Best of the Maldives: Bread Dip – Mirihi

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Mirihi bread dip

One of my favourite mixes I have ever had in the Maldives wasn’t alcoholic. In fact, it wasn’t even a drink. It was Mirihi’s “Dukka” bread dip.

A mixture of crushed Macadamia nuts, Haelnuts, Pumpkin seeds, Sun Flower Seeds, Coriander seeds, Cumin seeds, Fennel seeds, Sesame seeds, Black Pepper Corn, Cinnamon, Cayenne, Bread crumbs and sea salt. It was served with virgin olive oil and freshly baked bread. It was the first time my wife and I have asked for a recipe (though we did clone a dish of mango chicken salad we adored at Coco Palm Dhuni Kolhi). When we asked for it, it was all printed out for us by the end of our meal.

One of the subtle touches that distinguishes different star categories is the ‘treats’, specifically, (a) the bar accompaniments, and (b) the Welcome treat. But, I would add the pre-dinner treats to the list. Any 5-star worthy of the grade needs to offer some sort of curious and tasty amuse bouche. But just as important is to treat the obligatory bread basket as a delicacy and not an after-thought. This over sight was one I experienced at the otherwise distinctive, Michelin-starred ‘Mistral’ restaurant at the hotel Serbelloni in Bellagio, Italy. Creative and remarkable dishes introduced with a pedestrian table ornament of lacklustre bread. 5-stars really need to have fresh, warm bread, but the super-premiums (5+*) really need to add some sort of equally appetising accompaniment like a tasty tapenade…or Mirihi’s special dip.

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Best of the Maldives: 24 Hour Restaurant – Holiday Island

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Holiday Island restaurant

 

 

From every space dimension to every point on the time dimension. One of Holiday Island’s restaurants is open 24 hours. Many resorts will offer 24 hour room service, but proper dining establishments are quite rarely open round the clock. Kept open so you can stroll in on a late night, wee hours whim and dine at a proper table in the open air.

All of Holiday Island’s sister ‘Villa’ resorts also offer a 24 hour café, but Holiday Island’s impressed for a few added reasons. Despite being dubbed the ‘Coffee Shop’, it offers a proper full menu, not just café nibbles. You can even have Lobster Thermidor ($79). It’s also good value for money. You can get a plate of chips for those midnight munchies and it will only cost $4.

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Best of the Maldives: Coursing Courses – Anantara Kihava

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Anantara Kihavah Villas - Sky Salt Fire Sea

Thai National Day today brings us to Anantara for inspiration. On special occasions, meals can be all the more elegant by actually taking place in different venues. A starter in the parlour, a main at a dining table, dessert in the lounge, afters on the deck.

It’s are to find a resort with an elevated deck for eating (though getting more common). Even more rare, obviously, are few exquisite underwater venues. Anantara Kihavah Villas offers boths of these and more in one unified, over-water, themed dining experience – ‘Sea. Fire. Salt. Sky’…

“Guests at Anantara Kihavah Villas will be spoilt for choice when it comes to dining, with six restaurants and bars each offering a distinctive setting, menu and ambience. Highlighting the resort’s idyllic location in the dazzling Indian Ocean is the exclusive Sea. Fire. Salt. Sky. signature dining experience. This unique under and over water gastronomic concept features four remarkable venues, each offering a different type of cuisine that is as unique as the perspective. Ascend to the rooftop ‘Sky’ bar to sample Champagne and succulent cuisine presented on tempting skewers whilst taking in the awe-inspiring view of the Baa Atoll island archipelago. As a golden sunset unfolds an ambience of mellow music invites guests to unwind with exotic cocktails in the refreshing evening sea breeze. At ‘Fire’ diners’ visual and taste senses are astounded with dramatic Teppanyaki cooking displays as chefs prepare fresh local rock lobster, Wagyu beef or the catch of the day. ‘Salt’ offers unique depth and complexity of flavours as a Red Snapper infused with lemongrass, ginger and coarse black pepper is baked to perfection in front of diners on a Himalayan salt brick. Here a simple request to ‘pass the salt’ gets a new meaning as a Salt Sommelier helps diners to pair their food with the perfect seasoning.”

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Best of the Maldives: Value Cooking Class – Vilamendhoo

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Vilamendhoo cooking class

It’s the optional extras that get you.

Just when we think we have gotten a great deal just within our budget, we come back a bit over-extended from all of the irresistible extras from souvenirs, diving, drinks and excursions. Special activities and special meals always seem to be a particular weakness for us and tote up some extra charges. But at Vilamendhoo, you can do both a superb activity and get a great meal all for $25! It is their Maldivian cooking class. You will work with one of their Maldivian chefs learning some of their traditional recipes as well as try your hand at preparing them for yourself.

Mastercard-friendly Master Chef!

Vilamendhoo chinese fondue

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Best of the Maldives: African Cuisine – NIYAMA

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NIYAMA Tribal

If you like you food as freshly ‘roasted’ as your coffee, then the Tribal restaurant at the newly inaugurated NIYAMA resort offers ‘modern campfire dining.’ Sort of like W Retreat’s ‘Fire’ restaurant on steroids.

I was first alerted to Tribal by one of my Maldive friends in the industry who visited it just before opening. He reported to me that for “first time I was at a loss for words in a long time.”

“Modern campfire dining. Sand floors. Tiki torches. Local inspiration meets global flair. Tastes from South America to Africa to Asia cooked in the outdoor kitchen. Entrees seared over open flames. Tribal gatherings — a dash of adventure, a pinch of fun.”

The concept reminds me of one of my most memorable holiday meals of all time. On safari in the Kruger staying at the Londolozi game reserve, our jeep pullied into the bush after a long afternoon of looking at the ‘Big 5’. As night settled on the South African plain, we arrived at a roaring campfire already preparing the night’s meal of roasted leg of impala (prompting hilarious jokes from me to the kids about 3-legged impalas for the rest of the trip that I’m sure they never got tired of).

I’ve always thought that the African safari industry is a real role model the Maldives’ tourism development. Africa has created a super premium product out of stunning natural beauty and exceptional wildlife encounters. The ‘resorts’ (ie. ‘lodges’) are packed with 5-star luxury, while maintaining the rustic, natural ambience of the surroundings. They have been drawing big ticket tourists for decades longer that the Maldives and have plenty of know-how about packaging and promoting this experience for top dollar. In fact, it was my own personal background working with African tourism that contributed to my starting Maldives Complete in the first place.

It’s no surprise then that Tribal’s own culinary theme has a heavy African slant with menu items such as “Warhog Cutlets smothered in cape mustard, Loin of African Karoo lamb with wild bush rosemary and garlic, Nile Perch Tikin Xic (prepared the traditional Maya style), Bush Pig and cabbage soup, Warm Ostrich Babotie, Mekong River Squid, and African Cast Iron Potjies such as Springbok slow cooked for 6 hours over coals with root vegetables.” (quoted from a superb interview with the Tribal Chef Ken Gundu on the Linara travel blog).

Akubekuhle! (‘Cheers’ in Zulu)

 

NIYAMA Tribal sign

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Best of the Maldives: Ayurvedic Refreshers – Gili Lankanfushi

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Gili Lankanfushi - Aruvedic Refreshers

One of the most common body-and-spirit philosophies from the Indian Ocean region is ‘Ayurveda’. Translated as “the knowledge for long life,” it is a Hindi-based system of traditional medicine and as such it is typically found at the resorts spas in the form of treatments. But, at Gili Lankanfushi you can start your day with an Ayurvedic boost. An Ayurvedic ‘Refresher’ drink which is included as part of the breakfast buffet. They had tonics for Balance, Energy, Well Being, Cleansing, Cardiac, Detoxifying, and Rejuvenating. Sort of the same concept as a morning pro-biotic drink, but with different concoctions.

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Best of the Maldives: Jain Vegetarian – Kurumba

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Kurumba - Jain vegetarian cabbage with capsicum

 

 

Happy Paryusana!

Paryusana is the “most important Jain festival”. It is a feast after 10 days of fasting. Mind you the ‘Jain vegetarians’ aren’t exactly gorging themselves in food in the normal times so I imagine that Paryusana must be particularly enthusiastic for them.

‘Jain’ vegetarians follow a very strict regimen based on their philosophy of “ahimsa” literally translated as "non-injuring". The notion of ‘karma’ is central with their belief that every act by which a person directly or indirectly supports killing or injury is seen as act of violence (‘himsa’). As a result, even root vegetables (eg. potato, onion, garlic) are excluded because the ‘uprooting’ of them is seen as a violent act. The food they do include is referred to in Sanskrit as 'sattvic' food which means that it is “based on the qualities of goodness, lightness and happiness.”

A very common question on TripAdvisor Forum is the availability of vegetarian food. Not just from the surging growth in guests from India and the sub-continent, but also around the world where vegetarianism continues to grow in popularity as a part of a healthy and eco-friendly lifestyle.

With vegetarian dishes being quite prominent in the region, a vegetarian always has a broad range of choices at the Maldives resorts. But Kurumba went a step further to create a special range of Jain vegetarian dishes. The Jain menu was implemented by prior Food and Beverage Manager Dave Minten and includes such delicacies as…

  • Cabbage with mixed Capsicum (above)
  • Cauliflower and Green Peas (below)
  • Cottage Cheese with Green Chili Tomato (bottom)

Wishing you all goodness, lightness and happiness on Paryusana.

 

Kurumba - Jain vegetarian cauliflower and green peas

 

Kurumba - Jain vegetarian cottage cheese with green chili tomato

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Best of the Maldives: Salad Dining – Sun Island

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Sun Island Restaurant Zero

My meal at Amsterdam’s Restaurant de Kas was part of a public relations initiative I undertook in my previous role marketing at Microsoft called ‘Room with View’ (a play on the word ‘Windows’, since they were often hosted a venues with big windows looking out of distinctive vistas, as well as the notion of having a press briefing that offered fresh and clear perspectives on the company’s direction). If I had the budget to fly everyone down to the Maldives, I would have had an even more apropos option with Sun Island’s ‘Restaurant Zero’.

At Restaurant Zero, not just the herbs and vegetables are local, but everything served there is local including local fish and other produce. Their specialty is salads with a number of types of lettuce and other greens grown for serving.

And you don’t just dine on the vegetation and among the vegetation, but also on top of the vegetation. Several of the tables are located on a Swiss Family Robinson style tree deck accessed by a rope bridge (see picture below). Now that’s a Room With a View.

 

Sun Island Zero restaurant

 

Sun Island Zero restaurant 2

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Best of the Maldives: Herb Garden Dining – LUX* Maldives

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LUX Maldives herb garden

I’m visiting a low lying country that would be one of the first to suffer widespread inundation if global warming triggers rising sea levels. No, not the Maldives, but the Netherlands. In Amsterdam for the International Broadcast Conference as a part of my day job with Red Bee Media Piero.

One of my favourite restaurants in Amsterdam is Restaurant de Kas that I discovered at another Amsterdam trade show. It is situated in the Frankendael Park and has its own extensive garden. All of the dishes are prepared with greens, veg and herbs from that plot.

LUX* Maldives has its own version of ‘de’Kas’ dining. You pick your own salad from the garden for your starter. All the meal is cooked in front of you with ingredients from the “Jardin d’Herbes.”…

“Perfumed, sheltered idylls, these jardin d’herbes offer a change of scenery for guests looking to dine al fresco but out of the sun and away from the social purr of our restaurants. These charming oases also supply our kitchens with fresh ingredients…Reserve a spot for an intimate lunch or dinner, help our chefs pick some fresh herbs and savour the senses as they prepare your private table d’hote.”

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Best of the Maldives: Chillies – Sun Island

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Sun Island chilis garden

 

One hot resort!

Not just the sunshine and the tropical dazzle. But, Sun Island’s ‘hot’ is baked in its own chilli farm. The grow over a dozen varieties of chilli on their acre sized plot for use in their curries and other spicy dishes. That includes the native Maldivian chili “Githeyo” (see photo at bottom).

So, if you are feeling a bit chilli, head for a spot of tea in the Sun.

 

Sun Island chili garden

 

Sun Island Maldive chili

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