6 Awesome Places to Eat in Maafushi Island (Maldives)!

There are lots of nice places to eat in Maafushi Island, which was great for us because we always felt famished after all the awesome beach and sea activities in Maafushi. During our stay on this alluring local island that is easily accessible from Male airport, Evan and I visited various restaurants. Below are our six favourites, arranged in alphabetical order. Do note that the restaurants charge 12% GST and 10% service charge on top of the listed price. An awesome hotel to stay on this island would be the Velana Beach Hotel, which offers top-notch accommodation, food, and service.

1. Arena Beach Hotel

We had our first meal in Maafushi here, and it was definitely a good start! We ordered a light dish, the Margarita Pizza ($8), which was covered with hearty toppings of fresh tomato, mozzarella, basil and cheese. Despite being a simple pizza, it was baked to perfection and tasted really delicious. We loved the texture and flavour of the melted cheese, which went well with the crispy pizza crust to produce a delicious treat.

2. BBQ Dinner Buffet @ Arena Beach Hotel

One of our highlights on Maafushi Island was experiencing the awesome BBQ Dinner Buffet at Arena Beach Hotel! This sumptuous buffet offers a mouthwatering spread of Tom Yam Soup, Battered Fried Fish Fingers, Grilled Fish, Seafood Rice, Beef Dumplings, Cream Caramel, cakes and more!

But here’s the best part: it costs just USD 12!

We were blown away by the affordable price. This was definitely one of the most value-for-money buffets we had ever eaten. The food definitely passed muster, and we especially loved the delicious grilled fish which was freshly grilled by a chef. Service was decent, although it was a little difficult to get the staff’s attention sometimes because there were simply too many tourists here enjoying the buffet. On the whole, we had a very pleasant meal and left the hotel rubbing our round tummies in satisfaction.

3. Floating Bar and Safari

This is a floating restaurant bar situated on a yacht that is anchored about 5 minutes offshore from Maafushi Island. Due to strict regulations, it is the only place in Maafushi Island where you can buy alcoholic beverages. The restaurant also sells Italian fusion food.

This is an awesome place to chill out with friends. On the lower level of the boat, there is a large room with a flat-screen television, entertainment system, and comfy sofas. The upper level of the boat is decked out with comfy lounge chairs. At the front of the boat facing the sea, there is even a lounge area with cushy seats. It would definitely be a great experience to chill out on the boat with a beer in hand and admire the beautiful Maafushi sunset!

Our hotel helped us to arrange a small dinghy to bring us to the floating bar. You can either ask your hotel to arrange also, or you can call the floating bar’s telephone which is stated as +960 763 0899 on TripAdvisor.

4. Kaalama Restaurant @ Velana Beach Hotel

Kaalama Restaurant is located at Velana Beach Hotel, and it is one of our favourite restaurants on Maafushi! This classy joint is the only place on Maafushi that offers fine dining. The price is very affordable too.

Our favourite dish was the tantalizing Grilled Seafood Platter (USD 24), which consists of grilled tiger prawns, octopus, crab and grilled fish. We loved the elegant presentation of the dish, and almost couldn’t bear to eat it. Almost. After taking a few photos of the pretty dish, we attacked the platter with gusto. It tasted every bit as good as as it looked!

For dessert, we tried the Chocolate Fondant (USD 10), which is a sinful molten chocolate cake sprinkled with sugar icing and served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. I loved the taste of the velvety melted chocolate on my palate, and within a few minutes I finished the entire cake and ice cream.

You can read our full review of Kaalama Restaurant in Velana Beach Hotel.

5. Kaani Beach Hotel Restaurant

We tried the Seafood Platter (USD 35) at Kaani Beach Hotel Restaurant. This sumptuous dish consists of a selection of crispy coated grilled fish, savoury salt and pepper calamari rings, succulent squid, and golden battered prawns. All the seafood tasted fresh and delicious! Our favourite was the savoury grilled fish, which had skin that was cooked to a crisp. The texture was great and it tasted really nice with the tender fish meat underneath. On the whole, we enjoyed this dish very much, but felt that the price was a little steep.

We also ordered the Holsten Beer (USD 3), which is a “non-alcoholic” beer. As bad as that sounds, it actually tasted pretty decent, as it had a similar texture and flavour as real beer.

6. Symphony Lagoon @ Crystal Sands Hotel

The Symphony Lagoon restaurant located at Crystal Sands Hotels is another highly rated restaurant on Maafushi. We ordered the Seafood Pizza (USD 10) and the Grilled Fish with Lemon Buttersauce served with Mashed Potato and Coleslaw Salad (USD 12). Luckily, the restaurant lived up to its hype and we enjoyed both these delicious dishes very much. Also, the prices were very affordable too.

And that’s it! We hope you have enjoyed this list of best places to eat in Maafushi. Feel free to ask anything in the comments section below.

This article is part of our completely free and fantastic Ultimate Maafushi Travel Guide. Why spend days researching when all your holiday information is simply a click away? 🙂