• The first and only restaurant in Maldives ever to be voted into Asia’s 50 Best Restaurant Awards

    Meaning ‘essence’ in local Dhivehi, Aragu at Velaa Private Island Maldives presents a contemporary dining experience that fuses European cooking techniques, influences from the surrounding region including the chef’s native Sri Lanka, and a commitment to sustainability. It is no secret that, despite being among the most secluded and luxurious island resorts in the Maldives, Velaa Private Island Maldives boasts the distinctive allure of world-class cuisine.

    Helmed by chef Gaushan De Silva, Aragu is a 36-seat restaurant that offers a fresh Asian twist on modern European cuisine. The award-winning chef’s colourful resumé reveals impressive culinary luminaries as his past mentors, including Édouard Loubet, Robert Lalleman, and Adeline Grattard and also having been trained in world renowned restaurants such as three MICHELIN-starred Alain Ducasse au Plaza Athénée and NOMA . Using the skills he picked up at the world’s greatest restaurants, Chef De Silva has created an inimitable category of contemporary cuisine at Aragu – one that represents his journey as a chef from learning how to cook in Sri Lanka, and pursuing his passion professionally in the Maldives for over a decade.

    Designed for the sophisticated globetrotter, Aragu’s menus use only the finest organic produce and carefully selected ingredients from sustainable suppliers around the world. Guests at Aragu are invited to experience the best of Chef De Silva’s cooking through the restaurant’s signature seven-course tasting menu, “A Taste of Maldives”, which highlights the finest seasonal produce from and around the island nation.

    “A Taste of Maldives” Signature Chef’s Degustation Menu by Gaushan De Silva

    “A Taste of Maldives” is priced at US$260 per guest, and begins with CAVIAR, a decadent introduction to Chef De Silva’s boundless creativity. Iranian caviar is served upon a traditional pan-fried sweet potato Maldivian pancake with coconut kurumba  sour cream infused with local chilli and grated lime zest. REEF FISH celebrates the traditional Maldivian staple food, which converts the classic garudhiya (reef fish) soup into a consommé. The consommé is served with drumstick leaf-dusted bajiiya (fried dumpling) filled with mas huni (tuna, onion, coconut and chilli) and potato. YELLOWFIN TUNA is Chef De Silva’s Maldivian contemporary take on sushi, with raw sliced local yellowfin tuna served on aromatic theluli fai drumstick leaf-fried rice, topped with confit local egg yolk.

    The CRAB course features steamed locally caught Maldivian crab marinated in rihaakuru (tuna paste) infused ponzu, and topped with coconut sabayon, vinegary puffed rice, and roasted coconut powder. A natural segue into the next course of LOBSTER, Chef De Silva presents a creative take on classic tuna kandu kukulhu using local lobster and a surprising French twist. Lobster tail is marinated in a homemade paste of lemongrass, curry leaves, pardon leaves, and Scotch bonnet, cooked sous vide, and served with a side of coconut curry beurre blanc and tapioca pearls.

    The final savoury course is the CHICKEN, which spotlights tender baby chicken breast marinated with onion, cumin, havaadhu curry paste and raisins, grilled to perfection and served with musamma braised eggplant puree and local toddy emulsion – a reduction of local toddy, Shaoxing wine and coconut milk with butter. The tasting menu concludes with another Maldivian staple as the star  of the dish – COCONUT, served with coconut espuma, Creole ice cream and kanamadhu (tropical almond cake).

    The full tasting menu is as below:

    A TASTE OF MALDIVES
    by Executive Chef Gaushan de Silva
    US$260 per guest

    Caviar
    Fermented sweet potato

    Reef Fish
    Consomme, drumstick leaves

    Yellowfin Tuna
    Confit egg yolk

    Crab
    Roasted coconut sabayon

    Lobster
    Curry, kandu kukulhu

    Chicken
    Barbecued, braised eggplant

    Coconut
    Coconut espuma, creole ice cream, kanamadhu

    Tea or Coffee

    Aragu Awards & Accolades

    With De Silva at the head of the kitchen, Aragu went from strength to strength, being the only restaurant in Maldives to be voted into Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants Top 100 in 2021 and receiving other key accolades such as Best Signature Restaurant in the World 2019 by Paradise Magazine, Top 12 Best Luxury Restaurants in Maldives 2020 by Lifestyle Luxury Awards, World’s Best Culinary Excellence 2021 by Boutique Hotel Awards, and its inauguration into La Liste Awards 2022.