Best of the Maldives: Michelin Stars – Soneva Fushi

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Soneva Fushi - Michellin meals

A meal by a Michelin-starred chef is a thing of beauty. A number of Michelin honorees have visited as guest chefs before, but no resort has assembled quite the Menu Gourmand of variety as Soneva Fushi’s banquet of culinary talent:

“Soneva and the Michelin Guide will be jointly promoting the following chef events, most of which feature chefs from restaurants worldwide with two or three Michelin stars:

  • August 26-31, 2018 at Soneva Fushi: Kiko Moya, from two-starred Spanish restaurant L’Escaletta
  • October 7-12, 2018 at Soneva Fushi: Gert de Mangeleer, from three-starred Belgium restaurant Hertog Jan
  • October 15-21, 2018 at Soneva Fushi: Bruno Oger, from two-starred French restaurant La Villa Archange
  • November 5-12, 2018 at Soneva Fushi: Yoann Conte, from two-starred French restaurant Bord du Lac
  • November 25-December 2, 2018 at Soneva Fushi: Pere Planaguma, from two-starred Spanish restaurant Les Col
  • December 5-14, 2018 at Soneva Fushi: Tim Raue, from two-starred German Restaurant Tim Raue
  • December 22, 2018-January 4, 2019 at Soneva Fushi and Soneva Jani: Ronan Kervarrec, from two-starred French restaurant La Table de Plaisance
  • February 14-17, 2019 at Soneva Fushi: Tom Aikens, from two-starred UK restaurant Toms Kitchen
  • March 4-9, 2019 at Soneva Fushi: Guillaume Bracaval, from two-starred French restaurant Michel Troisgros
  • October 6-11, 2019 at Soneva Fushi: Maxime Meilleur, from three-starred French restaurant La Bouitte

Starry starry delight!

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Best of the Maldives: Maldivian Tepanyaki – Makunudu

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Makanudu - Maldives tepanyaki

Grill stations at buffets are often pretty standard fare. And Japanese-style Tepanyaki grills, that inject a bit of show into the prep, can be found at a good number of properties. But we were enchanted by what is probably best described as “Maldivian Tepanyaki” at Makunudu’s Maldivian Night. The chef was preparing “Maldivian Flat Bread Strings”, itself a dish I had never sampled in twenty years of coming to the Maldives.

The chef chops flat breads into very thin “strings” and fries them on the grill. Then some veg and spices are tossed on…with more rhythmic chopping. Finally, the whole mixture is topped with a fish or chicken. It was delicious and all prepared with a rhythmic show.

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Best of the Maldives: Curry Variety – Medhufushi

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Medhufushi - beetroot curry

Planted in the middle of the Indian Ocean, there is never any shortage of subcontinent inspired dishes on the Maldives buffets especially the ubiquitous curry. Reef fish is the obviously the more local staple. But I have never seen such variety in curry variety than I did at Medhufushi. Each night they had no less than 3 different curries. Our first night was beetroot curry, cucumber curry and chicken curry.

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Best of the Maldives: Custom Bento – Park Hyatt Hadahaa

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Park Hyatt Hadahaa - custom bento

You can enjoy gourmet delicacy anywhere on the island at Park Hyatt Hadahaa with their custom bento box:

  • “Select from our special menu and design your own set lunch to be enjoyed under the glorious Maldivian sun while lounging by the main pool, on the main beach or at The Bar.”

Price: US$49 per person, Time: 12:30 pm – 3:30 pm.

  

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Best of the Maldives: Organic Eggs – Six Senses Laamu

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Six Senses Laamu - organic eggs

If the Easter bunny is looking for the best eggs for tomorrow’s baskets, he might want hop on by Six Senses Laamu. Yes, April Fools is tomorrow, but this announcement, “Six Senses Laamu Crafts Out-of-the-Ordinary Experiences on Land and Underwater”, came out last week so it appears to be legic (thanks Paola):

  • “The latest crafted experiences from the resort comes in line with two other Six Senses values of sustainability and pioneering wellness. This time the newest arrivals to the island are a flock of 24 chickens from two neighbouring islands, and their reservation at the resort is made for a long stay. Before their arrival the flock was vetted by Raymond Rochester, a guest and visiting veterinarian. They were given a warm welcome by the resort hosts and upon arrival, in line with guests experience, they are assigned a Chicken Guest Experience Maker (Chicken GEM) available to help make their stay comfortable. Their accommodation is located at the newly built organic Kukulku Farm. Kukulku is the word for chicken in the local language of Dhivehi…Resident Manager Frans Westraadt along with Sustainability Manager Megan O’Beirne supervised the preparation of the Kukulhu Farm. It includes a state-of-the-art chicken gym facility, a multi-level installation with terracing steps for exercise sessions and handmade nests that follow the fundamental philosophies of the Sleep With Six Senses programme.”

One of my favourite egg-cellent press releases of all time.

Six Senses Laamu - chicken spa

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Best of the Maldives: Beach Dinner in Bed – Hideaway Beach

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Hideaway Beach - beach dinner in bed

The Christmas-New Year period is the ultimate calendar week for lingering languor. Lori and I couldn’t make it to the Maldives, but we are still enjoying lounging by the seaside at our family’s place in North Carolina. Our feet are up and we are grazing on American junk food. But it still doesn’t compare with the dormant decadence of Hideaway Beach’s beach bed complete with candlelight and delicacies.

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Best of the Maldives: Pakora Station – Olhuveli

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Olhuveli - pakora station

I always delight in finding things at resorts that I haven’t come across before in other resorts. I especially delight in finding things I had never come across ever in my life. So it was with Olhuveli’s “Pakora”, a kind of ghee-fried fritter. London and the UK is not short of Indian cuisine, but I have never had a pakora in decades of living here. Not to mention visiting the Indian Ocean neighbour for nearly as long. And not only did the resort offer the treat, but they had a special “Pakora Station” which made several variations on the culinary theme fresh to order.

I’ve also decide to add a “Station” tag to the blog to highlight the distinctive “fresh, made to order” preparations available at buffets around the Maldives.

स्वादिष्ट.

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Best of the Maldives: Snacks – Cinnamon Hakuraa Huraa

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Cinnamon Hakuraa Huraa - plane snack

Sometimes all you want is a snack. You don’t want to be beholden to restaurant schedules and so grabbing a lite-bite is a great way to handle the hunger pangs. All the more tasty when served over an azure lagoon like Cinnamon Hakuraa Huraa. The resort offers a range of sacks throughout the day. They also put on snack stations at certain times like a mid-afternoon creperie.

Lots of resorts offer treats throughout the day, but what swung it for Hakuraa Huraa for me was their seaplane transfer snack-pack (see photo above). When you are flying back, they prepare a box with an assortment of sandwiches, fruit, cakes, etc. The seaplanes usually don’t even serve water (the domestic flights often have water and sometimes a little packet of nuts or biscuit). Lori and I had been a bit busy the morning before our departure getting last minutes things attended to and we didn’t really have time to go to lunch with our early afternoon flight time. So the snack was an especially welcome sustenance for journey to Male.

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