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This Review of the Ritz-Carlton Maldives, Fari Islands Dining and Restaurants includes the breakfast buffet at La Locanda and dinners at Eau Bar and Arabesque.
Ritz-Carlton Maldives Breakfast Buffet at La Locanda Restaurant
TravelSort Clients enjoy STARS benefits at the Ritz-Carlton Maldives, including complimentary buffet breakfast for two daily at La Locanda Restaurant, served 7-11am. The restaurant is in the center of the resort, close to where IWAU, Eau Bar, and the Summer Pavilion are also located. Late risers who have a hearty brunch are unlikely to need anything but fruit or a light snack until dinner.
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The breakfast buffet was extensive, particularly the variety of cereals, milks, and yogurts. The honeycomb was a nice touch.
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I found the cut fruit selection somewhat lacking (no berries, no fresh passion fruit) although I was very happy to see pomelo one morning.
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While there aren't a lot of salads to choose from, we enjoyed those they offered, as well as the fresh burrata cheese.
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There was a dedicated Indian chef and menu, as well as dim sum selections that we liked better than at the St. Regis Maldives. There was no sushi or sashimi (unlike The Nautilus or Velaa), however.
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We enjoyed the authentic dosa that we sampled.
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Har gau and siu mai were very good as well, although as former New Yorkers, we found the bagels rather lacking.
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In addition to the buffet, guests may order a cooked to order dish from the menu.
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The Maldivian lobster chili omelette was tasty, but could have had a bit more lobster in it.
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The Italian Waffle itself was good, but disappointingly came with a tiny berry garnish, not the many strawberries we were expecting.
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The Pan Brioche was our favorite sweet a la carte dish we tried, with a nice spiced apple compote. It's also a relatively small serving, perfect if you want to sample a variety of other dishes.
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We can't recommend the berry smoothie at all, it was mostly milk without enough berries, and the worst we've had in awhile.
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A true highlight of the buffet were the pastries, particularly the viennoiserie and filled pastries. On one day the best was a lemon meringue one; the next morning it was filled with nutella.
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Full credit as well for the excellent cappuccino, which even came with an artful heart.
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Dinner at Eau Bar
Eau Bar is a favorite spot to watch the sunset. We enjoyed a very good mango lassi and snacks by the bar, before moving to one of the tables for dinner.
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The menu features sushi and sashimi, as well as tempura and Japanese-influenced mains.
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Our seared salmon truffle roll and soft shell crab roll were excellent, if pricey, as was the nasu miso eggplant.
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Dinner at Arabesque
While most Ritz-Carlton Maldives restaurants are at the resort itself, Arabesque, the Ritz's Middle Eastern restaurant, is located at the Patina Maldives property, a short boat ride away. It's open daily except Wednesday for lunch from noon-3pm and for dinner 6:30-10pm.
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We opted to sit on comfortable sofas:
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Here was the menu for our visit:
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The amuse bouche, a truffled dip, was significantly better than the amuses bouches we had at the St. Regis Maldives restaurants.
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As shared appetizers, we ordered hummus, smoked mutabal, and labneh nojomya with pepper paste, but the restaurant also provide a complimentary dish of truffle hummus, which was incredible and our favorite. That said, we really enjoyed all the dips we ordered and would order them again.
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As mains, we ordered the Goan fish curry, which was good (and likely very authentic) but paled against the Ouzi Bil Freekeh (lamb shank with green wheat and nuts) and the Dhal Makhani. In fact, the Dhal Makhani vied with the truffle hummus as my favorite dish of the evening, it was that well made, velvety and smoky.
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The Verdict
The highlight of our meals at the Ritz-Carlton Maldives was our dinner at Arabesque, located at The Patina Maldives. Both the food and service were excellent and well worth the short boat journey there and back. Breakfast at La Locanda was also very good, although missing some of the treats we've enjoyed at other resorts, such as fresh passion fruit, berries, higher quality smoothies, and sushi/sashimi. Highlights for breakfast were the Indian fare, cappuccino, and pastries.
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