An intimate retreat of serene overwater villas on a remote private island in the Indian Ocean, JA Manafaru Maldives is one of our top recommendations for those who want to really get away from it all and focus on their wellbeing. To celebrate World Food Day on 16th October, the resort has launched an initiative recreating its award-winning menus for health-conscious guests.
‘Wellness Your Way’
Having recently received the Maldives Best Culinary Resort 2023 award from Travel Trade Maldives, JA Manafaru has introduced a new dining alternative embracing healthy entrées and mains along with an array of desserts catering to those who would normally miss out on sweet treats. As part of the island team’s continued efforts for sourcing the best ethical produce, in 2024, JA Manafaru is introducing a range of ‘ethical meats’. This carefully reared livestock is free-range and treated with respect and comfort before calmly being put to rest.
The initiative has been created in collaboration with UK-based celebrity chef Luke French of Joro Restaurant, who has, among other things, trained the resort’s culinary team in fermenting procedures so that they can create the likes of homemade soy sauce and miso to work alongside the island’s new Wellness Beverage program.
Each of the island’s six restaurants now offer separate menus for a variety of lifestyles – vegan and vegetarian, dairy free, gluten free, and low carb – with all dishes based on the most carefully sourced ingredients, including homegrown fruit and vegetables. In order to replicate guests’ favourite dishes, plant-based meats, cheeses, and seafoods are being used, including vegan mozzarella, as well as homemade low-carb bread and pasta made from konjac.
The ‘Wellness Your Way’ initiative also includes the new Alchemy Bar, located at the resort’s Calm Spa Sanctuary, where guests can attend workshops to make herbal remedies and take part in short wellness programmes.
However, as General Manager Jason Kruse comments, “It is vital that guests who come to our island feel equally comfortable to one day eat salad and work out, and the next day enjoy a seven-course wine degustation in our subterranean wine cellar”.
Dining at the JA Manafaru
Indeed, JA Manafaru is a fantastic resort for all foodies, serving an array of modern global cuisines using traditional regional cooking techniques. In addition to wellness meals, you can expect Maldivian flavours (which have Arabic, Indian, and African origins), classic comfort food, Asian delicacies, Italian regional specialties, and locally caught seafood.
The resort’s Dine Around programme allows all guests to dine in any available restaurant and on theme nights, no matter what package you are on. There’s also tempting private ‘Dining by Design’, including beach tables under the stars and castaway feasts on a nearby island.
Keen to showcase indigenous dishes based on spices, fresh local vegetables, and herbs directly from the island gardens, Executive Chef Moosa Nazeeh hosts regular Maldivian cooking classes that are very popular with guests. His own culinary favourite is the traditional feast meal Keyn, accompanying a Mauloodhu prayer, embracing rice, curries, salads, grilled fish, coconut cream, coconut syrup, bananas, and puddings.
To book your holiday at the JA Manafaru Maldives, call your Travel Counsellor today.
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