First look at Emerald Maldives Resort and Spa

If there was one cuisine I wasn’t expecting to experience on my first visit to the Maldives it was South American, and yet on the final evening of my three-night stay at the newly opened Emerald Maldives Resort and Spa, I found myself salivating at melt-in-your-mouth Peruvian ceviche and skewers of juicy red meat.

But what makes Amazonico – claimed to be the first South American restaurant in the Maldives – even more appealing is that guests can dine under its straw roof without having to pay extra for their speciality dining experience. Such is the case with all four restaurants on Fasmendhoo Island, where Emerald Maldives’ Italian owner Ermenegildo Scarapicchia seems to have mastered the pairing of “all-inclusive” and “luxury”.

When I caught up with him at Le Asiatique Restaurant (after a fiery teppanyaki cooking display and a delectable dinner) he explained that the food is what makes his new resort so unique, along with its “exclusivity, privacy and service”.

“Emerald Maldives represents a new generation of resorts – it’s the old Maldives mixed with the new, with all the facilities of a luxury hotel in Dubai,” he said.