Best of the Maldives: Sizzling Food – Meeru

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Meeru Hot Rocks Restaurant

 

If you’re looking for hot foods instead of hot drinks, then Meeru’s Hot Rock Restaurant’s delicacies sizzle all the way to your table and then some…

“Featuring seafood, steak, chicken or exotic game cooked at your table on volcanic “hot rocks”.  Located on the Pavilion Bar Pool deck.”

For a full, detailed review check out this comprehensive write up complete with plenty of pictures by ‘Humble Jim’s Pam’ on the Meeru forum…

“By day you can get the impression the Hot Rock is 'just’ a snack bar. But that would be so very misleading. We were bowled over by the service, quality (and quantity for that matter) of the food. We had a beautifully laid out table and were positioned just by the infinity pool with another couple nearby at another table… There was Kangaroo as well as Ostrich on the main menu but we both had decided to go for the Brazilian beef fillet…Even though we were new to the whole Hot Rock thing we soon got going with it…I can honestly say it was the best beef I have tasted anywhere and as a Yorkshire girl I can tell you that's saying something really profound. Before too long it was 'Mission Accomplished' on the lava front!”

 

Meeru - Hot Rocks restaurant

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Best of the Maldives: Hot Drinks Cafe – Kandooma

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Kandooma Bokkuraa Cofffee Club

 

At first glance, one would expect that refreshing pina coladas and tropical coolers would be more the order of the day than a steaming mug of brew. Coffee and tea is more the craving for those colder, cloudier climes (like today which saw our first frost of the year at our home in England).

But for those visitors like myself who hail from those areas, our caffeine and other pet addictions don’t necessarily disappear despite the sunshine. I still love a satisfying latte in the morning or a cappuccino to top off a lovely meal. I find that one of the find things I have when I get back home is a fresh cup of home brewed coffee as one of the things that I miss during my trips to the Maldives. Relatively few resorts get this important beverage just right by the standards of the European and American cafe and Starbucks culture (though the rise and popularity of Nespresso machines have become de rigeur accessories for a 5-star room these days). Those that do don’t have anywhere near the decadent array of choice that we are also spoiled by. But Kandooma has introduced its Bokkuraa Coffee Club with a broad range of specialty coffees and teas served in an stylish outdoor cafe. It even has soy milk.

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Best of the Maldives: Dive Centre Shirts – Palm Beach

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Palm Beach dive shirts 2

 

Today is the biggest shopping day of the year in the world It is the biggest shopping day in the biggest consumer economy in the world. ‘Black Friday’ as in dubbed. ‘Black’ as in both ‘in the black’ (like the stores P&L’s expect to be at the end, and ‘black’ as in horrendously frenetic.

My wife has a ritual of buying a t-shirt from every dive centre that she has dived from. Some are basic and some are better. As I have previously written, one of my pet peeves is when resorts don’t have nice t-shirts for sale. The pedestrian white shirts with dodgy appliqué graphics of fish just don’t do it for me. Get some decent cotton, a subtle colour and do some subtle styling.

That is what the Palm Beach Dive Centre has done. Not surprising with the Italian characteristic flair for style. They had the most extensive array of tops we have ever come upon in the Maldives. All with appealing colours. All of the decoration is embroidered tastefully.

You may not think of the Maldives for holiday shopping any more than you would think of Target for romance, but this MSNBC report dispels that myth as well.

Happy Shopping!

 

Palm Beach dive shirts

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Best of the Maldives: Ingredient Theme – Club Med Kani

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Club Med Kani buffet

 

Happy Thanksgiving Pilgrims!

The spirit of the day is appreciation and gratitude (which must come relatively easy for anyone who finds themselves in the Maldives today), but the centrepiece of the American tradition is food. In particular, one main ingredient – turkey. Dubbed ‘Turkey Day’, meals for the next weeks revolves around various poultry combinations from the big bird…leftover turkey, turkey sandwiches, turkey curry, turkey soup, etc.

In this spirit, Club Med Kani has such a food theme every day! In stark contrast to a typical Thanksgiving feast, the focus is on healthy eating. When I visited, the theme was ‘Cucumber’ and the buffet featured…

  • Cucumber Spring Rolls (hand made a station)
  • Cucumber and Mango Kebab
  • Cucumber Oliver Tapanade
  • Cucumber Sushi with Fish Roe
  • Cucumber Salad with Vinegar and Honey
  • Cucumber Thai Salad
  • Cucumber and Smoker Fish Sandwich
  • Yogurt and Cucumber Soup
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Best of the Maldives: Wood Craft – Kanuhura

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Kanuhura wood 2

The ‘traditional’ gift for 6th anniversary might be iron, but the USA has adapted a ‘Modern’ version of the anniversary gifts which specifies ‘wood objects’ as the gift of choice. And so if you are looking for an appropriate gift to celebrate this milestone of blogging, then Kanuhura is your first place to check out.

Wood is a thematic element throughout the resort. It extends the overall aesthetic which focuses on Nature. Every room features a wooden piece of wall sculpture (see picture below). My favourite use of wood is the coffee tables in the Handhuvaru Bar which are carved from trees downed by the tsunami which hit the island.

All of the pieces are made at the Haruge Maldivian Cultural Center at the resort using traditional artisan techniques. You can watch them working at the centre or during Maldivian Feast nights (cooked by women from local island) and the artisans come out and do demonstrations during the meal.

If you want to purchase a bit of Kanuhura to take home with you, then the same artisan workshop that creates all of these pieces also produces various items for sale. They sell various plates, serving items and other pieces made from Kanuhura wood.

Kanuhura wood 3

Kanuhura wood

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Best of the Maldives: Water Driving Range – Palm Beach

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Palm Beach ocean driving range

This week marks my 6th anniversary of blogging. I actually first cut my teeth on digital media a number of years prior to the launch of the Maldives Complete blog. I first started writing about “Leadership and Management / Turning Adversity to Advantage.” The traditional anniversary gift for 6 years is ‘iron’,’ so I guess the best place for me to go to celebrate my 6th anniversary would be somewhere I could get out a few 9-irons to practice my swing (not to mention a timely USA’s win this weekend in the President’s Cup).

While Meeru has a conventional driving range (with an adjacent executive course) and Kuredu has 3-par course, Palm Beach has taken the concept ‘out’ a bit. You also might have heard all of those fantastic stories about the proposed floating golf course. Well, Palm Beach has taken the first steps with a ‘floating driving range’. Bobbing mini-greens with flag anchored in the lagoon provide distance markers for a driving cage set up on the shore side.

In so doing, Palm Beach has also created the world’s biggest water hazard. Lest you fear that all of those golf balls should prove a hazard of another sort to marine life, actually the balls are specially made of biodegradable material which breaks down into fish food after 48 hours in the water. You can get 10 for $2, or 100 for $8.

The golf centre also features golf pro Alberto (featured in the picture at top) who will help you on your swing and there are several putting green holes to practice your short game.

Fore!

Palm Beach ocean driving range 2

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Best of Maldives Online – TA Ratings: Cocoa Island

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Trip Advisor Top Resort

 

If you really want to poll for the best of somewhere to travel, then one of the most credible popular juries is TripAdvisor. No fees, no advertising bias, no select group. It is completely open to the entire world of travel and travellers. That doesn’t mean it is perfect. All sorts of biases can creep into any population sample and opinion gathering. But at TA is tops for structural objectivity. For some time, the top of the leader board for Maldive resorts is Cocoa Island.  In fact, this year, Cocoa Island was rated one of TripAdvisor's top resorts worldwide for 'Luxury'.

But as I say when people ask me my expert opinion on ‘Which resort is the very best resort in the Maldives?’, my response is, “There is no ‘best’…only the ‘best for you’.” It’s all very diverse and subjective. It’s like asking ‘what is the best ice cream flavour?’ That was one of my major motivations for developing the Finder page so people could filter the 100+ resorts based on the criteria that mattered to them.

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Best of the Maldives: Longest Shoreline – Kuredu

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Shorelines Edwin Lynn

 

Happy Birthday Dad.

Today is my father, Edwin Lynn’s, birthday. And probably his best present is his recently published book ‘Shorelines’. It’s a present for himself to see this distillation of a life’s work of insight and reflection come to reality. It is also a present to everyone who is inspired by the ocean and draws wisdom and serenity from it. As such, it seemed to be just right for the Maldives.

I grew up in a seaside town north of Boston, Massachusetts called Ipswich. It features one of the longest and finest beaches in the northeast USA…Crane Beach. It was there that my Dad would regularly brave the cold and sleep deprivation to catch a sunrise over the ocean. On a couple of occasions I was enticed to join this ritual lured more by the promise of fresh Marty’s donuts at the end than the celestial spectacle.

My Dad always favoured seaside holidays and during them got even more opportunity to watch the sunrise (or set on western shores). My Dad even got the opportunity to visit the Maldives when we took my parents to Conrad Hilton Rangali in 2000 (see photo below). Of course, one of the great luxuries of the Maldives is that you can easily watch both sunrises and sunsets!

In honour of ‘Shorelines’ and the lengthy, white sand Crane Beach that inspired him, today’s ‘Best of Maldives’ is its Longest ‘Shoreline’ or really ‘Beach’. A number of islands have long shorelines, but they interrupted by structures or rocks or something else blocking the way. According to Maldives legendary guru, Adrian Neville, Kuredu is “still the longest beach and so fine”. This assertion is confirmed by the island size data in the Maldives Complete database.  Gan is a very long island, but the ‘resort’ beach is limited. Kuramathi and Palm Beach are also a longer islands, but the ‘beach’ is broken up by infrastructure and some inaccessible rock/coral croppings.

May your shorelines be as refreshing and inspiring as a Maldivian sunrise.

 

Edwin Lynn Conrad Rangali 2

 

Edwin Lynn Conrad Rangali 1

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Best of the Maldives: Repeater Honour – Komandoo

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Komandoo - tshirts repeater

11-11-11.

A bit of a numerically milestone event. Especially for British and Americans for whom ’11-11’ has long represented a day of honours for the nations’ veterans. The date itself marks the end of the First World War (aka Armistice Day) which goes even further as it officially ended on the ‘11th Hour’ today. Now in 2011, the 11’s string further. The day is a holiday of respect and remembrance for all who have served country. Often the day is marked with musical parades, wearing uniforms and erecting plaques.

Komandoo has a similar tradition every day for its ‘veterans’. Like all guests there, returning resort heroes are welcomed with a singing corps. Every repeater also gets a special ceremonial uniform in the form of t-shirt featuring one turtle (very prevalent around Komandoo especially with the nearby Kuredu caves) for every stay they have had (see photo above). After 4 stays, you get a custom plaque naming your villa after you for the duration of your stay (see photo below). After 7 stays, you get a special gift package presented by management.

I am a bit of a t-shirt aficionado (and in fact get stroppy when the resorts don’t sell good t-shirts). Not only is using turtle as ‘belt notches’ fun, but I also love the similar designs that Komandoo gives to honeymooners which has two turtles holding hands/flippers (see photo bottom).

May your 11-11-11 be a memorable one.

Komandoo - repeater plaque

Komandoo - plaque

Komandoo - tshirts

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Best of the Maldives: Thai – Anantara Veli

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Anantara - Loy Krathong

Happy Loy Krathong!

  • “On the eve of the 12th lunar month, Anantara Resorts Maldives is proud to present a traditional evening of Thai cuisine and Krathong – flower-shaped candlelit rafts – in celebration of Loy Krathong, The Festival of Lights, under a full moon at Baan Huraa restaurant. As a resort company steeped in heartfelt Thai hospitality it gives us great pleasure to introduce and celebrate one of the most beautiful Thai festivals with our story-collecting travellers from around the globe. Our resorts encapsulate the excitement of discovery and exploration that comes with entering new territory and, though we are celebrating the Festival of Lights outside the Kingdom, I cannot think of a more perfect setting than the greatest paradise on earth to express good wishes to our guests and team members and to look to the future as we float our floral offerings on the night.”

With its romantic trappings (full moon, flowers, candles), as well as its aquatic and even ecological origins, the Maldives has to be one of the best places on the planet to celebrate this endearing Thai holiday…

  • “Popular legend holds that the celebration is an expression of gratitude to the goddess of water ‘Phra Mae Kongka’ for having extensively used, and sometimes polluted, the water from the rivers and canals. It is also in part a thanksgiving for her bounty in providing water for the livelihood of the people.”

And in the Maldives, there is no better place to celebrate anything Thai than Anantara’s three conjoined properties: Dhigu, Veli and Naladu. Anantara is itself a Thai company which explains its exceptional catering to all things Thai. Their spa is heavily Thai themed with Thai treatments and therapists. In fact, Anatara has one of the most relaxing greetings in the Maldives as its therapists come out to reception and give all arrivals a brief, complementary head and neck message in reception. They obviously have a Thai restaurant, Baan Huraa, which is certainly one of the best if not at least the most authentic in the Maldives. It even features a vintage Thai wine ‘Dranmonte’ (vintage) according to Bala, the resort sommelier.

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