ROUND-UP OF RESTAURANTS VISITED IN AUGUST 2015.

Dinner at Sepia Restaurant, Marsascala.
Wednesday, 5th August, 2015.

It is great to discover a new restaurant from time to time, which exceeds your expectations in all respects, great food, nice presentations, good service and very good value for money.
Sepia Restaurant of Triq Sant Antnin, Marsascala, has only been open since December of last year, just eight months to-date, and it seems that Chef Jonathan Vassallo is gradually establishing it as a destination restaurant, but one which is relaxed and casual, offering cuisine using seasonal, fresh and local ingredients where appropriate. The place is not a huge affair, having a seating capacity of just 30 covers, but this might be another feather in its cap, as it is quiet and unobtrusive. Pleasantly furnished, and with a good air-conditioning system in this heat, the establishment is certainly one that we shall be visiting again.

Once seated, menus and wine lists were brought over as well as the chalked in specials displayed on a small board, with prices clearly indicated. Bread, butter and pleasant amuse bouche platter were served, once the food orders were placed:

Starters: We settled for the fresh scallops for my wife. These were baked and served in their shell. A very pleasant presentation with taste to match; and the Bis of tortelloni salmon and Tortelloni prawns with nero di sepia pasta.

For main courses we selected the Fish Platter with cozze, and vongole, local, red, king prawns, tuna steak, langoustine and braised octopus in caponata for myself; and grilled “gurbell” fillet, grilled to perfection for my wife.
Food quality, preparation and presentation were first class.

Dessert: Date parcels (mqarett) with vanilla ice-cream, and home-made melon sorbet.

One bottle of Chenin Blanc, one bottle of water and two espressos complemented the dinner.

Value: For the food, water and espressos the bill amounted to EUR 76.5 between two (EUR38.25pp). The price of the wine was EUR22. Very good value for the food quality.

Service: Very good and attentive. Linen napkins on every table by the way.

Very good food; very good service; very good value.

SEPIA SECOND VISIT:

Sepia Restaurant in Marsascala re-visited.
Wednesday, 26th August, 2015.

I seldom go to the same restaurant in the space of the same month, as we endeavour to visit as many restaurants as possible in the space of a year, so that a final short listing of the top restaurants in various categories would be accurately done.

A restaurant that we have visited twice this month is Sepia of Marsacala. The first visit was an ad hoc, weekday, dinner with my wife. The service and food at this first visit exceeded our expectations in all respects as has been reported and published in a separate post in this forum. The second visit was decided upon by by my wife, to celebrate her birthday with the whole family last Wednesday.

Booked a table for seven persons,; table was neatly laid out and set-up; and we were promptly seated on arrival. Orders for drinks and water were immediately taken; menu and wine list were presented; and the head waiter brought over a small board with a short list of special items that were available and explained each dish.

Choices were made, water brought over, the wine was brought and tasting portions served (we ordered two different chilled white wines to pair with the starters, and in accordance with different tastes of the diners.

A splendid amuse bouche, (antipasto), of fresh salmon carpaccio and an oyster each as well a cup of fresh water melon gaspachio were served.

Food ordered:

Starters:
Two linguine vongole; one rabbit stuffed ravioli; linguine rizzi; the scallop and prawn stuffed tortelloni, and a serving of deep fried soft shell crab. For my granddaughter we ordered the in-house made chicken nuggets which turned out to be, freshly, deep fried, chicken breast, made there-and-then on order, an excellent touch which shows the passion and respect which is so necessary to win over and keep regular clients.

Main courses:

One gurbell to be cooked al sale and to be shared by two persons; one fresh, wild, sea bass (spnotta), grilled, for one person; one venison fillet; and an item from the specials the cowboy rib steak, which weighed over !kg, cooked medium rare for two persons to share. A another bottle of red wine was ordered to pair with the venison and the beef rib.

The children portion chicken nuggets were in-house prepared from fresh chicken breast., breaded and carefully deep fried.

Dessert: three servings of the prickly pear sorbets, prepared with liquid nitrogen at the table by the head waiter; one serving of fresh fruit salad; and one serving of the chefs, dark chocolate fondant. and a serving of pancakes with fruit and dark chocolate.

Wine: three bottles of wine, which were paired perfectly with the food. Some four bottles of still and sparkling water; espressos; and after dinner complementary liqueurs.

Value: The bill price for the food water and coffees came up to a very decent EUR230 (EUR38.34 between six adults). Very good value for the quality of the food served. The wine bill was for EUR52.50 for three different bottles, a Sancerre, a Moscato D’Asti and a good quality Valpolicella. Wine was served at the correct temperature; white was chilled perfectly; the red was cooled to about 17deg.C.

Very good food, well prepared and presented; Very good service; Very good value.

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Dinner at the Portomaso Casino Brasserie.

Friday, 21st August, 2015.

Another very enjoyable dinner was experienced at the Portomaso Casino Brasserie, yesterday, Friday, 21st.
Whenever we visit this place it’s always a different experience and even well before one enters the place, and is cleared from security, one is always trying out his luck, as every client is given a lottery ticket which one deposits in a special urn. The winning tickets are then drawn about 22.30 and one can win one of four monetary prices from EUR500 to EUR25, without even gambling any money. Did we win a price? No, but the dinner was excellent.

Ordered the Chef’s degustation choice as starter and a fish from the fish display for main course for two persons.
Wine was ordered to suit the food selections and one bottle of water which were served without delay or hassle. Fresh bread basket was placed on the table, with an amuse bouche of scallop balls and olive oil with herbs, were served.

The selected fresh fish was brought from the display and shown to us at the table, before being taken to the kitchen to be cooked al sale, which is one of the very best ways to cook a gurbell (meagre) actually.

Starters : The degustation selection consisted of various small, but delicious delicacies prepared by the Chefs: A serving of scallop and prawn stuffed raviolina with a smear of sea urchin sauce, followed by a very nice platter with a delicious tuna tartar, king prawn ceviche’ and seafood fritter was placed in front of each diner. These selections went down well with the chilled Chablis; this was followed by a cream of spinach and scallop soup, (there was more to this plate than just cream of spinach, as the taste and flavours were akin to an excellent bisque), tagliatelle with prawn meat and rich bisque sauce.
A taster serving of the Chef’s dish of the day, which was roast pork fillet medallion with apricot and apple crunch, served on a thick cauliflower puree, reduction sauce and cherry tomato, was served as entree.

The meagre al sale was then brought out, soaked in courvoisier liquor, and the salt shell was set alight. There is nothing wrong with a bit of drama and theatre in food service in restaurants, which makes the experience all that more enjoyable. The hard shell was then removed and the meagre was filleted perfectly by the restaurant manageress. The fish was quite large, for two, especially after the starters, but we did enjoy a portion of the very creamy fillets of this fish.
Roast potatoes and grilled fresh veg were served on the side.

Dessert: A portion of in-house prepared, chocolate parfait with fresh whipped cream, apple ring, orange peel and cranberry sauce finished off a rather top notch dinner.

One bottle of water, one bottle of water, and espressos at the Casino bar, complemented the dinner to perfection.

Value: Each dish carries points which can be redeemed at the casino, but overall prices are reasonable commensurate with the location. One can order a normal three course meal from the al a carte menu, with rib-eye steak or vitello farcito flambe for about EUR36, a plate of pasta for EUR11,or opt for the degustation on a special occasion with or without the fish main course. The bill for the food came up to EUR91 between two persons (EUR45.5 pp). Wine extra depending on choice. They also offer a very well priced snack menu served at the bar, and a Sunday buffet lunch at EUR15 pp.

Service: the service at the Portomaso Casino Brasserie, is managed by a very efficient manageress, and a very good complement of servers, and can be considered as outstanding same as the cuisine. Personal attention to the diners was also given by the Executive Chef.

Very good food, very good service, very reasonable pricing for the concept and the location.

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VENUS RESTAURANT - REWIEWED BY CHRIS:

An excellent fish dinner for me and my wife at Venus restaurant in Bugibba last Friday. We started our dinner with a selection of fish based antipasti, which consisted of prawns carpaccio, seared tuna with tomato relish, octopus salad with artichoke hearts and thai fish cakes. For main course we chose a kahli and a bazuta from the fish display, and both fish were presented to us as a fish platter to share, together with king prawns and grilled calamari. This was complimented by roast potatoes and vegetables. Our choice of wine for the night was a 2014 Sancerre white wine. We also had two bottles of still water during our meal. For desserts I chose a cheese platter while my wife had a lemon sorbet. The food at this restaurant is really genuine. The service during our dinner was attentive and good, given that the restaurant was packed. The ambience is quite cosmopolitan and lends well to its position in the centre of Bugibba. The cost of the dinner at the end was Eur120 for 2 persons, ie Eur60 each. A very recommendable restaurant indeed.

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Dinner/s at San Andrea Restaurant - Palazzo Castelletti, Rabat.

This was another restaurant at which we went for dinner twice in the same month. Very professionally operated, up-market, premiumised informality format, very nice ambience, in a historical palazzo which has been painstakingly renovated, keeping all historical and archaeological remains intact and preserved. The property now houses a number of catering establishments which include the San Andrea Restaurant, Castelletti Salumeria & Patisserie and REDWHITE Trattoria. Palazzo Castelletti is one of those establishments that offers an authentic rustic setting with facilities for both indoor and al fresco dining during all months of the year.

San Andrea Restaurant offers selections and menus specialising in both fish dishes as well as meat dishes, and hence our visits were targeted to sample both offers from the newly revised menu.

Food choices:

An Amuse bouche is always served once the food orders, wine and are orders are taken.

Bread, olive oil and dips were also served pre-dinner:

Starters on both occasions:

Salmon gravlax, crab and fennel salad, caper and dill dressing, ciabatta wafer;
Carpaccio of Irish beef, pickled mushrooms, rocket leaves, aged parmesan;
Prawn and Scallop ravioli, local prawns, courgette ribbons, cherry tomatoes, garlic and chive butter;
Fusilli with local rabbit ragu, cabernet sauvignon, rabbit liver, fresh basil;
Risotto al nero di sepia, marinated squid, chili and lemongrass oil;
Asparagus risotto, local soft gbejna, sunflower seeds, pea shoots .

A mid-dinner sorbet was served between the

starters and the main courses.

Main courses:

Fillet of Irish beef;
Sirloin of Irish beef;
Fillet of pork wrapped in Parma ham, Maltese sausage and cabbage, port and red onion jus;
Selections of fresh fish:
Pagella grilled;
Sargi with king prawns.

Desserts: Frozen strawberry souffle, strawberry and coriander salad, strawberry puree;
Vanilla and passion fruit panna cotta, cinnamon palmiers;
Dried fig, port and almond tart, spiced ice cream;
Selection of local and continental cheese served with; seasonal fruit and spice chutney, warm bread and local galletti.

Wine: A good selection of both local and foreign wines are offered with a reasonable mark-up on all wines. Bottles of appropriate red and white, of a very good local brand were ordered at EUR26 each.

The billed price for both dinners worked out at some EUR40 per person, excluding wine.

Ambience and service considered to be very good; food well prepared and presented - Value: Good (pricing of fresh fish a bit on the high side at EUR6/100gm). On both visits there was a problem with the electricity power and light, and part of the dinners were served by pure candle light.

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