The 2015 WRMC Restaurants Quality Recognition Awards:

L’Agape Restaurant, Ristorante La Vela and Joseph Vella, Executive Head Chef at the Hilton Malta 

grab the top honours.

 The 3rd edition of the annual WRMC Restaurants Quality Recognition Awards were this year held at the Hilton Malta on Monday, the 26th of January.

The best and brightest of Malta’s and Gozo’s food scene – the chefs , restaurateurs and hoteliers, whose creativity, class and craft impressed the WRMC inspectors and panel of adjudicators, most over the past year – were honoured at the third annual WRMC Restaurants Quality Recognition Awards 2015.

More than 260 of the Malta’s top chefs, restaurateurs from fifty-five top restaurants and hotels, sponsors and their guests, gathered at the exclusive  Portomaso Suite at the Hilton Malta for the gala dinner and presentation ceremony.

This year’s awards were  presented  by the WRMC Executive Director and leading restaurant reviewer  Mr. Reno Spiteri,  and by the leading sponsors representatives being Mr. Matthew Miceli Demajo,  General Manager of M.Demajo (Wines and Spirits) Limited; Mr. Stephen Xuereb, Chief Executive Officer  of Valletta Cruise Port plc; Mr. Jesmond Ciantar, Sales Director at P.J. Sutters Marketing Limited; and by  Mr Duncan Cila, Dierctor at AppleCore Foods Limited, as well as by Mr. Chris Spiteri and Mrs. Mary Grace Borg, WRMC Directors respectively, in an enjoyable and highly awaited ceremony that saw Mr. Joseph Vella,  Executive Head Chef at the Hilton Malta receiving the first and inaugural “Lifetime Achievement Award” for his outstanding service in the culinary profession,  ranging over thirty-five years, including the writing of two culinary books the proceeds from which went to the Renal Unit. Chefs Roberta Preca of Tal-Familja Restaurant of Marsascala and Chef Paul Buttigieg of Tmun Mgarr, of Gozo, were overwhelmed by their nomination to receive the newly introduced  “Promising Top Chef Award”  for a male and female young chef, and by the thunderous applause that these three nominations received when the three participants went on stage to receive their prestigious awards.

L’Agape Restaurant of Rabat, Malta and Ristorante La Vela of Pieta Gardens, Pieta took this year’s, only two, WRMC Silver Spoon Awards, and joined the other ten restaurants that have retained their Silver Spoon Awards from 2013 and 2014 respectively. To be even considered for a nomination for the WRMC Silver Spoon Award, of which a maximum of only six can be conferred in any one year, a restaurant,  must have been in operation for not less than two years under the same operators and the same executive chef, and would have been inspected and reviewed by the WRMC initial survey team, and followed by two additional anonymous inspections by WRMC appointed inspectors for ambience; restaurant atmosphere and decor; management attitude; service and staff attitude, efficiency and decorum; cuisine quality; cuisine preparation and presentation; wine list with a good selection of  premium wines with a decent mark-up; cleanliness; etc.  WRMC Siler Spoon restaurants must be outstanding in all respects and must be destination restaurants with a national identity, to which diners would have no hesitation to drive or travel to their location within the Maltese Islands simply to dine there.

 The current, twelve WRMC Silver Spoon Restaurants are:

Blue Elephant  at the Hilton;

Patrick’s – Victoria, Gozo;

Tarragon – St. Paul’s Bay;

Tartarun – Marsaxlokk ;

The Arches – Mellieha ;

TemptAsian  at  The Palace Hotel;

The Villa Brasserie, St. Julians;

Tmun Mgarr, Mgarr, Gozo;

Palazzo Preca, Valletta

L’Ortolan at the Kempinski   Hotel, Gozo.                                  

L’Agape of Rabat, Malta;

Ristorante La Vela  of Pieta.

The WRMC Top 30 Restaurants in the Maltese Islands Blue Riband Awards category, which for this year was sponsored by M. Demajo (Wines and Spirits) Limited,  saw thirteen restaurants, which included three Sunday Buffet Lunch restaurants, retaining the Blue Riband Award from 2014, all of which were presented with a handsome Blue Riband plaque, as well as seventeen new restaurants which were conferred with the prestigious Blue Riband framed certificate for the first time this year. The Blue Riband restaurant category show a number of “rising stars”  and denote particularly good restaurants, offering upscale service within the current format of “premiumised informality” restaurants, and which are all eventual contenders  for  the highly coveted WRMC Silver  Spoon Award.

The 2015 WRMC Blue Riband Restaurants are:

Zest  Flavours – St. Julians;

Waterbiscuit at the Intercontinental Hotel;

Pintonino at the Valletta Waterfront ;

Venus Restaurant of Bugibba;

Bottega del Vino, Hilton Hotel;

Tal-Familja Restaurant, Marsascala

Porto Vecchio – Mgarr, Gozo.

The Chop House, Tigne point

Pepe Nero Restaurant – Valletta Waterfront;

Zerri’s  Restaurant at Portomaso;

Saragema Indian Restaurant , Fortina Hotel, Sliema

Caviar & Bull Restaurant – Corinthia St. Georges Bay Hotel Complex, St. Julian’s;

Paranga at the  InterContinental Hotel;

Wejla by Tartarun  at  Smart City Malta;

Commando Restaurant of  Mellieha ;

San Andrea Rabat at Palazzo Castelletti, Rabat, Malta ;

Acqua -Terra e Mare of Portomaso;

Ali Baba Lebanese  Restaurant, Gzira

Nan Yuan Cantonese Restaurant at the Valletta Waterfront;

New Madras Indian Restaiurant, Bugibba.

Trattoria Cardini, Sliema.

Beppe’s  Restaurant of Marsalforn, Gozo.

Shivas Indian Restairant of Paceville, St. Julians.

La Nostra Padrona Restaurant, Marsaxlokk.

Q Bar & Restaurant at the Valletta Waterfront;

Brown’s  Restaurant at the Valletta Waterfront;

Sciacca  Grill  of Valletta;

Portomaso Casino Restaurant, Portomaso.

The Blue Riband top three Sunday Buffet Lunch venues for this year were sponsored by;

P.J. Sutters Marketing Limited and these were:

Oceana Restaurant at the Hilton Malta;

The Tabloid Restaurant at the Palace Hotel, Sliema;

The Terrace Restaurant at the Westin Resort , St. Julian’s.

Ten Family-oriented casual dining restaurants, were awarded a specially framed certificate to denote their very good standing in this category.  

The category was also sponsored by M. Demajo (Wines and Spirits) Limited. These are:

Don Berto  of the Vittoriosa Waterfront;

Mamma Mia, Ta’ Xbiex;

Fratelli La Bufala Tigne Point ;

Trattoria Cucina del Sole, Tigne Point;

Vecchia Napoli of Sliema;

Nenu the Artisan Baker of Valletta;

Il-Baldakkin Bistro at the Kempinski San Lawrenz, Gozo ;

Bistro 516 at the Valletta Waterfront;

Il Vecchio Forno of Mosta.

The Valletta Waterfront restaurants have once again been sponsored for a special award for this landmark entertainment location by Valletta Cruise Port plc.

This year six, Valletta Waterfront Restaurants  were awarded for best concept within this location. 

These are:

Pintonino Restaurant  – best for fish and seafood ;

Nan Yuan – best Ethnic Valleta  Waterfront – Cantonese Cuisine;

Brown’s  – best concept restaurant -Family, up-scale  and Casual dining;

Q Bar –  best concept restaurant – Lounge, Club  & Mediterranean Cuisine ;

Pepe Nero – best for Italian style pizza and beef dishes;

Bistro 516 –  best for gluten free food & value dining.

Promising Top Chef Awards were sponsored by AppleCore Foods Ltd:

 Get ready to start your bookings and please do give us your feedback, from your own, personal, and very recent experiences, on any of the above restaurants. These will certainly be taken into consideration when we come to the short-listing and nominations for next year’s awards.  This door sticker which was given to every restaurant listed above, denotes top dining experiences in these selected restaurants in both Malta and Gozo. Look for it.