in the blender, into the wee, dark hours of the morning. Now that’s a honeymoon in paradise (vatulele.com).