UK Edition
Destination Dining: Ithaa Undersea Restaurant, the Maldives
Why go: Ithaa is the world's first all-glass undersea restaurant, located five metres below sea level at the Conrad Rangali Maldives Island resort in the Maldives. The panoramic view allows visitors to dine while watching thousands of fish swim around them, all without getting their feet wet.
The experience: Entering the restaurant is magical, rather like tumbling down a tropical version of Alice in Wonderland's rabbit hole . Guests are led across a wooden jetty to a tiny thatched pavilion, then pointed down a dark, winding staircase. At the bottom is Ithaa – essentially a tiny transparent box, only nine metres long and five metres wide, with space for 14 diners at a time. Just inches away through the glass, there are fish of every colour and shape imaginable. The luckiest diners might glimpse turtles, stingrays or even sharks.
When it opened in 2005, Ithaa (the name means "mother of pearl") was one of the very first underwater restaurants, and the first to be made entirely of glass. With so many luxury hotels in the Maldives to choose from, it was built to provide the Conrad Rangali resort with an obvious point of distinction, and its development was an exceptionally ambitious undertaking. The entire 175-tonne structure was constructed in Singapore in just a few months before being transported over by ship and sunk onto steel legs on the seabed. Maintaining it isn’t easy: for one thing, the glass has to be cleaned every day.
The novelty setting is undeniably Ithaa's main draw, but the food is excellent – particularly considering that the 1,000-plus islands that make up the Maldives have very little agricultural value and almost all food has to be imported. (The resort takes delivery of five tonnes of food a week, containing everything from Australian wagyu beef to French chocolate and Caspian Sea caviar).
The four-course lunch and six-course dinner menu are largely contemporary European in style, and well-executed, albeit with the odd jarring note when an ingredient pairing doesn't quite work. I tried a vibrant fresh green pea soup with sage butter and (rather unnecessary) tomato confit; much better was the green mango and papaya salad, mouth-puckeringly zingy, served with perfectly seared scallops and a sweet mouthful of carrot mousse.
What to order: Fish – unless you feel guilty about eating it in plain sight of its brethren. All fish is caught locally, using the sustainable pole-and-line method (fishing nets are banned in the Maldives). The best dish is one of the simplest: the daily-changing ‘reef fish’, such as snapper or grouper, served grilled with sauteed kale and a zesty, lemon-spiked mash.
Who’s behind it: Italian-born chef Marco Amarone, who has worked everywhere from the Philippines to Bermuda, heads up the team.
Where to stay: The restaurant is only open to guests of the Conrad Rangali but thankfully, the five-star resort is an idyllic place to stay. Spread over two islands connected by a bridge, it offers a range of accommodation, from beachside homes to "sea villas", traditional wooden structures perched on stilts above the turquoise water.
What else to do: Though the Maldives specialises in luxury experiences beyond compare, it's hard to beat a day simply spent swimming, sunbathing and snorkelling. But for some stimulating insight into local life, it's worth making some time to visit the extraordinary capital, Male, where some 150,000 people are crammed onto an island less than six square kilometres in size. It is half an hour away by sea plane.
Getting there: Bookings for Ithaa can be made by contacting a hotel representative on +960 668-0629. A four-course set lunch costs around £150; the six course dinner menu is £230; mid-afternoon "cocktail hour", including a glass of champagne and selection of canapes, is £50. Rooms at Conrad Maldives Rangali Island (+960 668 0629) start from £737 per night. British Airways offers direct flights to Male to London from £732.