Food & Cuisine in Maldives

Food info sections | Eating locally

Just reading our Maldives Restaurant Guide will make you hungry! So, after some Maldives shopping fun, relax in beautiful surroundings and taste a variety of dishes from the restaurant of your choice.

Food & Cuisine in Maldives

The majority of hotels and restaurants in Malé offer a combination of Eastern and Western specialities. Cafés in Malé are known as 'hotaa' and are a great place to get some local food and drink. Traditional Maldivian food is spicy, although not quite as spicy as in its neighbouring countries. They usually contain rice, fish broth, or garudhiya, and side dishes such as chilli, onions and lime. Curries are called riha and are quite popular, and eaten with both rice and roshi, which is unleavened flat bread similar to the Indian roti.

Other common dishes are:

- mas huni - smoked fish that is shredded and mixed with onions and grated coconuts. (This is the most common Maldivian breakfast dish)
- fihunu mas - barbequed fish marinated with chilli

Snacks are called hedhikaa and are usually deep fried fish-based items that are commonly found in Maldives restaurants.

Some popular snacks in Maldives are:

- bajiyaa - stuffed pastry with fish, onions and coconut
- gulha - stuffed pastry balls with smoked fish
- keemia - fish rolls that are deep fried
- kulhi boakibaa - a spicy fish cake
- masroshi - mas huni which is wrapped in a roshi bread and then baked
- theluli mas - fried fish with garlic and chilli

Drinking in Maldives

Locals are banned from consuming alcohol since the Maldives is a Muslim country. However, all Maldives resorts as well as live-aboard boats are permitted to serve alcohol.