Dining by Design, Shangri-La

Romantic Dinner, Maldives’ Highest Peak, Shangri-La’s Villingili Resort

Monica Tindall

Shangri-La’s Villingili Resort and Spa, Maldives takes a romantic dinner for two up a notch with their Dining by Design destination dinners. Limited only by your imagination, the resort team will set up a white clothed candlelit table just about anywhere you desire on the island and provide a team of wait staff and chef dedicated solely to satisfying your culinary cravings.

Dining by Design, Shangri-La
Our Personal Chef for the Evening – Mohsen Momtaz
Maldives’ Highest Peak

We can’t resist dining on Maldives’ highest peak, Mount Villingili, a whopping 5.1 metres above sea level (hee hee!). On the southern tip of the island, and within the country’s only nine-hole golf course, a grassy hill is dressed with fine dining panache. Torches and globe lamps light a pathway to the crest and friendly wait staff oblige as we do a mini photo shoot before sitting down to eat.

Dining by Design, Shangri-La
Dining on Mount Villingili, Maldives’ Highest Peak
Dining by Design, Shangri-La
Views from the Dinner Table
Dining by Design, Shangri-La
Sunset

Guests can choose from a number of menus: seafood; Arabic; celebratory and Mediterranean. All feature a line up of salads, mains from the grill and desserts. The Celebratory, a mix of grilled seafood and meats takes hubby’s fancy, so that’s what we order.

Warm bread and water are on our table alongside some pretty floral adornment. And, when given the word, our starters come out soon after.

Starters

A seafood theme runs through the mini bowls of salads: smoked salmon and capers with mixed leaves, avocado and lemon dressing; blue swimmer crab mousse with mango and papaya salad; grilled calamari with green mango and coriander sauce; and lastly, our favourite, plump springy tiger prawns atop a miso mayonnaise and pickled cucumbers. All are fresh, and remind us of the stunning Maldivian waters that surround us.

Dining by Design, Shangri-La
Seafood Starters
Mains

The searing of meat and smoke teases our noses and makes our mouths water as the mains are being freshly prepared by our Dining by Design chef. Hot off the grill an opulent platter of proteins has hubby drooling and me thinking that I won’t need to eat any meat for a month! Premium Angus beef rib eye is deliciously charred around the edges and pink in middle. Grilled scampi are juicy with garlic butter and the white snapper that has been baked in foil is wonderfully moist and flaky. The grilled Maldivian lobster, however, is the star of the show. Red and charred, the meat is succulent with the smoky taste of the barbecue evident in the flesh.

Also just roasted are a colourful display of tomatoes, sweet peppers, zucchini, eggplant and basil, and a yummy herb baked potato with sour cream. A trio of sauces – lemon butter, barbecue and beef jus – is ready for addition as desired, but we barely touch them as the fresh produce needs nothing extra.

Dining by Design, Shangri-La
Mixed Grill
Dessert

Chocolate Five Ways is a luscious layering of mousse, cake, sauce, icing and chocolate adornment. The portion is large for its richness and we barely make it half way through. It’s certainly a very generous serving and concludes our “meal on the hill” on a sweet note.

Dining by Design, Shangri-La
Chocolate Five Ways

Shangri-La’s Villingili Resort and Spa, Maldives
Villingili Island, Addu City 28019, Maldives
www.shangri-la.com/male/villingiliresort/
+960 689-7888

11 Comments

  1. Sure is a low-lying place, the Maldives. The mixed grill platter with a twist, not the same as the usual run-off-the-mill ones, got my attention. Lovely sunset pic.

  2. anywhere on the island? That sounds like a potentially fun and interesting challenge to the hotel team! 🙂

  3. Beautiful place! Sunset looks amazing!
    Vesna

  4. What a wonderful setting!

  5. Looks interesting! Thanks for sharing! Have a nice weekend)

  6. Hello, what a beautiful place. Lovely spot for a romantic dinner. The food looks delicious. Thanks for sharing the review. Happy Friday, enjoy your day and weekend!

  7. This reminded me a lot of a birthday celebration that we had in Phuket. The only place I have ever dined sitting on a beach, enjoying the sea, with the very freshest and best sea food I have ever had. Thanks for the memory of probably the best holiday we have ever had. Happy weekend Diane

  8. An absolutely gorgeous and romantic setting, Monica, and I love the look of the food, too!

  9. Wow! I’m green with envy. Maldives is in my bucket list of places I want to visit. And to have dinner with such setting and view is simply priceless.

  10. A bit too windy for a romantic meal. 😉

  11. The setting and the food looks so beautiful 🙂 Hope all is well with you 🙂

    Summer

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