4th February, 2012.
THE VILLA RESTAURANT formerly known as The Villa Brasserie, has been reconverted and reorganised by its present operators who have been running this venue for just eighteen months. I remember, first going to this place some years ago, in 2007 to be exact, when it first started operating as a brasserie when it formed part of the Le Meridien St.Julians Hotel.
What I can say at this time is that Christopher Hammett the Executive Chef/Patron has succeeded to transform the establishment into a supreme combination of indoors fine dining, outside casual and lounge bar into one.
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| The Exclusive Villa Staircase. |
Situated in the heart of St.Julians and providing exclusive views of Balluta Bay from its terraces, this 19th century fantastic villa was once the summer residence of an affluent family. It had fallen on hard times for some years, just like many other excellent properties in this area, but was reborn when the Le Meridien St. Julians hotel was built. This beautiful villa was the subject of a long legal issue for some time as the owners of Le Meridien St.Julians originally wanted to knock it down to build the hotel further out towards the sea, but in the end logic won over greed and The Villa is still there, magnificent, and which in a way has become the jewel in the crown of the actual hotel itself.
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| The Terrace at The Villa. |
The Villa offers a number of dining options, both indoors and outdoors especially in the warmer seasons, and when the weather permits in winter. There is a contemporary a la carte menu with a varied choice of appetizers and starters, pasta, fresh fish, beef, duck, chicken, lamb etc; a varied lounge menu offering various platters to share, and also a bistro menu. But the main forte of this restaurant is its fine Mediterranean cuisine menu, which contains a reasonable number of exclusive items at very reasonable prices.
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| View from the terrace at night. |
We dined at this venue just yesterday. A display of exceptional fresh fish, which had just been delivered greeted us at the main hall. There were a number of John Dory's (Pesce di San Pietro), Scorpion Fish (Cippullazz), Sea Bass (spnott), Red Bream (pagell), and others, all priced by weight on a board alongside.
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View of the inner part of the
restaurant. |
On arrival, our coats were taken by the Head Waiter who hung them neatly in the cloakroom, and after enjoying a pre-dinner drink at the bar, we were seated at our table, menu's and wine list presented, and a small platter of dips and olives with Maltese galletti and pitta bread were placed on the table.
The a la carte menu listed and detailed a good selection of some realy succulent dishes which needed some time to be decide upon before one was able to select.
Our Choices.
The fresh fish display, had already sharpened our apetite and resolve to choose fish when we arrived, so this was no problem for two of us as far as the main course was going to be.
For Starters we selected:
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The Jerusalem Artichoke
velout. Terrific. |
a Jerusalem Artichoke Veloute for myself which proved to be an excellent choice. The velout was creamy and thick, and on the palate it was out of this world.
a Ravioli di Coniglio for my wife, served al dente with rabbit sauce. I tried one and it was very nice indeed;
a very large Fritto Misto for my son;
and Rabbit livers for my daughter-in-law. The rabbit livers were served with garlic pitta bread and humus., and of course I had to taste them as well. Very nice too.
Main Course Choices:
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The Chicken Supreme.
Mouth watering. |
The ladies did not go for the fish so they selected a Chicken Supreme which was superb, and Lamb Shank respectively.
Presentation and quality of these dishes was very good, but my wife commented that she would have preferred this cuisine to be served on a flatter plate with the mashed potatoes separate. Anyway it's all a matter of taste and preference, I suppose.
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The Al Cartoccio Scorpion Fish
(Cippullazza) served to me.
Exquisite. |
For myself and my son, the choice was a hefty scorpion fish (cippullazza) for each. Two were picked from the display and taken to the kitchen to be poached with garlic, onions and herbs al cartoccio.
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The second Scorpion fish served
to my son.
Sublime. |
As I said before, it was a very good decision on my part to choose the Jerusalem Artichoke Veloute as a starter for myself, as the Scorpion Fish al Cartocio, when it was served was phenomenal. Superbly cooked, with all the freshness and goodness locked-in within the parcel.
A selection of roast potatoes, hot veg, and a very fresh and crispy lettuce salad were served as contorni on the table to complement the main course dishes.
Desserts: One Trio of Sorbets; one Blondie; one Villa Mess, and one Apple and Rhubarb crumble and espressos completed the meal.
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The Apple and Rhubarb Crumble.
Someone spluttered the cup with the rhubarb. |
The Wine List:
The wine list at The Villa is a well tought out affair offering an extensive choice of wines both local as well as imported from various countries at prices that suits most pockets and tastes. Our choice was a
Poully Fuisse', nicely chilled, which complemented both the fish as well as the chicken nicely, and which, at Eur22 a bottle was a perfect choice, in both value and quality. Two bottles of this very good white wine were consumed and enjoyed throughout the meal.
Two bottles of water as normal were also consumed during the dinner.
Value for Money:
The menu at The Villa offers an array of dishes to suit most tastes and most pockets. A choice of starter, main course and dessert from the a la carte menu, plus half a bottle of water, half bottle of wine, and espresso per per person would come up to about Eur45 per person. (Average of Eur34 for food only, without the wine).
Our bill for the above orders which included two bottles of wine, and fresh fish from the display(charged for by quality and weight) with one scorpion fish shared between two - would normally come up to: Eur191.8 or Eur48 per person. Very reasonable and good value. With two whole scorpion fish served (one for each person as shown above) expect to pay a bit more.
Free parking is available at the Le Meridien's parking facility, compliments of the restaurant.
REVIEWERS' IMPRESSIONS:
Ambience: Very Good.
Cuisine Quality: Very Good.
Preparation and Presentation: Very Good.
Freshness of ingredients especially fish: Excellent.
Service and attention: Excellent.
Wine list and mark-ups: Very Good.
Overall Rating: 9/10
Recommended.
Contact Details:
The Villa,
39, Main Street,
Balluta Bay - St. Julians.
Tel: 2311 2273.
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