Hamakaze at Kurumba
The teppanyaki table at the Maldives' Kurumba resort: a stilted sushi bar over turquoise water, with a gourmet vegan menu that holds its own.
Kurumba was one of the Maldives’ earliest resorts, and it has aged into a property with a genuine passion for low-impact, eco-conscious holidays. That care extends to the table: every restaurant on the island carries a proper spread of gourmet vegan options. But it’s Hamakaze, and its playful take on teppanyaki, that we keep returning to.
The setting alone earns the trip. Hamakaze is built on stilts above the turquoise Maldivian shallows, woven bar stools drawn up around a contemporary sushi counter where highly skilled Japanese chefs take centre stage. Dinner here is as much performance as meal: the theatre of the grill, the precision of the knife work, the sea moving quietly beneath.
The plant-forward cooking is the real surprise. The vegetarian sushi roll is unlike any we’ve tried: confident, properly composed, no sense of a missing ingredient. The kakiage tempura arrives crisp and generous, and the grilled mushroom teppanyaki speaks directly to the case for contemporary Asian cooking done without compromise. None of it reads as an accommodation; it reads as the menu.
What Hamakaze proves is that a resort can take both its sustainability and its plant-based guests seriously without dimming the luxury of the experience. The vegan diner here isn’t handed a shorter, quieter version of dinner. They’re handed the same showpiece, simply built differently.
For travellers eating plant-first through the Maldives, Hamakaze at Kurumba is a highlight worth planning an evening around.
