Sunday Buffet Lunches 1: The Copperfield at the Victoria Hotel, Sliema.

Sunday, 9th, October, 2011.

The Copperfield Restaurant at The Victoria Hotel, Sliema.

The Victoria Hotel.

It is the time of year that we usually start our reviews of selected Sunday buffet lunches, that are offered by the most renowned hotels in Malta.
The buffet season starts just about now, and the Copperfield Restaurant at The Victoria Hotel in Sliema,  has in fact opened its doors for the season's Sunday buffet lunches today.
This restaurant is of medium size, very efficiently run, and offering that quiet, unhurried and attentive service so reminiscent of that opulent, typically British, Victorian era, warm, comfortable and refined.

The Hotel's Emblem.

The buffet at the Copperfield is offered and displayed on five separate food stations each displaying mouthwatering dishes from which diners can self-serve and indulge in, in accordance with their preferences and tastes in food:

The Marinated Salmon.

The Antipasto Buffet:

This counter offers generous selections of seafood- clams, mussels, one shell large mussels, marinated salmon, smoked salmon, home made pates' and cold cuts, salads and dressings. Good.

Open shell mussles.

Wraps.

Antipasto personal platter.

The Hot Pot:

On today's menu, two soups were on offer - cream of cauliflower garnished with sweet pimentos, and a very nice carrot and ginger soup sprinkled with coriander. Good.

The Hot Counter:

Pasta Choice.

On the hot counter one could indulge in helpings of:  Farfarle served with sun dries tomatoes, prawns and saffron cream as well as Tossed Pasta spirals in olive oil, and toped with garlic and tomato sauce flavoured with blue cheese. Very Good.

The Grilled Cernia

Main course selections from this counter offered lavish selections of:
Grilled cernia with leeks and prawns enhanced with sherry;
Very good.

Beef Entrecote in cream and Calvados.

Fried beef entercote with garlic, shallots and mushrooms, and flamed with Calvados. Good.

Chicken curry.

Chicken curry madras accompanied with condiments.
Rice terrine, chutney, pappadams.
Very Good.






The Carving Station:

The Roast Pork Loin.

Personal choice.

The carving station offered a succulent roast loin of pork stuffed with bacon, smoked ham and parsley presented with sweet and sour sauce. Very Good.

Personal choice.

Stir fried terrine of vegetables with cherry tomatoes and bean sprouts; cabbage and bacon suffle'; and roast potatoes with fennel and rosemary, completed the acompaniments for the main courses.

Fruit Flan.

The Dessert Station:

The dessert station which the Chefs at the Copperfield call the "Fantasia" dessert buffet, offers a luscious blend of gateaux, flans, mouses, apple pies and lemon merengues, all made and prepared in-house by the hotel's patissiers, as well as fresh fruit cuts.
Very Good.

The Cheese Board.

The Dessert Station.

The cheese board offered a selection of cheeses and biscuits, to finish off the lunch.

Dessert Selections.

Dessert Selections.

Profiterols.

Reviewers' Remarks:

Service at the Copperfield is offered by a good team of serving staff, some new, but others with very long experience with this hotel. Service is very good and attentive.

The wine list offers a good choice of wines at a reasonable mark-up. More local wine choices from different winemakers is recommended.

Cuisine offered is ample and very good both in quality as well as in preparation and presentation. Stations are replenished frequently by the attending chefs.

Value for money is excellent as at Eur20 per person (for food only, excluding wines and water), and considering also the up-market standing of the venue this price is hard to beat.

RATING: Ambience; Cuisine; service and value for money: Very good and deserve an 8/10.  Category:  Sunday Buffet lunches. 

Contact Details: The Victoria Hotel,
                            George Borg Olivier Street,
                            Sliema.
                            Tel: 21 334711.