Which do you like the look of?

I personally don’t like recessed lighting much. It sends light down, the upper and lower parts of the room get different lighting, need a lot of recessed lights to get even illumination through a room, often restricts what bulbs can be used.

I see why builders use it - stamped metal or plastic “builder grade” light pots are cheap and easy to slap up when the ceiling is open. I see using it in spaces designed to have different light zones (restaurant, commercial, etc). I see it working in minimalist modern spaces although alternatives look way sleeker.

In a more traditional house I prefer interesting exposed fixtures. For a modern sleek look I prefer linear LEDs or minimalist track lighting.

I rather like my recessed lighting over my island. You can get recessed lighting that will flood the area as opposed to have a narrow focus direction.

As you're seeing, it can be your choice, especially if you use high lumen output led bulbs/sources with dimmer control. There's a huge range of prices and capabilities in both recessed and pendant options. A small island without seating would generally get recessed, imo. If you prefer pendants for the island or table, you can get good light levels if they can take a traditional screw-in bulb form. Led versions in flood pattern can output 1600 lumens using 17.5w. FEIT bulbs from Costco are 4/$10.