The only thing that exceeded expectations was the "taste of India" or something like that, which they don't do anymore. It was around $200 for a "meal for 2" but really could have fed 4 to 6, and the depth and complexity of flavors in all the various dishes were just spot on. Better than anything I've had in NY, London, or India.

I don't think any of the "dining room" food is particularly good, which is part of why I don't do the all inclusive. After several hours of snorkeling though, the pizzas or thai curries are certainly good enough to do the trick, and I've never left here feeling the food was bad. The food is just not at all the highlight of (or the reason for) the stay.

If you go to Koi, try the wagyu, the unagi, and the shiitake mushroom nigiri. (Those items at least exceeded my expectations for the Maldives -- and they would exceed my expectations for a normal mid-American sushi joint. They were in line with what I would expect to get at a nice upmarket sushi joint in NY, Miami, or Dallas.) The traditional futomaki was quite nice as well although I'm not sure how traditional it is to have poached shrimp in a futomaki. The salmon tataki dish was interesting (sort of an odd pesto sauce at bottom which didn't seem like it would pair well with the ikura, but the ikura also didn't have the traditional dashi shoyu marinade so it ended up being a good bite).

Seafood buffet is objectively not "worth it" if you mean food-to-dollar ratio unless you really just eat that much lobster and shrimp. I ate six lobster tails and a bunch of other seafood but still, I could do that at home for a third of the cost or less... the only real reason to go to it is if you like the idea of a barefoot beach dinner... they really do an all-hands-on-deck construction effort to make the vibe.

Here's a pic of last Saturday's seafood buffet setup, followed by one of my plates of lobster tails and then the sashimi from Koi ($44):