A Tavola at The Palace Hotel, Sliema - 4th July.

A TAVOLA at the Palace Hotel in Sliema, is the new casual dining venue that has just opened its doors about a week ago, in the Alexandria Gardens, which is situated between Palazzo Capua and The Palace Hotel. It is accessible through the hotel lobby or direct from the street adjacent to Palazzo Capua.

A TAVOLA offers a selected menu concentrating on casual Italian cuisine suitable for al fresco Summer dining, and which features a good selection of pizza and pasta platters which come in quite large portions, as well as a selection of Italian antipasti which can be ordered individually or as a platter to share at just EUR4 per person. Pizza prices come in at about EUR11 to EUR13.5 depending on choices and the ingredients . Tables are very well placed with good distances in-between to also guarantee privacy in conversation, something which is not normally found in pizza/pasta venues.

Our food choices can be clearly seen from the attached photos which show the following pizzas as served:

Speranza - Maltese Pizza; del Etna _chicken topping; Sliema Chalet; and Palazzo Capua.

as one can see we went for a good pizza and a chilled bottle of wine for an enjoyable casual evening.

Service is very good, food quality is fresh and enticing, and value for money is very reasonable for the quality. Flowing still water is served complementary. Home-made lemon sorbets, espressos, and a chilled bottle of white wine complemented our pizza dinner. Price excluding the wine: EUR76 (EUR19 per person).

Another plus point is that free parking is readily available in the parking complex of the hotel. A point to know is that A TAVOLA is open between Wednesdays and Sundays evenings only. Worth a try this Summer.

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Dinner at The Villa Brasserie, St Julians, Friday 11th July, 2014.

A nice al fresco dinner was enjoyed yesterday at The Villa Brasserie on the spacious terrace overlooking Balluta Bay. Although it was a rather windy day yesterday, the terrace was very well shielded as the place is surrounded by thick perspex fencing which does its job of keeping wind and noise out very admirably and at the same does not interfere with the view whatsoever.

A nice three course meal was had by our group of four, which dinner was enhanced by various complimentary, pre-dinner antipasti, an amuse bouche and mid dinner sorbet. The Villa Brasserie, under the management of Chris Hammett, Chef-Patron, boasts not only very good cuisine prepared from excellent ingredients, but very importantly a very well trained and efficient service staff.

Food selected from the typically short Summer menu is shown in the following photo album. Photos were taken of the food as served to show authenticity. One can click on any photo to see the descriptive caption of the dish. Clicking on the album’s title will show all photos at one glance.

The dinner was complemented by two bottles of water, espressos, and a very reasonably priced bottle of Chianti Classico 2011. Price of the dinner came up to EUR140 excluding the wine (EUR35 per person), very reasonable and good value for money for an up-market, dining venue. Parking is easy and free at the Le Meridien Hotel’s parking facility, and adds to a hassle free experience in St.Julians. Shall certainly visit again this Summer.

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Sunday lunch at Tal - Familja Restaurant, Marsascala - 13th July, 2014.

Tal-Familja Restaurant in Marsascala, run by Charles Preca and family has always been one of our favourite restaurants, in the South of Malta. With Daniela running front-of-house, and Roberta as Executive Chef, the place runs like clockwork, efficiently and with the best seasonal cuisine available.

Tal-Familja Restaurant, has during the last years, since Roberta took over as Executive Chef, evolved into a top rated restaurant that might well be the very best in Marsascala and one of the very best in the South. Tal-Familja Restaurant is after all a WRMC Blue Riband restaurant, so when visiting, expectations are high, and they always seem to exceed them.

A look at the fresh display, indicated a variety of fish all labeled with their actual weights, so that proper portion and price selections could be easily made, and the Chef took the time to indicate to us which fish were locally caught wild, and which fish like the meagre and the seabass that were farmed. We settled for a largish, wild, local rockfish to be shared by two persons as main course.

For starters we selected a deep fried goat’s cheese for my wife, and an excellent linguine with fresh crab for me. The rockfish was split longitudinally by the Chef in the kitchen of course, cooked al cartoccio and oven finished, and served as if the two halves were a whole fish. An innovative approach as I like to fillet my own fish, and this way of cooking and presentation, offered the best of both worlds, viz, an illusion that one has a whole fish on his plate, and the chance to fillet one’s portion the way that he wants. Top marks for Roberta on this one.

Other selections of food and dessert, are as shown in the attached photo album taken of the food as served. As usual, a bottle of a chilled Sauvignon Blanc, water and espressos complemented the lunch. Price excluding the wine which was a reasonable EUR18, came up to EUR 90 between two (EUR45 per person), which considering the size of the fish chosen, is considered to be very good value. An excellent lunch which was enjoyed throughout.

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Various casual 15th/21st July.

Not much to write about the dining front last week and beginning of this one, but the three very casual outings managed were quite worth it. 250gm Angus burger in fresh, crusted bun, chips and salad for Eur10; and two large portions chicken breast with chips and salad, two soft drinks and dessert for Eur18, plus four hours dancing at Del Padron in St. Thomas Bay, Marsascala on Tuesdays..

Lunch at Fratelli la Bufala - Tigne Point, large Bufala burger with mozzarella cheese in freshly made pizza dough bun, salad and chips and one imported beer Eur16.50. Who said one has to spend a lot of money to eat out.

Caviar & Bull (which has now opened on the previous premises of Grill 3301) - initial scouting visit, as this restaurant is still in its soft opening process. Full review shall be made and publsihed once the place is officially launched and in full busines mode.

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Dinner at The Dining Room Restaurant in Mellieha - Ghadira. July 25th.

The Dining Room restaurant is part of The Luna Complex situated at the bottom of the hill from Mellieha to Ghadira (Mellieha Bay).

The restaurant is nicely appointed, fully air-conditioned, and serves freshly prepared food as per order, in substantial portions, but nevertheless very good quality. This place offers a change from the tourist oriented eateries in Mellieha Bay - quiet, nicely furnished, good attentive service, appetizing fresh cuisine, and good value for money.

Food choices for our dinner were as shown in the attached seven photos, four starters and four fresh fish from the fish display; dessert; water, wine, and coffees. You can click on any photo to see the descriptive caption, then move sideways with the arrows to view captions on each photo. Price excluding the wine between four persons came up to EUR150 (excluding tip). Approx EUR37.52 per person. Worth a visit if one is in the vicinity of Mellieha Bay, or spending a day or two in this beautiful location as we do from time to time in Summer.