The Maldive Kitchen — Restaurant in Malé

Check your bill carefully — both the item names and unit prices. You might end up paying more if you don’t scrutinize the details. The food was okay, but these billing practices diminish the overall dining experience.

Hidden charge for water: Still water was served without being asked and presented like a complimentary item. It wasn’t listed on the menu as chargeable. If water is chargeable, it should be clearly indicated — customers might have chosen another drink if they knew. I had already seen Google reviews mentioning this issue, with some customers getting refunds after noticing the charge. So I double-checked my bill and, indeed, found a charge for water. When I questioned it, the server insisted it was chargeable — only to remove it after I brought up the other Google comments. That felt dishonest. Inconsistent pricing: You’d expect the dish name and price on your bill to match the menu, but they don’t. One dish was listed with a higher unit price than on the menu. When I asked why, I was told it included GST — but GST is shown after the subtotal, not within the unit price. If GST is already baked into the item price, why is it also added again at the end? It wasn’t just the overcharge — it was the dismissive and evasive explanation that made it worse. GST on top of service charge: The 8% GST is calculated after the 10% service charge, which is unusual. This means you’re effectively paying tax on the service charge too — something that isn’t common practice and should be...

I went with 3 friends to The Maldives Kitchen recently. We had no reservation but the owners were sitting outside and said we could come back in 30 minutes for a table - even allowing us to go ahead and put in our orders so that the food would be ready when we returned! And what a meal it was - Musamma kukulhu, Fathu Dhonriha, Gabulhi Satani - all so delicious! Interesting flavors and textures. Our conversation literally stopped cold as we started putting the food in our mouths. Highly recommend a trip to The Maldives Kitchen! (I would give it 6...

Service is poor. We were the only client when we arrived and it took almost an hour to get our food served. We were not informed why it took that long to prepare our food. We just ordered fried plantain (which was not fried, it was either boiled or grilled), coconut salad, chicken curry and breadfruit curry and a fried flat bread. The food is just so-so and nothing to write home about. Was very disappointed with the visit, the local eatery along the main road was even better, and the staff were friendlier and tried their best to describe the...