Dinner at The Arches Restaurant - Mellieha.
Saturday, 25th April, 2015.

The Arches Restaurant has always described itself as an exclusive restaurant boasting exquisite international cuisine, impeccable service, starched linen, and a sophisticated ambience, with every endeavour being made to ensure a memorable evening of fine dining. This has always been so, ever since we went to this place for the first time some twenty years ago. The place has naturally seen various management changes, staff and chefs over this time, but the onus has always been to maintain this establishment as a top, occasion oriented, fine dining restaurant. Naturally this does not come cheap, but then again who ever said that fine experiences are cheap? The kitchen is run by one of Malta’s top young chefs, Luke Borg who had even won the European Chef of the Year Trophy in 2014 in Turkey. so naturally food quality expectations are somewhat high.

Service start from arrival, with the restaurant manager meeting guests at the door on arrival, who are then guided to their reserved table, and naturally ends in the same way, when guests are departing. Cutlery and glasses are handled by white-gloved waiters, who although very efficient and attentive, are not always hovering unnecessarily at guests tables, leaving guests ample freedom to enjoy the food, wine and drinks at their leisure.

Once seated, menus were presented as well as the massive wine list, and the Chef came out to explain the day’s special offerings and the fresh fish available.

Food orders were made, the wine was chosen, and water was served.
An amuse bouche of fish and seafood tartar was served, as well as a platter containing selections of the freshest bread rolls was placed on the table.

Food ordered:
Starters:
Paccheri artigianale with minced rabbit in a bolognese style ragu.
Linguine crayfish with cherry tomato sauce, basil, garlic,extra virgin olive oil, and seafood bisque
Spaghetti rizzi with tomatoes, extra virgin olive oil, mint, garlic lemon and rizzi.
and
Cappelleti (made in-house), stuffed with king prawn and local prawns , cooked in a bouillabaisse sauce.

Main Courses:
Fish was the choice for the main courses with selections of the:

Fresh, wild seabass, rock fish and John Dory fillets, which were pan seared in butter and deglazed with marjoram and citrus in the French classic style.
and dott fillet which was grilled with extra vergine olive oil and rubbed with garlic.

In this restaurant, don’t expect to be served whole fish on the bone, as they take pride in the way they prepare the dishes as well as in the fine-dining-oriented presentations. In some restaurants, I prefer to have the fish presented to me whole, for me to fillet myself on the table, but here I make an exception. Maybe it’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but the experience is always outstanding.

Side dishes of roasted onions are served, and selections of roasted potatoes are served by the waiters.

Desserts:
A selection of cheeses served with biscuits, galletti, etc.
A serving of their dark chocolate fondant served with praline and green teas sorbet.

Food quality, preparation and presentations showed the passion of the chef in all respects, providing a very enjoyable dining experience.

Wine list: The restaurant has a well stocked fine wine cellar, and the wine list is huge. Mark-ups are a bit on the high side with some wines but a good look at the wine list, would reveal some good wines at an acceptable price. I chose a bottle of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc 2012, which was priced at EUR32. Two bottles of water, and espressos and complementary liqueurs complemented the dinner.

Service was impeccable as always.

Value: The bill of the food, water and espressos (excluding the wine) came up to EUR 227.40 (EUR56.85 per person), which is the norm here.

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Lunch at Da Pippo Restaurant in Valletta.
Wednesday, 15th April, 2015.

There are two sentences that can describe Trattoria Da Pippo of Melita Street, Valletta; it’s an adventure within an outstanding dining experience; a no fuss no frills restaurant which exceeds all expectations in the freshness and flavours of their cuisine.

Da Pippo as such, does not have a menu that is handed over to clients when they are seated, although a menu is displayed outside the door, giving an indication of some six different pasta dishes with prices as starters and main courses; as well as some main courses of fish, seafood, and meats. The daily ingredients for the food available on any particular day could be seen displayed in the glassed-in bar counter, where the left side displays the fresh fish and seafood that would have been purchased on the day, and the right side displays the meats such as veal rib-eyes; Aberdeen Angus fillet; traditional bragioli. All items displayed are fresh stocked daily, and once an item is finished that’s it, one has to choose something else. Pasta dishes are recommended by the waiters, or by the owner, Francesco (Cikku as he is fondly known), from what they will be doing that day; as well as the way that the main course ingredients would be mixed and matched and cooked. That is why I said that it is an adventure in cuisine flavours, but one that exceeds most expectations. No wonder that this place is always full. By the way they are only open for lunch, with service stopping at about 3pm.

Once seated on our reserved table, we noted that tables are set-up ready with all cutlery and glasses as it should be, but also with selections of antipasti and nibbles which were added with other selections once the food order was given.
Nibbles served included a very good semi-soft Gozo cheeselet; dried salted tomatoes and olives; bruschetta with anchovies, a platter of the freshest sea urchin roe and fresh bread rolls.

Starters recommended to us were the “home-made ravjul mimli bil-grangg”, that is ravioli stuffed with crab meat, cooked in a creamy sauce with cherry tomatoes. These ravioli were served in a largish dish to be plated and shared. For main course we selected a platter each of the fresh, red , local king prawns and grilled calamari. The prawns were fried in a rich sauce with extra vergine olive oil and herbs which gave a very good flavour, and the calamari were grilled just right, tender and succulent. Between the starter and the main course we were served with a taster portion of a very good pasta in cream and tartufo and funghi sauce.

Dessert is served in a dish with the coffees, with small ricotta and cream cannoli, strawberries soaked in almond liqueur, fruit and cream tart, and a type of pannacotta on a sweet biscuit base.

One bottle of water, half bottle of a very good Chablis, and complementary limoncellos finished of the lunch.
Price of the lunch including the half bottle of wine came up to a very reasonable EUR75 between two persons ( EUR37.50 per person).

Food quality and flavours, service and value for money very good.

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Sunday lunch at The Chophouse Restaurant at Tigne Point.
Sunday, 19th April,2015.

A very pleasant lunch was enjoyed on the terrace at The Chophouse Restaurant at Tigne Point yesterday. The restaurant is undergoing some changes again as the Gastro Pub section has been phased out, and the area is currently used as a bar lounge. Presumably this section shall be augmented with the main restaurant as previous in due course. I don’t really think that it was a good idea in the first place, as such a speciality concept should be operated on its own rather that as an extension to an upscale restaurant.

The Chophouse seems to have been upgraded a step or two above what was offered a year or so ago, with a shortened menu more akin to fine-casual dining offering quality dining and very good service to boot.

Once seated at our table, we ordered the water as usual, and took a look at the menu and discussed the specials with the Chef. Our food orders were given and the wine ordered to suit. We were then served with an aubergine dip and fresh bread, and a very good amuse bouche of scottona beef carpaccio.

Our food order was for the :
Pan seared Scottish scallops which are served with green apples and salsa verde;
Orecchiette with pork cheeks and cream sauce;
Chicken and Foie Gras terrine with asparagus and spring onion and served with thinly-cut, toasted and buttered fresh bread;
and a serving of the Rabbit Ravioli with pea puree and ruby port reduction.

Main Courses:
Boneless chicken thigh roulade wrapped in pancetta and served with beurre blanc sauce;
Grilled rack of lamb with roasted pepper and garlic puree;
and two x Grilled 300gm Scottona beef fillets - grilled medium rare.

They also had on the menu an in-house made, prime beef burger, made from Scottona sirloin and rib-eye minced meat, served with sauteed mushrooms, fried egg , melted cheddar and a truffle mayo, served with a crusted bun, chips and salad, which is priced at EUR14.50. Some other time maybe, on a weekday I’ll give it a try.

Desserts: A serving of their excellent chocolate fondant which was served with an orange flavoured custard; Sorbet di limone; and a portion of the Ricotta e Pere pastry .

A bottle of a very good Cotes’ Du Rhone red wine, three bottles of water espressos, and complementary liqueurs.

The bill excluding the wine came up to EUR180 between four (EUR45 per person). The price of the wine was EUR26 for the bottle.

Food quality and presentations were very good indeed; service very good, efficient and attentive, even though the terrace section of the restaurant was full; Value for money as is the norm for this style of restaurant, reasonable and very good for the quality.

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Sunday lunch at Acqua Terra e Mare at Portomaso.
Sunday, 12th April, 2015.

Since re-opening in November last year, and rebranding under the name of Acqua Terra e Mare, this restaurant, which was formerly the Al Molo Restaurant, has come along as one of the very best restaurants at the Portomaso complex. Situated at level 5 of Portomaso, with access both from the Yacht Marina as well as directly from the level 5 parking level, which gives easy parking throughout the week, and run under new management with Chef Kleaven Cassar running the kitchen very ably assisted at the front of house by Amy Camilleri and Patrick.

The restaurant offers a short menu with selections of antipasti and pasta dishes, as well as main courses from the Dal Nostro Mare and Dal Nostro Terra sections to befit the name of the restaurant. Prices start from EUR 9.50 to EUR17.50 for the antipasti; EUR12. 50 to EUR14.50 for the pasta selections; Fish from EUR EUR 19.50 to EUR26.50, with fresh fish from the display at EUR5.50 per 100gm. Meat and poultry from EUR19.50 to EUR26.50 for the beef fillet.

Our selections were: One serving of the Antipasto Misto to be shared between two persons, this is quite a largish serving which consists of about seven small dishes with a different degustation selection and can be viewed better on the attached photos. Very well prepared, presented. A very good selection indeed.
Two other starters as we were four persons, consisted of the fresh fish soup served with chunks of fish and herbs, and the prawn stuffed tortelloni .
Main courses: Two x 700gm each cippullazz - rock fish; one 700gm bazug -bronze bream, all three fish were baked; and one grilled 600gm bazug . Main course were served with side servings of roasted potatoes, baked and boiled veg.

Dessert: Only one serving of dessert was ordered - this was a potion of the home-made lemon cheese cake. Very good in presentation and excellent in taste.

Two bottles of a very good Sancerre, two bottles of water, espressos and liqueurs complemented the lunch.

Price for food, excluding wine and drinks but including water and espressos EUR 200 between four (EUR50 per person). Excellent food; very good service, price commensurate with food selections made which were very good in all respects -quality, presentation and taste.

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Paella Dinner at Pintonino - Valletta Waterfront.

Thursday, 9th April, 2015.

When I crave for something special to eat, I usually get the craving during the morning. So it was paella yesterday and what better place to have a specially made one if not at Pintonino for Chef Charlie’s special. A quick phone call to book it, was made and Charlie confirmed that he’s got the right ingredients for it, with the chorizo just delivered fresh. If you are after tasting this paella, you must book it early on in the day, or preferably the day before as this is not a normal menu item.

We were served an excellent amuse bouche of fresh, chicken liver pan fried in port reduction and served on a short-crust pastry fritter, and garnished with a pear dipped in sweet wine. The chicken liver was excellent.

The paella normally takes some time to be served as it is assembled and baked on the clients’ arrival, was eventually brought to the table. Excellent in preparation and execution, and as they say the proof of the pudding is in the eating - this was very good indeed.

No space for dessert. A bottle of a good Italian white wine, a bottle of water, complementary single malt whiskey with the coffees .

Price for the paella, water and coffees, works out at EUR25 per person. An excellent dish that satisfies one’s cravings and exceeds expectations.

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Westin Resort The Terrace Restaurant -Easter Lunch.

I suppose that most are wondering where we went for Easter lunch. Well, it was at the Westin’s Terrace Restaurant Easter buffet lunch.

We do not like set-menus at normal restaurants on holidays such as Easter, Mother’s day, Christmas lunches or New Year’s Day lunches, so a buffet it was.

The buffet at the Westin never ceases to impress as their normal Sunday buffets are always very good, and on holidays such as Easter they go the extra yard or two, ( OK I know, I am not exaggerating to say the extra mile!!), to exceed clients expectations. They succeeded to do so in all respects. Great food, very good quality with excellent service all round.

Vast array of food, hot and cold antipasti galore; an ethnic station or two; main courses; carvery boasting a whole suckling pig and roast lamb; live pasta station and choices of various pasta from terrines; soups; cheeses; live waffle station; and mouth watering desserts.

Easter price EUR52 per person, excluding drinks. (For normal Sunday lunches the price is EUR34.95 including wine and water edited as per update.).

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