Cinnamon Hakuraa Huraa offers exclusive sunset sandbank dinner for couples
Some dinners are remembered for the food, while others for the setting. At Cinnamon Hakuraa Huraa Maldives, this one is designed to be remembered for both.
Far from the lights and sounds of the resort, surrounded by nothing but the Indian Ocean, an intimate sandbank becomes the setting for one of the resort’s most exclusive experiences. Offered only once each evening and reserved for just one couple, Private Sandbank Dining turns an otherwise untouched stretch of sand into a private dining destination for two.
The experience begins just before sunset, when the couple departs the resort by boat for the nearby sandbank. Timing is everything and Cinnamon Hakuraa Huraa Maldives is known for its spectacular sunsets, and arriving as the late afternoon sky begins to change colour means the first course of the evening is, quite simply, the view. Guests can settle in with a cheese platter accompanied by unlimited cocktails or wine, watching the sun slowly disappear into the horizon.
Then comes dinner. The carefully curated multi course menu matches the setting with a dining experience that is sophisticated, generous and beautifully presented. It begins with an oyster with green apple and Tabasco granita, followed by a choice of scallop tiradito with cucumber, tiger’s milk and mango relish or a seared tuna Niçoise salad. Guests then choose between Thai coconut chicken soup and Moroccan spiced lentil and vegetable soup.
For the main course, there is harissa spiced salmon with roasted red pepper coulis, burnt lemon yoghurt and herbed couscous, or an indulgent Surf n Turf Sirloin pairing chargrilled beef with chilli garlic tiger prawns, smoked paprika béarnaise and Parmesan truffle mashed potatoes. A zesty lemon sorbet refreshes the palate before dessert, with a choice between a cinnamon pineapple tart with passion fruit coulis and a pistachio cream roll with raspberry vanilla Chantilly, crumble and petit four.
Guests who have experienced the dinner have been struck not only by the flavours, but by the care and detail that reveal themselves course after course. At USD 475 nett per couple, this is not simply dinner on a sandbank, it is an entire evening created for two, bringing together a private boat journey, sunset drinks, a premium multi course menu and, perhaps most importantly, the feeling of having a tiny piece of the Maldives entirely to yourselves.
