Restaurants of Malta No.16: THE CHOPHOUSE at Tigne Point.

24th March, 2012.

The Chophouse Terrace.

THE CHOPHOUSE STEAKHOUSE has been on our schedule of restaurants to be reviewed for some time, but we finally gave it a try yesterday, Friday, 23rd March. They boast to butcher and hang their meat themselves, and that they have the largest charcoal grill in Malta. They also claim that they store their wine in a large humidity and temperature controlled glass cave to keep them and serve them at their optimum condition and quality. I have always believed and maintained that the proof of the pudding is in the eating, and so the review team of three couples and our two-and-a-half-year old little princess set forth to sample their cuisine.

On arrival at about 20.30, we were seated at a relatively good table, but alas, some people wanted to sit in the open air terrace, and of course doors had to be opened to serve them and an unpleasant draft was created. This was compounded by the fact that some guests rather than showing consideration and a miniscule of ethics towards the inside diners, just left the doors open everytime that went in or out. Some people never learn it seems.
This has proven to be a very plus point for the Chophouse's staff, as immediately that I pointed this out, and although the restaurant was relatively full, they changed our table to a more cosy one further in. All of this happened before we had placed our food and drinks orders, so presence of mind as well as efficiency of the staff is to be commemnded.

The menu at the CHOPHOUSE is simply divided in three main parts:

First courses offering selectons of soups, pasta, ravioli, rabbit livers, salads, carpaccios etc. Prices of first courses vary from Eur5.95 for the ravioli to Eur11.35 for the rabbit livers

Main Courses listing various dishes from the Grill as well as the beef specialities offering various succulent beef steaks ordered by weight; Fenkata and suckling pigs are also available by pre-ordering for groups of at least six persons. Fresh fish from the day's catch,; various daily specialities, etc are also available to cater for everyones taste and preferences. Prices here also vary sometimes in accordance with meat weight but range from Eur9.95 for the grilled chicken breast to Eur29.85 for the 350g Prime Steer Limousin Fillet.

The third section is for Salads, Vegetables and Potatoes as these have to be ordered separately with the maincourses of choice. Additional for contorni range to about Eur3/Eur5.85.

A seperate Dessert Menu is offered.

The Wine List is also quite vast with some moderately priced local and imported selections as well as the more expensive choices, but of course one has to know how to pair a reasonable priced, but excellent wine choice to the cuisine that is going to be ordered.

Our Cuisine Selections:

Starters:

Child's portion ravioli.
Filled with ricotta and tossed
in butter and sage.

For the youngest member of our group a very decent plate of freshley cooked Ravioli di Ricotta con Burro con Salvia (traditional ricotta filled ravioli tossed in butter and sage) was served first.








The other starters consisted of individual choices of :

Piquant wings with yogurt and
mint sauce.

- Piquant wings - fried chicken wings covered with piquant sauce and served with a yogurt and mint sauce;

Deep fried spinach and
ricotta patties.
Exquisite.

- Spinach and Ricotta Pulpetti -  spinach and ricotta patties, flavoured with nutmeg and deep fried;

Deep Fried Pork Brains.

- Two servings of Fritturi tal-Mohh - pork brains dipped in batter and deep fried.

Fettucine al Ragu.

Pan Seared Rabbit Livers
with orange salad.
Delicious.

- Fettucine al Ragu - fettucine pasta served with a rich meat ragu.
- Rabbit Livers - pan seared with thyme and served with an orange salad.




Main Courses:

Once again the main courses selected were varied and various:

The Raw Churasco Beef Cuts.

The grilled Churascco cuts.

We wanted to see the Churasco Beef cuts a raw serving of which was brought to our table and which consisted of various cuts of Argentinian beef marinated with olive oil, garlic and parsley. This was ordered by one member of the group and wasc cooked medium. Price a very reasonable Eur20.85

Pork ribs slab and chicken
wings.

There was one order for the Ribs and Wings at a good value at Eur14.95 - this consisted of 1/2 BBQ pork ribs and six hot chicken wings, served with honey mayo coleslaw.

The 350g Rib-Eye.

The 450g Rib-Eye with
contorni and Chateuabriand sauce.
Succulent and perfectly grilled.

Two Prime Steer Hereford Angus Rib-eye steaks one 350g and one 450g at Eur22.75 and Eur28.95 respectively. Cooked perfectly medium. Tender and succulent.

The Prime Steer Limousin
beef fillet, medium. with chips
and fagiolini.

The Beef Fillet Medalions
with peppercorn sauce,
roast potatoes and fagiolini.

One Prime Steer Limousin 350g fillet again ordered medium. Valued at Eur29.85.

and one serving of Black Angus 300g Fillet Medalions. Cooked medium well and valued at Eur28.75.

Contorni ordered to complement the main courses were servings of: peppercorn sauce; chateau briand sauce; fresh hot vegetables; roast potatoes; fagiolini and potato chips.

Dessert Choices:

Poached Pears in red wine.

Four servings of Poached Pears poached in red wine and served with crushed pistachios and vanilla ice-cream.
One Apple Crumble with vanilla custard.
and one Chocolate Clafoutis a type of chocolate fondant served with creme Anglaise' a l'orange.

The wine selection.

The above dinner was complemented by two bottles of a very nice Alta Vista Premium Malbec 2009; four bottles of water, espressos, and after dinner Avernas and Limoncellos.


VALUE: The total costs fot the above amounted to Eur254.60 for the food and Eur62.5 for the wine, water, espressos and liqeuers (Eur317.10 in total). This would work out at some Eur42 per person for the food.




I have to state here, that when we made the reservation some two days before, I indicated that I shall be using my 20 KNIGHTS RESTAURANT DISCOUNT CARD, and asked if this was accepted by CHOPHOUSE on a Friday for dinner. Not only was this accepted without any hesitation, but on top of this we were given a discount of 50% on the total food bill working out at a discount of Eur127.30; leaving a grand total to be paid of Eur189.80.
 This was exceptional service both for the CHOPHOUSE as well as for the discount card.
FREE parking is available at the "The Point" parking complex, which is in fact the only place that one could park at when visiting this restaurant.

Service: The service at the Chophouse is excellent. A very pleasant and keen wine waitress attended our table, as well as an extremely efficient waitress who not only took the orders but served them without hassle as ordered by each diner.

REVIEWERS IMPRESSIONS.

Ambience:    Very Good.
Atmosphere and Decor: Good.
Cuisine Quality:   Very Good.
Preparation and Presenation:  Very Good.
Harmony of Menu:  Very Good.
Service: Excellent.
Wine List and Mark-Up: Very Good.
Value fo money: Very Good commensurate with the type, location and category of the venue.

OVERALL RATING: 8.5/10
RECOMMENDED.

Contact Details:
The Chophouse,
Tigne Point,
Sliema.
Tel: 2060 3355.