The Maldives’ Only Jungle Dining Experience Returns as Nest Reopens at Niyama

Niyama Private Islands Maldives reopens its Asian restaurant, Nest, with reimagined jungle dining reinforced with bold, new flavours.

Located within the deep heart of the island of Play, Nest brings dramatic flair to Asian fine dining, with a unique setting of wild, indigenous flora that envelops guests in the surreal and transports them to another world.

The experience begins with a stroll along the meandering boardwalk through the jungle’s overgrown vines. The magic of Nest then reveals itself under the canopy of a banyan tree decades in the making. On the ground floor, tribal, thatched-roof huts centre around the showcase teppanyaki, where fiery flavours await. Alternatively, guests can ascend the spiral staircase, then cross the bridge to their dining platform suspended six metres in the air.

The original design of Nest was conceived in 2013 by Poole Associates and landscape architect Drew Anderson of TOPO Design. They envisioned a multi-level treehouse connected by a labyrinth of wooden walkways and bridges that appears then melts back into the trees.

After a decade of operation, Niyama unveils an enhanced setting, with denser, more dramatic landscaping by the resort’s chief engineer Michael Selvin to envelop each table more fully in nature and exclusivity. At night, the trees shimmer with hundreds of lights, and hints of red add an element of the exotic, reminiscent of the neon glow of the streets of Saigon, Tokyo or Bangkok.

niyama.com