Dinner at SaReGaMa Indian Restaurant - Fortina Tigne.
Sunday, 8th November, 2015.

These last two weeks seem to have been devoted to a selection of local or ethnic, but traditionally authentic restaurants, serving food from the mother country. We visited Ali Baba Lebanese Cuisine restaurant of Gzira; Nenu the Artisan Baker for traditional Maltese food at Valletta, and finally last weekend we paid a visit to SaReGaMa Indian Restaurant at the Fortina - Tigne.

SaRegama is one restaurant in this location which has kept up its standards throughout the years that it has been running. Passionately run and managed by Renald Bugeja and Amit the place has over time became a highly sought after Indian restaurant by locals and visitors to our Island.

New revamped menu offering various Indian speciality dishes from various regions, as well as at various spiciness, textures and flavours as the client might prefer.

Ordered:
Two portions to share of the Masala Popadom, topped with onion, tomato and mint, to share and a platter of tandoori cooked selections comprising:
Gosht Seekh Kebab - minced baby lamb flavoured with a selection of spices;
Tandoori lamb Chops -
Tulsi Murgh Tikka - chicken breast cut in cubes and cooked with creamy cheese, cardamon and chillies.

Chicken Jalfreji - a Bengali prepartion of chicken with bell peppers and oinions.
Lamb Rogan Josh - with fennel and dry ginger a recipe from Kashmir;
Pork Vindaloo -
Chana Dal Palak - yellow lentils cooked with spinach and flavoured with cumin and garlic;
Garlic naan.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dessert:
rice Pudding;
Gulab Jamun;
Kulfi;

 

 

 

 

Wine: a good selection of wines to pair with the spicy food, although a good Indian pale ale would air much better. A bootle of a very good, well chilled Gavi was ordered and Two bottles of water.

Service very good and attentive.

Value : the billed amount for the above between four persons cam up to EUR115.5 excluding the wine (EUR 28.88pp). Very reasonable and good value.

Very good Indian food from various regions; very Good service; Very good value.

 

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Pizza dinner at Dell’ Etna of Marsascala.
Thursday, 5th November, 2015.

After twenty-two years in operation, ( since 1993 that is), at the same location, Dell’ Etna Ristorante Pizzeria of Marsascala is still going strong. Run by the Mirabile family, originally from Sicily, and managed by one sister and two brothers operating as Chef Patron, one in charge of the main kitchen dishing out plates of pasta, grills and various platters, and the other brother is the pizzaiolo, producing dough from scratch as it should be and naturally baking the pizza in their authentic forno del legno, (otherwise known as a wood burning oven) as was proudly explained by the pizzaiolo.

Ordered one capriciosa at EUR7.50 and one pizza Calabrese (quite hot and spicy with the Calabrese salami picante, at just EUR7.90 . These were excellent pizza at a very good and affordable price. As Domenico, one of the Chef-Patron told us, they pride themselves in being a family-oriented restaurant offering good food at affordable prices for all to enjoy. In fact fresh fish is charged at EUR4/100gm, and fillet steak (Charolaise) is priced at EUR22.50.
Complementary bruschetta was served.

 

 

 

 

 

Half bottle wine, one bottle of water and two espressos
Value for the meal excluding the wine EUR19.40 (including the water and the coffees) - EUR9.70 per person. Great value for money.

Service is also quite good. Wine choices reasonable, very good Italian wines at decent mark-ups.

Very good food; Good service; Very reasonable prices.

 

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Lunch at Bistro Ten-0-One - Smart City.
Monday, 16th November, 2015.

Lunch was enjoyed at Bistro Ten-0-One last Monday. It was a very sunny day, one of those November days in Malta, that it would be a sin not to enjoy them in nice and pleasant surroundings, open spaces and a sea breeze, that only Smart City can sometimes provide.

Drove over with my wife. Parked in the huge parking area, and strolled over to meet a business colleague at the restaurant.

Menus are a vast affair giving choices of antipasti, starters and main courses, plus, pizza, burgers, platters and a good kids’ menu.

Bistro Ten-0-One is a modern, set-up and designed establishment suitable for family and casual dining, but offering very good dishes. I remember having ordered a rib-eye steak some weeks ago at this place which was cooked to perfection as I like it medium-rare.

Back to the present, for starters we ordered:
Moules Mariniere -
Mussels tossed with Garlic, Spring Onion, White Wine, Cherry Tomato, Fish Veloute, Soft Herbs & Garlic Croute

and
Taglioline Verdi Laguna -
Fresh Egg Pasta with Smoked Salmon, Shrimps, Onions, Garlic, Baby Spinach, Cognac, Lumpfish Caviar & Rose Cream

and for main courses we ordered two servings of the:
Seared Fillet of Salmon – Capers, Olives, Dill & Tomato Salsa

 

 

 

 

 

 

The food served and presented was very good.

A glass of white wine each to complement the lunch, and a bottle of still water were ordered.

 

No space for dessert really though the apple pie was tempting. An espresso finished off the lunch.

Value: Bistro Ten-0-One offers a range of prices to suit all pockets, the lunch as ordered came up to EUR 66 between two (EUR33 pp).

Very good food; Very good service; Very Good value.

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Lunch at Nenu The Artisan Baker at Valletta.
Saturday, 7th November, 2015.

When in Valletta, at least once in a while, one has to pay a visit to possibly Malta’s only authentic, Maltese food oriented restaurant. I say this, because at Nenu’s one can only find traditional Maltese dishes on the menu, Maltese wines, traditional coffee (tal- kitla), don’t ask for an espresso or a cappucino, this is Malta of times forgotten but highly enjoyable even now.

The menu offers selections of Maltese ftira, having a base of traditional Maltese bread dough produced at the owners’ ,(who happens to be Maypole Bakeries by the way), state of the art bakery, and which is delivered to the restaurant fresh daily, after having undergone the proper fermentation period under temperature controlled conditions.
A five course or seven set, degustation menu of Maltese dishes including rabbit, stuffat tal-majjal and bragjoli tat-tigieg ( stuffed chicken breasts tipo beef olives).
Traditional Maltese dishes - sopop (soups) like soppa ta’L-Armla, aljotta, etc; Pasta and rice, ravjul Malti. Traditional main-courses- rabbit, stuffat, bragjoli, etc. Fresh fish traditionally cooked like spnott (sea bass), bil-hwawar, herbs and white wien; etc. suffat tal-qarnit; a good children menu; and traditional Maltese desserts - pudina, mqarett, sfinecc, suffle Malti., etc.

We ordered the Fra Guzepp Ftira which had a base topped with marrows, onions, green peppers, tomatoes, cheeselet, garlic, black olives, capers, mint and olive oil, as a starter to be shared between four. This was more than enough for a starter, which arrived on a wooden board, divided in four parts with spatula at the ready to be self-served.

Pre-lunch we were served a dish with ftira and home-made kunserva and bigilla as antipasto.

For main courses we ordered one traditional Fenek moqli immarinat fit-tewm u nbid aħmar
(Rabbit marinated in garlic and red wine, fried in olive oil and served in its own juices);
One Spnott imsajjar fi l-ħwawar u l-inbid
(Seabass braised in a herb and white wine liqueur);
and two Pixxispad moqli fi ż-żejt, bl-aroma tal-lumi u l-bużbież
(Pan served swordfi sh in lemon scented oil and fennel seeds).
Fresh Maltese bread basket, grilled veg and roast potatoes for the rabbit, and boiled veg, and boiled potatoes were served on the side with the fish.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dessert: Selections from the display were made of:
Mqaret tat-tamal u ġelat Malti (Date fritters with Maltese ice cream);
Sfineċ bl-irkotta ħelwa (Stuffed fried éclairs with sweet ricotta mix);
Fritter parcels with strawberry puree and ice-cream.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wine and water: Maltese wine selections at very reasonable mark-ups, we ordered one of the best Maltese white wines which came in at EUR18, two bottles of water, and of-course traditional coffee with anisette.

Service, has improved by leap and bounds from the last time we were there, service efficient and with a smile as it should be. Food quality was also very good throughout. There might be some restaurants in Malta who might offer Maltese food together with a multitude of other general dishes from here and there, but Nenu The Artisan Baker of Valletta, in my opinion, remains the only one at which, only authentic Maltese food is served.

Value: The final bill will certainly not break the bank. The billed amount for the above came up to EUR 82 for the food, water and coffees between four, (EUR20.5 pp), the cost of the Gran Cavalier Sauvignon Blanc was EUR18 separately.

Very Good food; Very Good Service; Very Good value for money. Brings back memories of times gone by of what traditional Maltese food was fifty years ago, but highly enjoyable to younger generations and visitors yearning for traditionalism.

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Sunday lunch at the Portomaso Casino Brasserie.
Sunday, 22nd November, 2015

We are regular clients every now and then of the Porrtomaso Casino Brasserie, normally on weekdays when a full-on a la carte menu is served. I have reviewed this establishment here on more than one occasion, and have always been more than satisfied with the quality of the cuisine, service and above all the value for money.
Last Sunday, we decided to try their buffet lunch which we have heard quite a bit about, and at EUR15 a head this looked to be a bargain.

We booked a table so that we will not have to stay in line with other clients most of whom go in for a quick lunch before they settle down for a couple of hours of afternoon gambling or p[laying the slot machines. By the way entry is restricted to persons over eighteen years of age, and an admission membership card must be obtained or a valid ID card has to be presented at reception.

The buffet is not a large affair in the line of the five star hotels, but it compares well with other venues with ample counter and station presentations of: A sushi station; cold cured meats and salads; seafood counter with mussels, cured fish, various cold veg dishes, stuffed aubergines, etc.; a soup station; pasta station offering a very good lasagne and a vegetarian pasta dish;
The main-course concourse offered some five different protein dishes such as:
Braised chicken breast; pork medallions; braised duck sections; salmon; a very good carvery offering a succulent, roast chuck of beef; and a chicken doner kebab on a rotating spit. Various potato terrines including croquet potatoes, and vegetable terrines were also placed on this counter.

Ample desserts of ready cut cake, tart, and gateau portions, a good idea to eliminate wastage which is so prevalent in buffets, ricotta stuffed cannoli, traditional mqarett (date parcels), etc., and a modest cheese table. A few samples to be shared between four were taken to pair with the coffee.

 

 

 

 

 

The price of the buffet is just EUR15 per person, which offered the best value lunch ever, buffet style, with very good food. Table service is very good, with discarded plates being removed immediately, as well as the various food counters were replenished as necessary and quickly.

Water and wine are charged extra in accordance with orders. Enjoyed a good bottle of Cote Du Rhone red, two bottles of water and espressos with the cannoli and mqarett.

Overall it was an enjoyable lunch, one which shall be repeated eventually.
I took some photos, but due to the lack of bright lighting they did not come out right, although I am placing some here simply for info.

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Dinner at Zest Flavours Restaurants- St. Julians.
Saturday, 21st November, 2015.

Zest Flavours Restaurant runs an East meets West cuisine concept which gives diners dining options that are enjoyed by people with different styles of food preferences. Zest is another one of our regular dining haunts when we get a craving for eastern food, as cuisine is always authentic and outstanding. Menu choices vary from a number of set menus with selected “East meets West”; “Eastern fusion” etc., cuisine set-up by the Chefs; to orders of platters and single items from the menu to build up a one-course, two/three or more courses meal in accordance with one’s taste and pocket.

Food choices :

We ordered a sushi platter to share between four , to start of the dinner. This consisted of selections of:
East meets West roll with spicy tune, eel, salmon topped with salmon roe and black tobiko;
Saisaki Sake roll - with grilled salmon chilli and Japanese mayo, coated with beetroot tempura flakes;
Spicy tuna toll.

Starters:
Steamed dim sum platter -with Japanese prawn gyoza, Indonesian steamed bread bun with pork and Thai style chicken dumplings served with tipping sauces ;
Peking Duck Rolls with rice paper pancakes filled with shredded duck, spring onions, cucumber and plum sauce.

 

 

 

 

 

Main courses:

Individual portions of the following dishes were ordered as per each guest’s food inclination at that moment in time:
Pan fried duck - marinated in citrus juice and zest, served with potato dauphinoise, fennel puree and in-house prepared tomato jam;

Two servings of the Seafood Terriyaki - Japanese style grilled sea-bass, salmon fillet and prawns in tepinyaki sauce. Fragrant rice on the side.

Thai Steamed Sea-bass - marinated in Thai lemon sauce, kaffir-lime and lemongrass. Rice on the side.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dessert:

Zest Platter - Mango kulfi parfait , White chocolate, cinnamon and honey lumpia roll, Mango and papaya salsa with green tea froth. Quite good but the Mango kulfi parfait was rather too sweet for me. Otherwise the roll was very good.

Pear and Ginger pecan crumble - served with rose-water ice cream, spiced cider and vanilla gelee. Very good, much more preferred.

 

Wine: good selections of local and foreign wines. A bottle of Vinosia Falanghina was ordered at EUR22.50 and paired well with the food. Two bottles of water.

An after dinner cocktail made from various liqueurs was served complementary.

Value: The billed cost of the dinner excluding pre-dinner drinks and the wine, but including the food and water, came up to EUR181.20 between four persons (EUR45.30 pp). Very reasonable for the food served.

Very good food; Very Good; service; Very good value in accordance with food ordered and the outstanding concept of this restaurant.

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Dinner at Trattoria Cardini - Sliema.
Friday, 20th November, 2015.

If one is after large portions of food, of a very good quality and decent prices then one should give Trattoria Cardini in Sliema a try. Matthew Luke Schembri the restaurant manager and Jean Paul Schembri the executive chef seem to have only one passion in life, and that is to serve excellent, trattoria style food which exceeds expectations in all respects. Been there on various occasions for family lunches, and even business dinners and always found that their food is great.

Went for dinner with members of my family including my six-year-old granddaughter. Menus and wine list were presented once seated, we were also shown the daily specials menu which was also explained by the restaurant manager. Orders were made for the food, wine and water, and a large basket of various, fresh and warm, bread styles, focaccia and grissini was placed on the table .

An amuse bouche which was called pumpkin squash - which was warm pumpkin soup, with walnuts and a savoury tortellina were served to each diner on our table.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Food ordered was a seafood platter to share between four as a starter. This was a massive serving of fresh red prawns, mussels in broth, clams, whitebaite, deep fried calamari rings, smoked salmon and fried fish, with accompanying sauces, dips, mayonnaise were served on the side. This is a big platter which can be ordered for two or more sharing.

Main courses: We ordered two servings from the daily specials of the slow cooked braised rib of beef. These servings were also huge and could not really be finished in their entirety. The meat was succulent and tender and melted in the mouth, with the flavours from the reduction sauce adding to that great taste of good food.
One 300gm USDA rib-eye steak cooked medium-rare;
and one USDA beef fillet steak ordered medium.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Kid’s Mini Mouse pizza was ordered for my granddaughter from the kids’ menu

Dessert: Chef’s mille foglie pastry with fruit, cream, chocolate and custard; and a slice of chocolate gateaux.

One bottle of Moscato D’Asti and one bottle of Chateauneuf du Pape, three bottles of water, and espressos finished of the meal.

Service was very attentive and efficient.

Value: The billed price for the above dinner, including the water and espressos, but excluding the wine, came up to EUR146 between four persons (EUR36.5pp). Very good for the quality and quantity of the food served.

Very good food; Very good presentations and preparation with attention; Very good service; Very good value.

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Dinner at Pintonino Restaurant -Valletta Waterfront.
Saturday, 28th November, 2015.

Yet another very enjoyable dinner at Pintonino Restaurant at the Valletta Waterfront last Saturday.
Pintonino can always be counted on to provide fresh fish and if for some reason, bad weather etc., this is not available, there are always the aquariums full of live lobsters, crabs, clams and other goodies from the sea.

Settled at our reserved table inside the restaurant, menus and wine list were presented, the fresh fish available on the day were shown to us displayed on a tray, and choices were made.

A serving of the traditional bigilla and waterbiscuits was served pre dinner as well as an amuse bouche of a fresh gandofla, sea-urchin pate specially made by the chef, and crispy, baked Jerusalem artichoke leaf.
A starter of the seafood antipasto to share between five adults was ordered, which consisted of a platter of an excellent tuna carpacio, and selections of fresh, red, Mediterranean king prawns; deep fried calamari rings and squid; whitebaite neonati fritters; and fish and prawn fritters.

 

 

 

 

 

Main courses:

From the fish display - two decently sized dott cooked acqua pazza;
and one John Dory to be shared between two persons;
One portion of fettucine astice which consisted of half a lobster in a good portion of fettucine cooked in a splendid sauce which were enjoyed by my daughter and granddaughter.

 

 

 

 

 

A mid-dinner amuse bouche of fig warmed up in port wine reduction was served between the main-courses and the dessert.

Dessert:
Freshly deep fried date parcels (mqarett) ;
Freshly ricotta stuffed cannoli.
Chocolate profiteroles for my granddaughter.

 

 

 

 

 

Wine: A good bottle of Greco di Tufo was selected at EUR26; three bottles of water; espressos.
A complementary 12 year old, single malt Aberfeldy Scotch whiskey was served with the coffees.

Value: the billed cost of the dinner excluding the wine came up to EUR220 between five adults (EUR44pp). Very good value for excellent food.

Very good food: Very good service; Very good value.

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Lunch at Sciacca Grill Valletta.
Sunday, 15th November, 2015.

Sciacca Grill of South Street, Valletta, is without a shadow of doubt one of the very best if not the very best dedicated steakhouse in Malta. If one goes to this establishment, one has to go with just one thought on their mind - MEAT. Sciacca Grill specializes in authentic dry aged beef which is kept in special cooler under strictly controlled temperatures; as well as fresh beef cuts - fillets, rib-eye; T-Bone; Tomahawk; etc, from Argentina, Canada, Uruguay, as well as USDA beef. Veal cuts as well as chicken breast. Diners make their own selections from the glass enclosed counter, one can select the cut of beef from the various trays himself by pointing it to the Restaurant manager, with instructions of the cooking method.

The daily starters are listed on a chalk board on the wall and include: The daily soup; Twice baked goat cheese; Burrata salads; Mushroom dishes; garganelli with wild boar ragu; porcini ravioli; and their famous piatella baked cheese. If that is what is on the board, that is what would be available; freshly cooked on order.

We settled on our table, ordered the wine, a very good Masi Campofiorin, and water. Fresh bread basket and dip were placed on our table, and after a while we strolled over to the food counter as requested and made our food selections:
Piatella baked cheese and the Mushrooms with egg and truffle as starters;
One USDA fillet of beef to be cooked medium; and a Canadian rib-eye steak to be similarly cooked medium-rare.

The starters arrived in very hot cast iron pans, with separate plates on the side. Naturally, this place advocates sharing of food between guests and that is what we did. Both starters were excellent. My mushrooms with egg on top and the truffle was mouth watering., and the sauce had to be scooped up with the fresh bread.

After the starter plates, pans and cutlery were cleared away, we were given a few minutes to enjoy some wine whilst the steaks were being cooked. These arrived after a short while, served hot on a lava block together with mushroom sauce on the side. Potato chips and grilled vegetables were served separately.
The steaks were cooked as ordered to perfection. As I said earlier, the beef at this establishment is hard to beat anywhere. Well done to the kitchen staff and chefs for consistency of a very good product.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dessert: We were shown the available desserts selections which consisted of pannacotta; cheese cake and creme’ brulee, ice-cream was available as well. We settled for just one portion of the cheesecake which was served with strawberry ice-cream, and pistacchios. Delicious.

Wine: Sciacca Grill boasts a very good wine cellar housing some very good fine wines that suit most pockets, as well as a large premium whiskey collection. We selected a Masi Campiofiorin which was served at exactly 16deg.C and was decanted to give it time to breath and settle.

Service: One of the best service team anywhere. Efficient, attentive but most important un-obtrusive.

 

 

 

Very good cuisine with outstanding beef steaks; Very Good service; Very Good Value.

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Ristorante La Vela Pieta Gardens, Msida.

Another full-on degustation menu with fresh fish main courses.

Excellent food, excellent service very good value.