Palazzo Preca Restaurant, Valletta - Lunch on Saturday, 3rd August, 2013.

An enjoyable lunch at Palazzo Preca Restaurant, in Strait Street, Valletta, Saturday, 3rd August. Arrived without prior reservation at about 1 p.m. after doing a tour of various establishments in the City, (see Talking Point-Valletta on this wall), and although the establishment was fairly busy, a table for six was set-up in the red room for us. The air-conditioning was thankfully working efficiently, new units having been installed, so we were told, and which provided a massive relief from the hot sun outside.
Menus and wine list were produced, cold water ordered and served within minutes, as well as two large complementary platters of pre-ordering antipasti - with bruschetta, bigilla, salad, garlic beans and water biscuits. Food ordered: starters - two servings of tempura king prawns served in scallop shells with a marvelous tangy sauce; one caprese salad; and one freshly cooked penne al salmone, made with a full steak of fresh salmon for my 3 and a half year old granddaughter as ordered by herself. Mains: One fritto misto cooked with freshly deep fried chunks of steak fish, prawns, langoustine and calamari; one grilled rib-eye steak with mushroom sauce served on a bed of mashed potatoes; duck breast al orange; and grilled chicken breast; and a serving of fresh fish 600gm from the trolley. Fresh fish is charged at approx Eur4.60/100gm. Dessert: one traditional Maltese trifle - very nice but needed a bit more of the liqueur soaked pandispagna; and one mixed dessert platter which was massive; and one ice-cream. One bottle of chilled white wine; two bottles of water; espressos and complementary Avernas and Tia Marias.

Price all inclusive Eur170 or Eur34 per person. Cuisine quality was very good as usual, freshly cooked and well presented; excellent service through two very efficient waiters (one male one female); and great value for money.

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Pintonino Restaurant - Valletta Watrefront - Friday, 9th August,2013,

Full review and rating can be viewed separately under own heading in this website.

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Michael’s Restaurant - Archbishop Street, Valletta - Lunch Monday, 26th August, 2013.

Nice lunch today, Monday, 26th August at Michael’s in Valletta. The restaurant was quite busy for a Monday with both local clients and walk-in tourist trade, which is a sure thing that this place is catching up in demand.

Run by Chef Micheal Cauchi and his son who is also a chef in his own right, the place seem to be making a good name for itself after just five months since they took it over. Situated on the ground floor of the Civil Services Club where Spezzo used to be, just a couple of minutes from St. George’s Square. The place itself is rather classy and lends itself as a suitable venue for business and social lunches and dinners in the heart of the City of Valletta. Good service through a head waiter assisted on and off by the executive chef himself, showing fresh fish and explaining dishes that he could prepare from fresh ingredients available.

Ordered fresh kahli (saddled bream/occhiata), which had just been brought over from the fish market, and Micheal suggested to fillet them and de-bone them for us raw and to cook them al caticcio di patate. This meant that the filleted fish were covered with cherry tomatoes, herbs and a nit of basilico then wrapped in thinly sliced potato slices (instead of the usually messy oven paper or aluminium foil), and then the preparation is placed in a special oven that first steam cooks the dish to keep the ingredients from drying up, and finally finishing off in the convection oven. The result was a sublime dish prepared from the most simple of ingredients. Two portions of this dish were ordered, as well as freshly made aljotta (fish soup) as starters. The main course were served with a side serving of freshly boiled vegetables, broccoli, mang tout, cauliflower and carrots. For dessert I had to try their in-house made ice-cream with basil which was excellent. One bottle of water, one bottle of a premium local wine which was surprisingly very reasonably priced, espressos with complementary imqarett complemented the lunch. Price excluding the wine Eur52.45 (for two persons/Eur26.23 each). Excellent food, very good service and extremely good value. A bit more interior cooling is required, but otherwise a very classy place.

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Pepe Nero Restaurant - Valletta Waterfront - dinner Wednesday, 21st August, 2013.

Every so often one feels like a quiet evening just enjoying a good pizza and a chilled bottle of wine, in a pleasant al fresco location. So of we went yesterday once again to the Valletta Waterfront, undecided where to lower anchors and spend the next couple of hours. Once parked in the last remaining slot in the adjoining small car park (there is a much larger car park some 10 minutes walk away), we decided to give Pepe Nero’s pizza a try.

The place on arrival was nearly full, with couples, groups and families all enjoying a meal in perfect harmony. Two menus were presented the a la carte, featuring a large selection of beef steaks, boar, venison and selections of pasta and antipasti, and the second Pizza menu. We had already decided on the pizza so we ordered one pizza Pepe Nero, and one seafood pizza, one bottle of water and a well chilled, refreshing Zinfandel rose’. The pizza was excellent, one of the best we had in Malta. It was stated that the dough was made from a mixture of five different flours, by the pizzaolo and the pizza baked in an inbuilt wood fired oven. Prices of pizza at Pepe nery vary from about Eur8.5 to about Eur14.50. To complement the meal we ordered a Maltese trifle as dessert, which is served in a glass and espressos. Price excluding the wine came up to Eur34.90 ( for two persons). Very good service, and good value for a very good quality pizza. Have to go again to try one of their steaks.

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The Menu Eatery Restaurant- Valley Road, B’Kara - Dinner Thursday, 29th August, 2013.

A wonderful dinner was had, Thursday, 29th August, at this wonderful small restaurant, that is situated right in front of McDonalds in Valley Road, B’Kara. Like me you must have driven past this venue a hundred times without noticing it in this busy stretch of road. The restaurant itself is situated in a refurbished house with built in arches which gives it a lot of character, and can seat up to fifty guests.

A good selection of antipasti, some two pages of pasta dishes, and a good selection of main dishes with choices of beef fillet, beef rib-eye, pork fillet, stuffed chicken breast, duck breast and even pan seared calamari are on offer, with some delicious home-made desserts. Price range of menu items well within the reach of most pockets and tastes , starting from Eur3 for the home-made soup of the day, to Eur22.50 for the grilled fillet of beef. Wine list mark-ups were found to be extremely modest with very good selections on the wine list.

Our food order was for two servings of the Asparagus parcels wrapped in parma ham and stuffed with cream cheese and Parmegiano shavings; one serving of Chicken Liver pate’ served on caramelised onions and gherkins.; and one serving of freshly home-made panzerotti stuffed with spinach and ricotta and served with freshly made tomatoes sauce and parmegiano regiano shavings

These were followed by main-courses consisting of: New York strip steak served in a brandy and bay onion sauce; one Anatria all’ arancia breast of duck served in an orange and cinamon stick sauce; Fillet of pork crusted with herbs and cooked in a port wine reduction; and a 300gm grilled rib-eye steak served with port wine sauce. Desserts from the home-made selection - chocolate fondant, chocolate cheese-cake, lemon sorbets and ice-cream. One bottle of a very good Chiaramante Nero D’Avola 2010 very reasonably priced at Eur19.5, three bottles of water and espressos complemented the dinner.

Price excluding the wine for the above food and beverage choices: Eur130 or Eur33.50 per person. Good service, good food, reasonable prices giving very good value. Worth a try

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Gazebo at the Hilton - a second visit this Summer - dinner Saturday, 28th August, 2013..

They say make hay while the sun shines, or as the case was yesterday evening while the moon shines throughout our Summer months.

Another visit to Gazebo at the Hilton Malta, Saturday 24th, with the family and some friends. Nine persons in all. Excellent service of dips, antipasti, selection of pasta cooked as ordered at the live cooking station; and afterwards a selection of fish, meat and chicken from the BBQ’s live station, with accompanying condiments, veg, potatoes and salads.. Everything cooked to one’s preference by the attending chefs. Unbeatable selection of in-house produced desserts, my “trio of chocolate” was excellent as was the “apple gallette” , the “praline cheesecake” and the in-house ice-creams and sorbets enjoyed by the others. A nice birthday cake was presented as a surprise as we were celebrating thee birthdays that occurred within a day or two of each other. A nice touch Chef, thanks.

Price, for all food including desserts, but excluding wine, and drinks, EUR35 per person. Wonderful al fresco location under the well kept and lighted olive grove, excellent service, very good food and good value. Fantastic ambience for al fresco Summer dining.

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Chapter One Restaurant - Dinner Friday, 30th August,2013.

This restaurant was last featured here in August 2012, just over a year ago, but has since then been reviewed by us on a number of occasions. One thing that is to be said about Chapter One Restaurant is, that the food quality is always consistently of a very high standard in the quality of the ingredients used, the cooking method, the preparation and the presentation and above all the taste that cannot be faulted on any score.

Separate review published under own heading in this website.

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