Patina Maldives resort resort assessment, Fari Islands, Maldives

Every time somebody talks in regards to the Maldives it’s at all times the identical abstract: jaw-dropping seas, postcard seashores, the peak of luxurious and… mediocre meals. It doesn’t matter what resort, it doesn’t matter what island, the delicacies is at all times a comparative let down. It’s change into an anticipated, begrudgingly accepted a part of visiting one of many world’s most lovely nations – till now.

Since opening in Might 2021, Patina Maldives has not solely created a luxurious resort of eco-friendly practices and environmentally-conscious structure, it’s mounted the Maldives’ long-standing meals dilemma, one lovely dish at a time.

Why keep right here?

After a seaplane or boat switch to the Fari Islands, you’re greeted by a Patina “experientialist” – your private attendant during your keep. Whether or not you desire a raise, your flight checked in, or somebody to run your out of doors tub with rose petals, they’re solely a WhatsApp away. Welcoming you by identify with a cool drink and towel that looks like heaven after a long-haul flight, they transport you alongside sand paths and palm timber to your lodging.

For me, that’s an overwater villa that appears prefer it fell straight from the pages of {a magazine}. The suite is nothing in need of extraordinary; infinitely spacious with each potential want attended to. The mattress is plush, the lavatory and waterfall bathe bigger than some London flats and there’s a bottle of complimentary champagne chilling within the fridge. 

The star of the present, nevertheless, is simply exterior. Ground-to-ceiling home windows face out into the sundown over a superb blue ombré of the Indian Ocean. Your deck is kitted out with a non-public pool, tub, and a ladder straight into the ocean. The reef at Patina’s newly-reclaimed island remains to be younger, however ongoing efforts at coral planting and regular development means you may snorkel with many reef fish. As your morning espresso brews, you might spot dolphins within the waves.

Artwork and wellness

On land, the suites, rooms and eating places appear to organically seem from the undergrowth. Brazilian architect Marcio Kogan designed the resort in order that it blends into the palms, by no means peeking over the best timber and with every room at all times simply out of view from the sinuous sand avenues. It’s natural escapist structure. Fashioned primarily from an exquisite gray wooden that appears weather-washed regardless of its newness, you possibly can consider Patina has at all times been right here.

The resort additionally hides a wealth of actions and artwork. The spa is a bunch of immersion tanks, yoga studios, non-public pool rooms and therapeutic massage suites, and is kitted out by natural British model Haeckels that’s doing sensational issues with seaweed and different sustainable pure sources. Arriving on the spa, we’re supplied a gummy vitamin, 3-D printed and tailor-made to advertise internal peace. 

Sculptures, tapestries and pictures adorn each out of doors and indoor areas. The crowning glory is James Turrell’s Amarta, an enormous edifice art work designed to border the sky and manipulate its transferring canvas with colored lights.

Consuming and ingesting

Breakfast

Then there’s the primary, palatable occasion. Merely put, Patina’s eating places have raised the bar for Maldivian resort meals and completed away with one of many largest issues travellers face right here: the captive viewers conundrum. Caught on an island for every week with the identical two eating places quickly turns into boring and bland. Not so at Patina, the place the 12 eating places sprawled throughout this small sand stretch prepare dinner up an in depth vary of cuisines. Its range is so spectacular that friends from the close by resorts are popping over to take benefit. 

Beachfront breakfasts reign supreme at Helios within the island’s north. An ode to Aegean meals, Helios’ Turkish chef group serves up cold and warm mezze, that includes divine menemem eggs with onions, peppers and spices; baked halloumi with pomegranate molasses; and golden honeycomb draped with thick creamy kaimek, all scooped up onto freshly baked sesame simit. Breakfast is served on the shore, alongside the likes of freshly squeezed watermelon juice and inexperienced smoothies.

Lunch

The village is a concentrated space of meals vans and eating places, a fast cycle to the south. Right here you may tuck into meaty, just-seared tuna burgers from the Go Go Burger truck, strive the Ritz Carlton-run Tum Tum pan-Asian trailer, style your approach by way of the each day free ice lotions at Tuk Tuk gelato, or head out of the warmth into Farine the place baked items, cheese and wine await. 

A brief stroll previous the resort’s clothes outlets, dive and marine biology centres brings you to Fari Seaside Membership bar and restaurant. Headed by chef Nick Bril, Fari is a haven of uncovered brick, tender gray sofas, darkish woods and glowing lanterns. The membership is among the finest locations to finish your evening, sipping on a cocktail with a neighborhood twist, a high quality spirit, or sending puffs of shisha up into the starlit sky. At lunch and dinner, Fari devotes itself to native seafood caught simply offshore: strive the crispy prawn dumpling, the reef fish sashimi and the catch of the day.

Dinner

The dinner choices appear to run by way of the resort’s fingers like its high quality white sand. Koen is a Japanese-Norwegian fusion and a agency customer favorite, whereas Brasa reveals off the fireplace and smoke of South American grilled meats. I had anticipated Koen to simply be everybody’s favorite, however ask the ever-accommodating employees, together with culinary director John Bakker, and there’s solely ever one reply.

Wok Society is enjoyable, lovely and each single dish hits the mark. An oriental fusion, dinner is served up by firelight underneath a palm tree cover, naked toes sinking within the sand. The menu reads like a want listing. First comes dim sum; bursting xiao lengthy bao, candy siu mai, pan fried beef dumplings and sticky, translucent har gow. Sashimi and sushi quickly follows, with tuna, Atlantic salmon, yellow tail and eel taking the starring roles. 

The eponymous wok takes over as mains are beckoned in by attentive servers: black pepper beef, Hong Kong-style steamed fish, slow-cooked pork stomach, dan dan noodles and a critically spicy calamari. For dessert, skip the agonising selection between yuzu and black sesame or matcha and have each. 

Residence-grown delicacies

In a quiet nook of the island sits certainly one of Patina’s sustainability efforts and its different finest restaurant. Roots is within the permaculture backyard, the place Patina is attempting to farm the famously infertile Maldivian land. They’re assembly with average success – not sufficient to maintain all the resort however sufficient to gasoline a lot of the restaurant. 

Dinner right here is outstanding: a seasonal vegetarian feast on an enormous stone desk dappled with candlelight and flowers rising proper down the center. There are vegetable-rich power bowls, flower-full minestrone, watermelon tataki, tomato confit and a bread basket-truffle butter mixture that you simply’ll hold coming again to.

Once you’re not being fed, Patina gives the prospect to chef for your self. Maldivian cooking lessons are a superb expertise, exploring Malé’s moist and fruit markets to buy elements, earlier than taking friends again to the kitchen. Chef Ataag, a Maldivian native, is among the locals exhibiting what these elements can do in the precise fingers. 

The ensuing tongue-tantalising meal of a chilli-laden clear snapper soup, the nationwide dish of curry stuffed tuna, and roasted pumpkin dip with flatbreads is the clear culinary winner of the week. Not simply because I helped make it, however as a result of it reveals what the Maldives actually tastes like: pungent, contemporary and fiery and due to Patina, lastly getting its second within the daylight.

Easy methods to get there 

There are direct flights from the UK to Malé, the capital of the Maldives, however many airways cease over within the Center East. From Malé, friends will switch by both boat or seaplane to the resort. 

Jo Davey was a visitor of Patina Maldives, Fari Islands. Pool villas begin from £1,600 an evening; patinahotels.com