The Conrad Rangali Island is home to the Maldives’ first, and largest, wine cellar. Located 2 meters underground, the Conrad’s wine cellar holds 18,000 bottles of wine, including a first vintage Krug Clos d’Ambonnay (1995) and a bottle of 1990 Methuselah Cristal, costing more than $50,000 USD. It also holds a table seating 10 guests, and its absolutely stunning.

Not surprisingly, the Wine Cellar is home one of the Conrad’s dinner experiences. And, by quick background, the Conrad has several restaurants offering nightly a la carte service, but it also offers a special theme dinners a couple nights a week, including the dinner in the Ithaa Underwater Restaurant, a beach barbecue (which did not love), and a wine and cheese dinner (a fantastic one!). We love wine, so we signed up for this dinner at a cost of $385 per person (!!), all inclusive of food and wine. This dinner was only offered on Friday evening during our visit, so Friday evening it was! The actual menu is only released a few days in advance (after its booked up), and we were very sad to see that it included duck (as Dan is very allergic!). We spoke to the resort and they assured us that he would be served something else… Turns out, they totally changed the menu so that duck would not even be in the kitchen – great service!!

Our dinner experience began above the Wine Cellar at Restaurant Vilu’s outdoor bar, which is usually home to the daily Hilton Diamond and Gold Member Happy Hour. We began with a brief background about the wine cellar, an amuse bouche of a single pasta stuffed with cheese in a beet sauce, and a full pour of Veuve Clicquot. A very good start to the wine dinner!

The dinner group next made our way down to the wine cellar for the second course and some more information on wine from the Conrad Rangali Island’s sommelier, who hails from South Africa. This presentation was pretty interesting and it included some tech assistance from Ipads at each seat (pro tip – don’t spill your wine in the table where the Ipad comes out like I did…whoops!).

After the introductions, we were presented with our first “real” dish, a Maldivian lobster carpaccio paired with an Austrian 2020 Sauvignon Blanc. The Maldivian lobster carpaccio was quite good and was topped with edible flowers, caviar, and a mango sauce. It paired well with the Sauvignon Blanc, which is generally not my favorite wine.

Moving along, a vegetarian lasagna followed the lobster carpaccio, which was paired with an “orange” wine. And truly, this dish was the highlight of my evening. It tasted like a real Italian lasagna and the pesto was on point! Dan is never a fan of vegetarian dishes, and even he was enjoying this dish. Great job, chef!

We then began the meat courses, starting with a herb crusted halibut. I was not totally excited for this dish as I am not the biggest fish person, but this crust was insane, and made the dish absolutely delicious! The halibut was paired with a white wine, asparagus, a tasty yellow sauce, and rolled cucumbers.

After the halibut, everyone enjoyed a mint sorbet palette cleanser and a quick step outside for some fresh air and warmth, as the wine cellar gets chilly, before our final two courses.

Our last main course, which was paired with not one but two glasses of red wine, was much, much better than it looks in this photo! It was Australian Onyx beef, which is similar to some of the fancy Japanese beefs. The Australian steak was served with fantastic mashed potatoes, asparagus tips, and some other veggies, and topped with a light gravy sauce. It was truly great and paired perfectly with both of the red wines!

The final course of the evening was a very chocolaty dessert – four dense chocolate cakes paired with ice cream, edible flowers and a dash of berry compote. An insane finish to an incredible meal!

All in, we found the Wine Cellar Dinner to be worth the splurge on Rangali Island. The included wine definitely makes the price a bit more reasonable (and I mean reasonable compared to the other restaurants on the island) and the quality of the food and wine were very good. We are going back in November and decided that this is a dinner that we will definitely repeat! We recommend this dinner for those liking good food and wine and looking for a dinner experience while at the Conrad Rangali Island. The menu, as you saw here, can be altered for dietary restrictions. A vegetarian couple joined our dinner and their vegetarian plates looked just as good as ours!

STEAL OUR TRIP

Wine Cellar Dinner: $385 per person, including six courses and 7 glasses of wine. Regular and vegetarian set menu offered. Reservations essential, as seating is extremely limited. Shorts permitted even for dinner, but no swim or gym wear allowed. That being said, it is cold in the wine cellar so you will want something a bit warm (blankets provided if needed).

ON A BUDGET

If $385 per person is out of your budget but you still like this style of dinner, do the Cheese Fondue dinner in the Wine and Cheese bar. It has a similar “wine” feel, but is only $150 per person for 3 courses. It does not come with wine, but you should select a bottle from the master list earlier in the day and have it delivered to the dinner. There is a wine list at dinner, but the selection (including price selection) is much larger on the master list.

Also, if you just want to see the Wine Cellar, staff at will often take you down, especially when they are not super busy.