Living in the UK after decades away from America we still celebrate the feast of Thanksgiving, but we do it on the Sunday following the official American holiday (as we don’t get the Thursday off as a holiday). So we will be gorging on all sorts of traditional harvest dishes including a range beans – green beans, lima beans, runner beans. During our recent visit to Joy Island, we discovered a new bean – wing beans. Sort of the wing dings of vegetable with their eponymously quirky shape.
Joy Island also features a home grown ingredient made from milk – mozzarella – used in its extensive Italian station at its buffet restaurant and other outlets.
For the complete coconut experience Veligandu welcomed chef Cristian Marino to craft a completely coconut experience to celebrate World Coconut Day this past year.
“To honor this day, Chef Cristian Marino created a special culinary journey for guests at the resort. The menu was simple in concept yet rich in flavor:
The dining room itself joined the celebration. Palms and coconuts were used as decoration, with tropical flowers set between the buffet stations. It was not just a menu but an atmosphere, an experience shaped around one ingredient.”
He talked about his experience in the Maldives on his own blog as well – Experience Sabato Italiano: An Italian Dinner in the Maldives – Cristian Marino.
In the rise of the super-luxury offerings in the Maldives, I’ve often mused when the gourmet outlets might someday reach Michelin star quality. Certainly, a few I’ve sampled seem to have reached that exalted bar, but the Guide simply didn’t cover the Maldives geography. A number of resorts have touted their guest chefs who bring with them Michelin-starred credentials.
Perhaps no one has had more Michelin-star chefs in their kitchens than Soneva. In fact, in partnership with the guide itself, they are hosting an unprecedented series of 10 starred chefs at their properties. Soneva not only has both of its Maldives properties featured in the guide, but they Soneva Jani receives an elite 2 stars and Soneva Fushi receives the coveted highest accolade of 3 stars (well “keys” for hotels) which translates to “worth a special journey”. Indeed, a very special journey!
Sun Siyam Olhuveli not only serves up amazing sushi, but also will teach you how to make it yourself at their sushi class. Taught by sushi chef (not to be confused with “sous chef”) Namal, he takes you through the process of making sushi, maki rolls and sashimi. Our son, Chase, once gave me a gift of such a class in London and it was as much fun as it was insightful. So, Lori did the classwork and I concentrated on quality control (to which I can attest she passed with flavourful flying colours). If you want a more pampered way to enjoy sushi, Olhuveli’s “Theo’s Coffee Shop” offers 100 varieties in total including a range of dessert sushi made with fruit.
This is not a “Haven’t Seen”, but it should have been. Lobster is the most iconic luxury seafood, and sushi is a delightful, light delicacy for the warm weather. The dish Sun Siyam Olhuveli’s Executive Chef Didi Hassan’s signature specialty. Specifically, it is lobster maki with lobster mousse and cream, topped with tobiko and salmon roe. TripAdvisor Forum Destination Expert Moirad tells me that Raffles also features lobster sushi, but they ae going to have to show me what they have to convince me that it could be more spectacular than this presentation).
Two of the most distinctive aspects to the Maldives is the intimacy of the islands with the surrounding ocean, and the mesmerizing vistas of dappled blues. One of the most memorable ways to enjoy both is the iconic beach dining. Many resorts now set tables on the sand by the water or construct special cabanas for dining to provide a bit of shelter from the ocean breeze and occasional shower. Sun Siyam Olhuveli has taken the latter to literally the next level with an elevated cabana so you sea view is all the more dramatic.
Soneva Secret is Soneva’s completely private island which not only provides its own personal chef for your party, but actually offers 14 (!):
Like having 14 different restaurants on your own islands.
A number of resorts have leaned into the food station buffets to provide the best of buffet variety with the best of a la carte fresh preparation. Oaga has leant its distinctively artist styling to its version of this dining concept by creating a “street food” vibe with vibrantly coloured food stands along the appropriately sand floor.
I’m a big fan of soups in general. The wine of foods where the hot enlivens the flavours like the alcohol does with a fermented grape. And the delectable blends of flavours are endless. Finally, they are the dish that often takes the most amount of prep so when I am out it is a treat to enjoy them without all the work.
Dusit Thani had impressed me with their soup selection – variety and quality – nearly a decade ago, but they appear to have gone off the boil (pun intended) as their current menus don’t have the seem options. So when I was blown away by the Heritance Aarah’s soups at the Baani restaurant, it seemed time to crown a new queen of soups.
I was especially appreciative of this line up as I had a big lunch and was fancying a lighter bite for dinner and the Banana Shallot was just the ticket.