Photo: Ithaa Undersea Restaurant © Jingzhongyue | Dreamstime.com
Diners may have some misgivings about ordering the yellowtail king fish or Maldivian lobster entrées while aquatic “relatives” of the seafood are nibbling along on branches in the nest of coral outside the windows. But the menu offers beef and lamb alternatives atIthaa Undersea Restaurant at the Conrad Maldives Rangali Island. Set in the resort’s vibrantly colored coral garden 16 feet below the surface, the restaurant offers 180-degree panoramic “SCUBA” views for diners sampling the European cuisine, four-course lunch menus or six-course fixed-price dinners accompanied by Champagne-inspired wines.
Blossoms float in water pools on the coffee table of the sleek wood lounge where guests gather before being escorted through the sealed door and down the stairs into the dining room. Sculpted place settings echo the waves lapping outside the windows.
Another fish-watching alternative at the Conrad, one of the larger resorts in the 500-mile stretch of the 26-atoll Maldives Islands, is Mandhoo Restaurant at the overwater spa. Diners enjoying dishes based on the five elements can keep an eye out for the restaurant’s “pet” stingray who occasionally glides through the pristine ocean water below.