Best Food to Try in the Maldives - Must-Sample Dishes to Savour during a Tour of the Maldives

This is perhaps the ultimate comfort food for Maldivians living overseas as the aromatic fish soup is a meal or a starter that's enjoyed in local households almost daily. Made using fresh tuna fish cubes that are slow-cooked with onions, salt, and local spices, Garudhiya can be consumed on its own or as a side dish for steamed rice. One of the best places to order a bowl of this hearty soup in Hulhumale is at the Iberry Café.

This shredded and smoked fish dish is made using tuna and coconut shavings. Resembling sambal in Asian cuisines, this dish is also flavoured with a dash of lime, onions, and salt. Usually eaten with some type of roti called Roshi or Indian chapatti, Mas Huni is a breakfast dish visitors will find at The Sea House Maldives and resort restaurants at Baros Maldives and other hotels.

Most Maldives restaurants will list Bis Keemiya in their starters or snack menu as this dish is often compared to a samosa or a Chinese spring roll. Crispy and delicious, Bis Keemiya is a pastry that features a tuna filling that has also been infused with a hardboiled egg, shredded cabbage, and sautéed onions. The beauty of this pastry is its unique mix of flavours.

This is a dish that combines Mas Huni with roti in a special way to create another breakfast dish that graces the menus of Café Rio in Male and the Lonuveli Restaurant in Hulhulmale. A fresh chapatti is stuffed with smoked tuna, curry leaves, and grated coconuts in this dish, which is as wholesome as it is delectable.

Also called Banana Flower Salad, this is perhaps the most popular vegan dish in Maldivian cuisine. None of the ingredients required for the dish undergoes any cooking or boiling but is combined and eaten fresh. Banana flowers must first be shredded and tossed into a mixture that includes curry leaves, freshly grated coconut, cumin powder, and turmeric. After mixing these components together, local chefs like to add a dash of lime and other local spices to give this salad dish a tangy flavour.

Served in nearly every cafe down Raaveribe Maizaan, Male's western harbour, fried yams are a popular snack that's loved by locals and expats alike. Soft on the inside and crunchy, the coveted snack is usually served alongside a number of local sauces that add more flavour to the dish.

Those who love sweet desserts will relish the taste of sago pudding or Saagu Bondibai. Made using sago seeds, condensed milk, and coconut milk, this pudding also features rose water and cardamom, which explains its aroma.