At these idyllic luxury resorts in the Maldives, global flavours and local ingredients make for a delicious discovery of terroir, culture and community.
For luxury island resorts in the Maldives, a holiday destination where the average length of stay is seven to 10 days, culinary excellence and variety are crucial in keeping guests intrigued and impressed enough to return for their next vacation. Chefs are constantly pulling out their creative stops while emphasising locavore and local traditions.
MEMORABLE EXPERIENCES
At Conrad Maldives Rangali Island, executive chef Christian Pedersen teases palates with surprising twists on common ingredients: think a sous vide lobster with radish, avocado purée, caviar and mango fermented for 21 days.
The surprisingly balanced combination of acidity, creaminess and funk is the perfect foil to the local crustacean’s sweet firm flesh. In the balmy breeze of Conrad’s open-air Vilu Restaurant & Bar located at the edge of a lagoon, light but flavourful dishes like this make for pleasant meals. Over at Ithaa Undersea Restaurant, where we dig into a four-course lunch, the distraction from colourful reef fish and black-tipped sharks swimming merrily around is real. But the food holds its own.
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A wagyu beef tartar whets the appetite with burrata and confit tomato; crisp Maldivian lobster tortellini complemented by grilled sweet corn and charred leek was a pleasant deviation from the conventional grilled rendition; a miso and truffle marinated black cod is enhanced by the fresh grassiness of green peas; and a refreshing yuzu mousse with passion fruit, pineapple and coriander cleans off any lingering heaviness on the palate. The portions are well controlled, and no one leaves heaving.
“I want guests to have the experience of knowing that food is a focus and you can have something different every day beyond the usual club sandwich,” says Pedersen, referring to the 12 dining concepts at Conrad, which ranges from nourishing fare at Mandhoo Spa Restaurant to aromatic wok-hei laden cuisine at Chinese restaurant Ufaa by Jereme Leung, “We want them to have fun, variety, and come not just because they have to eat.”
Not that we would complain about burgers and club sandwiches, especially if it is the Fari Beach Club Beef Burger at Patina Maldives, Fari Islands. Between pillowy brioche buns is a juicy patty layered with guanciale, parmesan, and truffle and mushroom mayonnaise. In the Italian vitello tonnato and “Caesar salad”-style toast, the metallic notes of Maldivian tuna is moderated by the brininess of sliced caper berries and saltiness from the Caesar dressing and cheese. Executive chef John Bakker’s vision for each of Patina’s 12 dining concepts is “to retain the essence of each cuisine and not have an international chef doing a semblance of that thing”.
Helios’ Aegean cuisine is whipped up by Turkish chefs, who serve up the likes of moreish grilled eggplant with garlic yoghurt and spicy atomic sauce, and tender grilled lamb chops scrumptiously marinated in Mediterranean spices. Asian restaurant Wok Society is a must-visit, if only to taste Guangzhou chef Sichuan Zhang’s impeccable dim sum and wantons in double-boiled chicken soup. Ask him for off-menu specials of the day – we got a local green jobfish stir-fried in XO sauce that was made less sauce heavy to suit our Asian palates. And no one should leave without trying the Maldivian curry with fresh catch of the day at all-day diner Portico.
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“In this terroir, the dishes that work best with the dry salty air are those that are spicy or peppery,” Bakker explains. “Food with complex components like masala or curry always taste more ‘full’ or ‘round’ in this environment. Maldivian chillies, for example, are super hot and fragrant, but take them out of the Maldives and they become just another very hot chilli pepper.” Amongst the five restaurants and bars located at The Ritz-Carlton Maldives, Fari Islands, poolside Eau Bar offers tipples that are all named in the local Dhivehi language.
The Dhonkeyo, made with brown butter-infused whisky, banana syrup and chocolate bitters, references the common tea-time snack of fried banana fritters, while the Faiy cocktail has a spiced kick from tequila infused with curry leaf, mango, lime and chilli.
In Italian restaurant La Locanda, parmesan dresses up a dry vodka martini, while beach bar Beach Shack’s margarita comes with hints of roasted bell peppers to complement its barbecue-style menu. The Ritz-Carlton’s director of beverage Marco Barsotti says, “We try to give a culinary touch to classic cocktails, so that they are easy to drink yet have an element of adventure.” More guests are also signing up for the resort’s cocktail classes to learn simple techniques to jazz up their home drinks.
HEALTHY, LOCAL AND SUSTAINABLE
Maldivian nights are a favourite with guests and different resorts have their own take on it. At Conrad, guests tuck into dishes such as tuna curry, mas huni (a typical Maldivian breakfast that consists of tuna, onion, coconut and chilli) and short eats (fried snacks) made by womenfolk living in the nearby islands. The Ritz-Carlton’s spread is prepared by their Maldivian chefs and the meal is accompanied by a boduberu (big drums) band performing traditional songs. Patina offers them as private experiences and cooking classes, even for the children. Local and regional produce such as lobsters, octopus and reef fish are incorporated into dishes from omelettes to curries, while fruits like papaya and passion fruit are bought from the mainland or surrounding islands.
Conrad’s own hydroponics garden yields produce such as lettuce, basil and mint, which are used in everything from salads to macarons and as cocktail garnishes. Surplus fruit is turned into jams or dehydrated into healthy chips as room snacks. Last year, Patina harvested eggplant, bok choy, chilli, squash and a whopping 500kg of watermelons. The Ritz-Carlton has plans for an organic garden; in the meantime, the kitchen team uses the skins of fruits such as bananas and oranges to make syrups for their cocktails. With all the effort put into making every meal a memorable one, it will be more than sand, sea and surf that vacationers will remember when you leave paradise.