A gourmet week-end in Gozo over the Santa Maria public holiday.

A pleasant weekend in Gozo between August 15 and 18, both days included, which visit was augmented by a bit of sightseeing, plenty of swimming and of course visits for lunch and dinner at some very good and well selected restaurants all of which we had been to before, tried and tested and to which we return time and time again when we visit Gozo. We have been to Gozo some weeks ago, during which stay we had reviewed a further selection of our sister island’s top restaurants, that have been also reviewed here.

Day one - Friday, 15th August, 2014:

Lunch at Chez Amand at Qbajjar, Marsalforn - Friday 15th August, 2014.

Chez Amand is one of our casual, yet very good dining haunts in Gozo, and as we were staying just opposite, our first lunch visit was naturally this place. Run by Chef Amand Veranneman and his daughter Caroline who runs front-of house admirably and pleasntly.

Seated at a good table just inside the dining area, we placed our order for water for the ladies and beer for the men, placed our food order, and were served with a pre-dinner, complementary bruschetta.

Food ordered and served:

Two servings of the spaghetti marinara which did have a mix of fresh black mussels and frozen seafood, and was supplemented by a side serving of two, fresh, local king prawns. Not bad, but could be highly improved by the utilization of only fresh seafood which is very easily obtained in Summer.

One serving of a whole, fresh squid (calamari), with salad, potatoes and other trimmings.

and one serving of fresh fillet of salmon with home-made tartar sauce.

Dessert: One serving cream caramel. Drinks two pints beer and one bottle of water.

Price all inclusive: EUR94.75 between four persons (EUR23.70 per person).

A suggestion that we wish to make to Chez Amand is to itemize the bill with the actual food ordered. Nevertheless, every item ordered is accounted for as per prices shown on the menu, but titled itemization is a must in every restaurant.

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Dinner at Tmun Mgarr Restaurant in Mgarr, Gozo.

Tmun Mgarr, run by the Buttigieg family comprised of Leli and Jane Buttigieg and their son Paul , is certainly a must visit for us whenever possible when we are in Gozo for a fine, fish oriented dinner. Front-of house is run by Leli assisted by a good team of well trained servers, with Paul being the executive chef.

Food ordered:

Once our fish was selected from the fish display and orders given, we were served an amuse bouche of tuna tartar which was excellent, water was brought over and our order for a good Pouilly Fume wine was served, well chilled.

Starters:

A serving of Tmun’ s Famous Bouillabaisse for two sharing, with scorpion fish, dentex, various kinds of sea bream, calamari, prawns and shell fish;

One serving of home-made squid-ink tortellini stuffed with prawns & scallops, and served

with basil, lemon zest, garlic & cumin infused Gozo extra virgin olive oil in a rich bisque.

and one serving of their excellent fig tart tatin which looks more like a very good dessert, but which in fact is a gourmet starter.

Main Courses:

One grilled bazuga (bronze bream) to be shared between two,

One Chicken Roulade Succulent Chicken Breast wrapped in speck, Brie Cheese, fruits in season & walnuts

Served with a light brie sauce & Gratin Dauphinoise Potatoes

and one serving of their grilled supreme of local grouper served with fresh black mussels in creamy freshly made sauce.

Potatoes and fresh boiled veg were served on the side.

Dessert: Two servings of the classic apple tart tatin, made with Granny Smith apples caramelised in Galvados, Vanilla bean honey, crispy puff pastry and served with home-made cinnamon ice-cream.

Two servings of Paul’s exquisite Valrhona dark chocolate and orange fondant, served with home-made zabajone ice-cream.

The dinner was complemented with two bottles of water, one botte of an excellent Pouilly Fume’, espressos, and complementary barique grappa and Avernas.

Price excluding the wine: EUR 168 (EUR42 per person); The Pouilly Fume’ was priced at EUR31.95 for the bottle. Wine is of course a matter of choice.

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Day two - Saturday, 16th August, 2014.

Lunch at Murella Restaurant, Marsalforn - Saturday, 16th August, 2014.

Lunch at Marsalforn, at Murella Restaurant, was quite enjoyable.

Bruschetta and foccacia were taken as starters followed by two servings of swordfish and two white bream (sargi). Two bottles of water, espressos and complementary Avernas for two.

A very busy place which is in great demand by locals and tourists alike. Good food; casual and good value, ensured by the owner Alex Scicluna, who manages the place personally and gives every client the attention due.

Price total: EUR91.40 between four persons (EUR22.85 per person).

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Patrick’s Lounge, Steakhouse and Restaurant.

Dinner on Saturday, 16th August, 2014.

Another splendid gourmet dinner as expected at Patrick’s in Victoria.

Patrick’s is run and operated by Chef-Patron Patrick Buttigieg, very ably assisted by his partner Josefa as front-of-house manager.

As is normal at Patrick’s, whilst we were seated in the lounge enjoying a pre-dinner cocktail, the Chef-Patron brought over a display of the fresh meats that were available that evening. These included selections of a large Tomahawk beef rib-eye on the bone for two sharing; selections of New Zealand Kobe style rib-eye and sirloin, Veal rib-eye on the bone, and Irish Herford steer fillets and rib-eye and chateaubriand for two.

Our food orders rested on:

Once seated at our table we were served an amuse bouche of a delicately stuffed wrap with a cup of cold soup.

Starters:

Two servings of the pan seared foie gras served over a baked brioche infused with fresh rosemary, onion marmalade and a raspberry vinaigrette;

Caprese baked parcel with plum tomato slices layered with buffalo mozzarella, wrapped in Parma ham, basil and pesto drizzle.

One serving of Chicken liver parfait, truffle infused butter glaze, plum jam, and dried figs, on crispy sour dough biscuit.

Main Courses:

Two servings of the New Zealand prime steer - Kobe style rib-eye steaks and one New Zealand prime steer - Kobe style sirloin steak. Immensely juicy and tender beef. Huge and very filling with their richness of flavour. These cuts of beef are Patrick’s top quality selections, but a very good Irish beef selection is also available not just because the Irish cuts come slightly cheaper, but which might appeal more to the those requiring less marbling richness and flavours.

One serving of the roasted boneless quail served with cous cous saladette with carrot and coriander, Thai coconut and lemon grass sauce.

Dessert: absolutely no room was left for dessert and just one creme brulee and Gozo gelato were ordered.

To top it all, we were served a large serving of chocolate figs and Maltese Halwa (helwa tat-Tork) with our espressos.

A bottle of Cote Du Rhone Riserva, two bottles of water, completed the dinner.

Price excluding the wine came up to EUR189.5 (EUR47.37 per person).

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Day three - Sunday, 17th August, 2014.

Chez Amand - Lunch Sunday, 17th August, 2014 - Special pre- order beef Wellington lunch.

Sometime ago I wrote in a Points To Ponder post on our Facebook Group, that I have never been served a satisfactory Beef Wellington in Malta. Chez Amand replied to talk after we tried their Wellington. Seeing that we were going to spend some days in Gozo over the Santa Maria weekend, we booked a table for Sunday lunch a week before, and pre-ordered a beef Wellington for three persons, as one of our group does not eat beef.

Chef Amand jumped to the occasion and he did prepare a very good Wellington on the Sunday.

One thing that I have to say is that the Chef sometimes tries to overdo himself as was the case this time. I am not saying that the serving of was not very good, but personally, I like to add sauce, no matter how good, to my beef myself.

The Beef Wellington was constructed of a well trimmed, Argentinian beef fillet covered in a rich pate. which was then wrapped in ham. Naturally after setting, and prior to baking the fillet was wrapped in puff pastry .

The servings were very decent slices of the Wellington, which were covered by a very rich, creamy, mushroom sauce which was excellent in its own right, but which in my opinion made the already rich Wellington that bit more overwhelming. The beef was baked an excellent medium-rare as can be seen from the photo. The dish was presented with carrots and French beans, and croquet potatoes as a side serving. Will we order the Beef Wellington from Chez Amand again sometime when we visit Gozo again in the future, sure we shall.

Another order for our fourth member was the chicken breast supreme in mushroom sauce.

Dessert: Something which is not on Chez Amand’s dessert menu but which they specialize in is Chef Amand’s Sobayon. Sabayon is a light and mousse-like sauce made from egg yolks, caster sugar and a small amount of liquid, either white wine, Marsala, water, sweet wine and even champagne and has to be made just before serving. The one served to us was made with a fine white wine, and was served in two parts. A large glass with cherry ice-cream in the bottom and the warm sobayon on top; and a smaller glass with the sobayon. There is nothing to say about this dessert, except that it was exquisite.

As usual a bottle of red wine, two bottles of water, espressos, complemented the lunch.

Price all inclusive: EUR128 ( EUR32 per person)

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Sunday, 17th August - Dinner at Beppe’s Restaurant in Marsalforn.

Beppe’s Restaurant, run by Chef-Patron Joseph Spiteri, is another top restaurant in Gozo, offering a varied menu for people who appreciate good food in an informal ambience, complemented by very good service.

After having had a heavy Sunday lunch, we were after something good and light for dinner, and after taking a cursory look at the menu we asked Joseph to make an antipasto misto for the four of us to share, followed by a fresh Pagru (Common Sea Bream) cooked al sale, to share between four . These selections fitted the bill admirably as we took our time over each morsel of the antipasti as served one by one, enjoyed with the chilled wine, and good conversation.

The antipasto misto served were selections of:

Baked lemon stuffed with mozzarella cheese;

Fresh rizzi (sea urchin) bruschetta;

Prawn tartar;

Baked Prawn ball;

Fresh mussels in “Bianco” - cooked in white wine, garlic and herbs;

A marvelous serving of the freshest, baby calamari in a sweet Thai sauce;

The main course was the Pagru al-sale which was also very well prepared, filleted and served.

Dessert: two serving to share of the home-made date parcels (mqarett), honey glazed and served with ice-cream. A very nice presentation, crispy and flavourful.

One bottle of a chilled Sancerre, water, espressos and complementary limoncellos and Avernas complemented a very good dinner.

Price excluding the wine: EUR152 (EUR38 per person); Wine chosen was a very good Sancerre at EUR29 for the bottle.

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