Restaurants of Malta No:19: CHEZ PHILIPPE in Gzira.

6th May, 2012.

Dinner - Friday, 4th May, 2012.

The entrance.

CHEZ PHILIPPE on The Strand, in Gzira, opposite Manoel Island, situated in one of the busiest stretches of road in the area, which is one of the gateways both in and out to Sliema, Tigne and the shopping complexes of these commercial localities.

View of The Strand, Gzira.

This venue was opened some years ago as the Bon Pain but after some years the original owner, reportedly left the Island for some time and the place was entrusted to the care of two young ladies, who had it refurbished and re-organised with new menus and selected cuisine, to provide a niche restaurant for business lunches. eventually the original owner did return and the restaurant was named to what sitll stands as CHEZ PHILIPPE.

The a la carte menu.
Starters and pasta.

Salads and Main Courses.

The restaurant offers a good selection, not vast, but good selection, of Mediterranean cuisine with classic flavours of French country cooking with selections from the a la carte menu, of pasta, salads and main courses, as well as the specials of the day which are chalked on a blackboard on one side of the restaurant. The venue prides itself to offer fine dining in a relaxed casual atmosphere for business lunches, dinners with friends, or that quite evening with a good meal and a bottle of wine. The review team has been at this location both for lunch as well as for dinner, which form the basis of this review.



Table was reserved some days previous for four persons. On arrival we were seated on the first table near the door, which we did not like as two persons were seated facing the right hand side corner and wall which created a sort of claustrophobic aura, and the other two, lucky, diners were facing the entire restaurant from the door to the bar. My wife asked for the table to be changed, which in fact it was, although the front-of-house hostess was not overtly pleasant about it. We wer lucky that we were at the venue at exactly 20.30 as booked, as the place soon filled up afterwards, therefore a better table was still available.

The Bruschetta with
olive-pate'  and parsley

Once seated, the menu and wine list were presented, and our order for water was taken, for once we were not asked if we wanted to order cocktails or other drinks, the water was brought over as well as four pieces of bruschetta with olive-pate' (one piece each), were presented on a somewhat largish platter for the contents held.

The head waitress/cum front of house host/cum wine waitress, etc explained the specials of the day which consisted of home-made ricotta ravioli, calamari, and roasted pork loin among two or three other selections, and left us to select our choices from the a la carte menu.



Food Choices:

The home-made ricotta
and spinach ravioli.

Brie Frittures.

For starters, I chose the home-made ricotta and spinach ravioli in rich tomato and herbs sauce from the specials;
and the other choices from the a la carte  menu were:
Brie fritters;
Prawn dumplings (the prawns were somewhat missing);
 and Pork patties for starters
All of which were delicious as I sampled a bit form each.

Pork Patties.

The Prawn Dumplings.

Cured foie gras with
toasted fruit bread.

During a business lunch some days ago the restaurants speciality Foie gras was ordered and is illustrated here for information. Other choices were similar to those described in this dinner occassion.

The crusted, roast loin of
pork. Nice but more veg
are required to complete
the dish.

The lamb fillet with brandy,
butter and mint sauce.

Main courses: One roasted pork loin crusted and stuffed with spinach from the specials of the day;
and from the a la carte - one boneless quail with melted brie, port and sage sauce;
one chicken breast stuffed with feta, basil and pine nuts and wrapped in parma ham with leek and cream sauce;
one lamb fillet with brandy, butter and mint.

The boneless quail with
melted brie.

Chicken breast stuffed with
feta, basil and pine nuts.

The sliced imqaret (date parcels)
on ice-cream.

Dessert: Everyone seemed to opt for the Chez Philippe style imqaret and ice-cream, which consisted of sliced imqaret (never seen them served like that before), on ice-cream, served in a bowl which at first looked like cereal, but the taste and flavours were quite good.

The wine choice.

Wine list: the wine list boasts a good selection of reasonably priced French wines, as well as selections of local wine and foreign wines, with decent mark-ups on some wines. We chose a French, white, table wine priced at Eur19, named La Petit Vin D'Avril which was labeled on the wine list as a Chez Philippe exclusive. We ended drinking two bottles of this wine which paired very well with our food choices.








Value:.

Total cost of food came up to Eur117.5.  Cost of Drinks which consisted of: 2 bottles of the white wine mentioned earlier; two bottles of water and espressos came up to Eur46.5. Making a total for the dinner all inclusive of: Eur164.
Which worked out at a reasonable price per person all inclusive of Eur41.
By the way, my 20 Knights restaurant discount card was accepted even for a Friday dinner reservation and the final bill paid was for only Eur122,  that is Eur30.5 per person all inclusive which made the experience that bit more enjoyable.

REVIEWERS' IMPRESSIONS:

Ambience, atmosphere and decor:    Good

Cuisine quality:   Very Good.

Preparation and presentation: Good. (Only potatoes are served on the side with the main courses, some sort of hot veg served, will go a long way to enhance the main-course servings.)

Harmony of Menu: Very Good.

Service, attention and attitude towards clients:  Good.

Wine List and mark-up:  Very Good.

Value for money: Very Good.

OVERALL RATING: 7.5/10 Category - Casual Dining Restaurant

Recommended - lunches preferable.

Contact Details:

Chez Philippe,

181, The Strand

Sliema, Malta

Tel: 7928 9499 - 9901 4839.