Round-Up of Restaurants visited in October, 2015.

Dinner at The Villa Brasserie - St. Julian’s.

Thursday, 1st October, 2015.

We’ve been to The Villa Brasserie on various occasions in the last five years since this place was taken over by Chef Chris Hammet, and it has become established as one of the more frequented places especially with visiting food lovers to our Island. For a Thursday evening, in which a full scale storm was in progress, this place was full of patrons enjoying the food and a good bottle of wine inside the cosy atmosphere of the restaurant. An advantage of this place is that parking is a cinch in the adjoining hotel parking which takes you right to the door of the restaurant without having to venture out in the rain. Parking is free for diners in any case.

Seated at our reserved table, ordered a glass of Prosecco to wind down after negotiating the flooded roads from Marsascala to St.Julians. Ordered two bottles of water, and settled to check out the menu.

Food ordered:
Amuse bouche and biscuitm olives and dip antipasto were served pre-dinner.

 

 

 

 

 

Starters:
Garganelli with zucchini, saffron, cherry tomatoes and calamari rings.
Tuna Escabeche of fresh local tuna loin, aubergine purée, carrots, onions,
2 portions of the Linguine clams, mussels, local red prawns, cherry tomatoes.

 

 

 

 

 

Main Courses:
2 portions of the Fillet of Sea Bass Chef’s style served with mangetout, chorizo, saffron sauce

From the Catch of the Day display a 750 gm pagella – cooked al sale on the Bone to share between two, served with lemon wedges, local rocket and stir-fried red peppers and capers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dessert:

Cheese platter shared between two persons;
Home-made sorbets;
Peach clafoutis with ice-cream

 

 

 

 

 

Wine: Wine selections very good with reasonable mark-ups. A good bottle of a French Sauvignon Blanc was selected at EUR20.50

Two bottles of water, espressos and complementary liqueurs completed the dinner.

Value: Overall billed price for the food, water and espressos excluding the wine EUR 160 (EUR40 pp).

Very good food, very good service, very good value.

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Dinner at the Arches Restaurant, Mellieha.

Saturday, 3rd October, 2015.

Having visited and dine at this restaurant on various occasions, this restaurant has always kept its impeccable pedigree of fine dining specializing in French cuisine. Having dined there through various chefs in the last five years or so, we had to pay a visit to see what is being offered by the new executive Chef Andrew Vella, who has recently took over from Luke Borg, who has now moved to new pastures . We wish both of them the very best of luck in their new challenges.

Food presentations, flavours and portions have been somewhat changed, with portions being slightly enlarged without in any way reducing the quality. We have been told that the new Chef is now working on a new menu which shall be introduced in the near future.

Food ordered:

Starters:

Chef recommendations of the:
Quail with asparagus;
The home-made tortelloni stuffed with Chevrette cheese, which is a goats’ milk cheese produced in the Netherlands, with smoked Scamorza cheese puree;
The Sea Urchin risotto;
and a portion of the Seafood bisque soup.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Prior to serving the starters, we were served an amuse bouche of razor clam and prawn, beautifully presented in the clam’s shells; and a basket of fresh and warm bread rolls.

Main Courses:

Different fish main courses of:

Sea bass al cartocio soft ;
Grilled fresh tuna steaks;
Grilled meagre steaks with champagne sauce;
and grilled grouper.

 

 

 

 

Desserts:

Hot chocolate fondant with ice-cream;
Baked peach clafoutis;
Sorbet;
Cheese platter with Cheddar, Parmegiano Regiano and Burrata cheeses. Served with water biscuits and grissini on the side.

 

 

 

 

 

Wine list: Good wine list, with selections of local and foreign wines. Needs to be updated with the wine vintages especially for the white wines. Sometimes, when wine lists are initially constructed, the person doing the list, seem to just take an inventory of what is in the cellar or stores and simply lists the wines as found with vintage dates, which over time would be obsolete as those vintages would have been sold and new vintages stocked. It is crazy to see sometimes, a white wine which is produced to be drunk somewhat young, or within the first three years of production being listed with a vintage date four, five or six years old. In any case this is only a small thing which just needs a new wine list to be tabulated. Having said this, The Arches boasts one of the very best and well stocked, temperature controlled wine cellars in Malta, with a good collection of red wines from good vintages, which also include several Chateau Petrus vintages. Wine mark-ups about 100 per cent on the retail price.

Service: Excellent service, though long serving staff at this restaurant, led by a very good female Restaurant Manager/Maitre D’.

Value: Billed cost as per menu prices for the above cuisine choices including two bottles of water and espressos ,(excluding the wine), EUR 194 between four persons ( EUR48.5 pp). A bottle of an excellent Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc 2013 was enjoyed and complemented the food choices perfectly. Complementary Grappas were offered and served.

Very good food , very good service and good value in accordance with the concept of the restaurant.

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Dinner at La Capanna, Marsaxlokk.

Saturday, 17th October, 2015.

Nice dinner at La Capanna , fish and seafood oriented of course, as befits the best restaurants in Marsaxlokk.

Food ordered:
Starters:
Fettucine seafood;
Fettucine lobster;
Prawn Carpaccio;
Traditional fish soup - alljotta.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Main Courses:
Two fresh fish from the fish display each weighing 1.2 kg viz:
a fresh, wild sea bass and a wild dott (wreckfish/cernia dorata), both cooked excellently, damp oven, style. Fish is charged at a very good EUR4.5/100gm, and the fish is guaranteed to be local, fresh and wild if so stated.

 

 

 

 

 

Dessert: One cherry tart and ice-cream; One cassatella.

 

 

 

 

 

Wine: Wine list offers good selection of local and foreign wines at the best, reasonable mark-ups in Malta - Mark-up about 33 per cent above the retail price. One bottle foreign wine, two bottles of water; espressos and complementary liqueurs completed the dinner.

Service: Good, even though the restaurant was very busy.

Value: Very good portions, perfectly cooked pasta dishes and fresh thick soups; main-courses decent portions at very decent prices. Bill price for the food, water and coffees (excluding the wine) EUR152.5 between four persons (EUR38.13 pp); Wine cost for the bottle -Maria Costanza Bianco EUR22.5. Very reasonable and good value.

Very good food; Good service; Good value.

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Venus Restaurant Bugibba.

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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Tex Mex - Sliema.

Wednesday, 21st October, 2015.

OK so what is Tex Mex cuisine? Tex Mex cuisine is a popular style of cuisine having a blend of Mexican and Southern American features and flavours that were originally characteristic of the border regions of Texas and Mexico. This makes Tex Mex style food an American regional cuisine, in the same way as when we refer to Mediterranean food for example, but of course with vastly different flavours and spiciness..

Tex-Mex cuisine is a Texas version of Mexican food which was adapted from Tejano home cooking. The Spanish pulled out of Texas in the late 1700s and left behind Spanish-speaking mission Indians who became known as the Tejanos. They came from Native American stock and they were really not Mexican. Tex-Mex cuisine is descended from their traditions, and also from a lot of Canary Islanders who were brought to San Antonio by the Spanish to try to expand the colonization of Texas. They brought with them a lot of cumin, garlic and chili, and those flavours, which are really dominant in the flavour signature of Tex-Mex.

Tex Mex American Bar & Grill - Malta has been operating in Sliema for over twenty-one years, four of which have been spent at the new premises and location at the Strand in Sliema. The place is a trendy establishment fusing the concept of a full-on bar and restaurant into a lounge club as the night progresses and patrons would have elected to stay on for a drink or two after enjoying a hearty dinner from the vast menu of spicy appetizers; platters to share; skewers; quesadillas; soups and spicy pasta with cajun chicken and chorizo sausage; huge gourmet burgers with the 400g Juicy Lucy ever so popular; chicken dishes; fish and seafood; prime steaks; ribs; a kids’ menu; and some tasty desserts.
Most of the menu is designed for a one plate meal (main course) only as the portions are huge, unless of course one is a big eater, and prices are quite reasonable all round. Steaks are offered in various weight choices.

On arrival at 20.30, the place was already full on the outside section, and a party was in full swing in the ground floor bar area. We were ushered to a table on the elevated upstairs section, which is a bit quieter from the bar area and which is reserved for diners. This area was relatively busy also, but very well attended to by very pleasant service staff.

Food ordered:
Two starters to share between four persons, of the loaded potato shells which are deep fried potato shell halves topped with cheese and a choice of vegetable chili served with a sour cream & chive dip.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And main courses consisting of:
Two fillet steaks -one of 250gm and and the larger version of the 350g cut;
One 350gm prime rib-eye steak;
and the more adventurous Chicken in red Mexican sauce which was a portion of chicken breast, seasoned and char grilled and completely smothered & topped in traditional red Mexican sauce made of pasilla, ancho & chipotle chilies, garlic and served with refried beans, savoury rice and shredded cheese.

 

 

 

 

 

Dessert: Absolutely no room for dessert but at the insistence of our server, we ordered just one portion of the dessert quesadilla which was served with Belgian chocolate ganache, peanut butter, raspberry purée & vanilla ice cream, a combination of hot & cold flavours and textures. Surely a dessert that cannot be eaten by one person but great to be shared and enjoyed with a strong coffee.

Wine selections are very good with some very good wine offerings at very reasonable mark-ups. We settled for an excellent Saint Emilion which came in at EUR29. Two bottles of water, espressos and complementary liqueurs finished off the meal.

Service: Very attentive and well supervised.

Value: This restaurant offers excellent value with very good quality and decent portions. The bill for the dinner as described above worked out at about EUR142 between four (EUR35.55 pp), excluding the wine.

Very Good food; Very Good Service; Very Good Value.

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Family Sunday lunch at Bistro 516 - Valletta Waterfront.

Sunday, 25th October, 2015.

Sunday dawned a fine warm day, suitable for a pleasant visit to the Valletta Waterfront and lunch with the family at one of the eleven restaurants in that locality. The location was throbbing with people as is the norm on Sundays, especially when the weather is favourable and all restaurants seemed to be doing a whopping trade with every chair and table taken in most places. Good for them. That goes to show that a location that is very well kept and managed, and restaurateurs ready to give their best to suit every taste and pocket, goes a very long way to create a successful venture.

Had already booked a table for five persons at Bistro 516 and was there on the dot at 13.00.
Seated at the outside section which was very pleasant with a good view of the yacht marina and the Celebrity Equinox which was berthed just alongside. Menus and wine list were presented, orders for water placed, and pre-dinner dips and waterbiscuits served.
The menu is quite vast, with selections of hot and cold anitipasti/starters; pasta; meat; poultry dishes; fish when available fresh only; salad bar; platters; a kid’s menu which is not really required as there is ample selections for kids over six years of age from the main menu. Lots of desserts. Prices are very reasonable commensurate with a family oriented bistro, portions are very ample, and food quality is quite good. No wonder this place is always full.

Food ordered:

Starters:
Two servings of their large trio of pasta were ordered; These serving contained portions of Tortelloni chicken, Rolled pasta with ham, cheeses, and white sauce, and ricotta ravioli.
One Spaghetti Bolognese;
One bruschetta which is quite large and suitable for two persons to share as antipasto with a glass of wine;
and a Kid’s pizza for my granddaughter.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Main Courses:
A portion of the 700gm fresh Cowboy Rib-Eye steak, grilled medium. This is a huge affair, of Argentinian beef.
A 400gm USDA Black Angus rib-eye steak, (from the specials list), grilled medium-rare;
The Filletto alla Griglia - grilled medium;
and a portion of the Chicken Cajun-Honey which is a decent portion of chicken breast marinated in Cajun honey and served with grilled banana.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Three types of potatoes were served on the side to go with the main courses: roast potatoes; chips; and double fried - these were the best, crunchy and delicious.

Dessert: Two portions of the walnut tart and ice-cream to share. Espressos, and three bottles of water.

 

 

 

 

 

Wine: This restaurant wins hand down for the best prices on their wines. A very good selection of local and imported wines are on offer, and as far as I could see with prices only showing what can be determined to be just a corkage fee to served as mark-up. A very good bottle of Antonin Noir was enjoyed at just EIU19.75. This is just an 18 per cent mark-up on the retail price of this wine. Other wines were priced likewise.

Service: The place is family run, and they employ a good number of servers to cater for the inside and the outside sections separately. Quite fast, good and efficient.

A complementary Espresso-Martini was served to each of us. A very nice touch and very original.

Value: The bill price for the food as detailed above excluding the wine but include the water and the hot espressos Eur 156.55 (EUR39 pp). Wine price was EUR19.75 for the bottle.

Very good food; Very good service; Very good value for money.

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Dinner at Ali Baba Lebanese Restaurant.
Saturday, 31st October, 2015.

Authentic ethnic cuisine is always rare to come by, as most ethnic restaurants tend to cater for tastes well outside those of the country of origin. Ali Baba Lebanese Restaurant of Gzira, is run by the second generation of a Labanese family who opened this restaurant years ago, and who have always stuck to their roots, cooking authentic Lebanese cuisine as cooked and prepared in family kitchens. The present Chef-Patron Hany Harb has maintained the tradition and thus Ali Baba Restaurant has become the by-word for authentic Lebanese cuisine in Malta.

Booking is essential, and for weekends a week or more before is necessary.

Food choices is always left to the Chef’s discretion as we always go for the Lebanese table degustation menu, which is tailored made in accordance with the daily freshest ingredients in consultation with the Chef. Thus, a veritable feast of dishes was prepared

Food Served:

Amuse bouche : Shourbet Addas
Thick red lentil soup with onions and potatoes, coriander, fresh tomatoes, ginger and chili

Cold and warm starters.

Homous Beirouti
Chickpeas and tahini, garlic, lemon juice, pickled chilies and parsle

Baba Ghanouge
Open-flame smoked aubergines, tahini, garlic and lemon juice

Arayess Ghanam
Pitta bread filled with aromatic lamb-mince and toasted

Hallumi Meqliy
Fried halloumi cheese with fresh thyme and pitta bread crumbs, served with onion, raisins and orange compote

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Main Courses:
Inghatt Agel
Traditionally prepared veal brains with lemon juice and sumac
Lsanat Ghanam
Lamb tongues braised in Massaya classic rouge and reduced lamb stock
Feteyell Ghanam Meshwieh
Lamb tenderloins marinated in bharat (mixed spices), sumac and ghardall (grain mustard), and grilled

Maqaneq Ghanam

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Aromatic lamb sausages prepared in-house

Castaleta Ghanam
Lamb cutlets lightly marinated in herbs and spices, and grilled

Sharhat Lahmeh Meshwieh
Veal strips marinated in garlic, parsley, fresh tomato juice and organic cider vinegar, bharat (mixed spices), and grilled

Farrouj Meshwi Ma Toum
Boneless cockerel marinated in cardamom and harissa, aseer hosrum (verjuice), thyme, garlic and mixed spices, grilled and served with garlic mayonnaise (aioli)

Pitta bread, salads and double fried potatoes and a rice with pine nuts serving were served as side dishes.

Dessert:

Mouhallabieh
Milk and rose water pudding with crushed nuts and cinnamon

Teffah We Tamar
A warm apple crumble with almonds, hazelnuts, dates and caramel sauce

 

 

 

 

 

All dishes were prepared with attention, flavourfull and enjoyed to the full. A very good dinner throughout.

Wine: a bottle of Lebanese Massoya Silver Selection blend -red 2011 was selected at EUR29.95 and as usual with our wine choices paired well with the food. Three bottles of water and traditional Lebanese flavoured tea completed the dinner.

Service: Very attentive, non-intrusive.

Value: The billed amount for this dinner in accordance with menu prices excluding the wine came up to EUR 142.55 between four (EUR35.64pp) - very good value indeed. Wine price for the bottle EUR29.95.

Very good, authentic ethnic food; Very good service; very good value.

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Dinner at Umami Restaurant -

Saturday, 24 October 2026.

The human taste senses, can only recognise four main aspects of tastes. These are sweet, sour, salty and bitter. When one puts a piece of food in his or her mouth one of these tastes would easily emerge.

Taste is a major component of flavour in which we have to include aroma, therefore creating a sense involving smell, texture, and expectation. Taste and flavour together gives one a smell or taste of other external components as in wine, one smells and sometimes tastes, fruit, chocolate, liquorice, etc.

A fifth sense of taste is UMAMI. It involves a non-essential amino-acid called glutamate, but which can create taste and flavours described in the preceding paragraphs, that are not found in every consumable ingredient. Umami can be pleasant and also unpleasant.

UMAMI Restaurant in Rabat Malta, has been in operation for only six months. It is situated in a recently converted house of character at Saqqajja Hill, and uses all of four internal rooms to seat clients, as well as an outside terrace, and also an internal veranda which is used periodically.

The menu is not large and offers selections of:
Three Antipasti; five hot or cold starters; four types of pasta dishes; five main course plus when available lobsters and fresh fish. five types of desserts. Execution of the menu as it now stands, does not really produce that wow factor,(everyone is offering beef carpaccio; mussels, fillet and ribe-eyes steaks, chicken or fish), although presentations are nice.

Choice of food:
Starters:

Pre-dinner we were served warm bread with two types of salted butter, olives and an amuse bouche of fish fritters. A nice touch indeed.

We opted for:
1. One serving of Tortelloni described on the menu to be served stuffed with home-made sheeps’ ricotta, free-range egg yolk, guancale and pecorino;

2. One Serving of the Lobster Bisque Ravioli which as described on the menu is served tossed in lobster meat, tomato petals, cured lemon in Maltese sea salt.

These two dishes when served were mixed up totally, in the ingredients plated, let me explain:
Starter 1: ricotta stuffed ravioli were served in lobster bisque with tomato petals cured lemon and sea salt. The ricotta ravioli and the lobster bisque did not really pair well and the ravioli were bland in this combination. Nice presentation.

Starter 2: The Tortelloni were stuffed with seafood (not ricotta) and served , in egg yolk bisque with pieces of lobster on the plate sides. This was a much better plate in taste, flavours and Umami than the ravioli, but it was not as described on the menu.
To give credit to the staff, the Maitre D’, who we knew from other restaurants, explained that there have been changes in the plating, when he brought the plates over. We agreed to accept the servings.

The other starters were:
A serving of the pan seared fresh scallops served with asparagus, pea puree and edible flowers. A very nice serving and the scallops were quite good.
A serving of the Pot of Mussels- served with grilled ciabatta, garlic, thyme sea salt, and cracked pepper. The Chefs have to watch out for the salt in this serving. Decent portion well presented.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Main Courses:

Two portions of the standard menu item of the local grouper fillets cooked al umido, and served with grouper skin cracklings, served on a bed of mashed potatoes and bisque. A bit different from the menu description.

and two portions of the fish of the day fillets which happened to be pagell (red bream). The pagell fillets were grilled and served on a bed of a liquidy, creamy/ potato puree. Good portion, nice presentation. Again the Chefs must watch out for the salt.

Good portions of potato wedges and grilled vegetables were served on the side.

 

 

 

 

 

Dessert:

One caramelised banana served with dark chocolate wafers, crumbly shortbread and toffee cream;

One Yogurt sponge cake served with strawberries and honey ice-cream.

One serving of the carved fresh fruit salad.

 

 

 

 

 

Wine: a very good Cote’ du Rhone blanc was selected at EUR22,50, which was well priced. Good selections of wine is offered, at reasonable mark-ups. Two bottles of water, espressos and complementary liqueurs finished of the dinner.

Service: very good service, attentive throughout.

Value: The billed price for the food, water and espressos came up to EUR181.40 (excluding the wine) (EUR45.35pp). Normal for this style and concept of restaurant.

Menu needs to be tuned up, otherwise good food; good service; good value commensurate with concept. The Umami sense is sometimes a bit lost, due to the over use of salt. Shall we go again?, yes for sure next time I would like to try out their meat platter which consists of a serving of three types of meat to be shared between two.

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Pizza dinner at Tal-Kaptan Valletta Waterfront.

Friday, 30th October, 2015.

From time to time everyone feels like having a casual dinner, a good pizza with a good bottle of wine. The Valletta Waterfront is a favourite haunt of ours, and after reserving a table for two off we went to the VW for a visit at Tal-Kaptan. Had not been for a while, and it seems that the place has undergone a facelift and refurbishment over the last months, and a new restaurant manager was shifted from The Palace Hotel, and installed to organise and supervise things. Well done Jonathan Pisani, and team. Once again the VW was throbbing with people on this Friday evening with families enjoying the start of Halloween with children all dressed up for the occasion.

Seated on an upstairs table inside the restaurant, we were presented with menus and a short explanation given on the grill. pizza and pasta dishes, and were left to make our choices.

A serving to share of the deep fried traditional, deep fried goat’s cheese balls, coated in breadcrumbs served with sweet chili sauce. Five cheese balls were served making a nice sharing platter especially when pizza was on the books.

A normal Capriciosa with the usual topping of tomato sauce, Mozzarella, mushrooms, artichoke hearts, ham, egg and black olives, was ordered by my wife .

For myself I ordered the Direttore Giuseppe (half open & half closed pizza), which is a tipo calzone pizza with a twist. The closed section being filled with Mozzarella di Bufala, mushrooms and Parmesan; tomato sauce, Pecorino and salami Calabrese for the open part. I opted to change the salami Calabrese to Parma ham as the Calabrese is usually quite spicy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Both pizza choices were quite large, and the Capriciosa was not finished by my wife. I also did struggle a bit to finish mine, but both the crispy dough and the beautiful cheesy filling could not be left uneaten .

A portion of the in-house made apple pie was ordered to be shared over an espresso.

 

 

 

 

 

One bottle of water, and one bottle of a reasonably priced Rioja red complemented the meal.

Value: Tal-Kaptan at the Valletta Waterfront is a family oriented-casual dining restaurant, offering various popular dishes from pizza, burgers, and salads to large pasta portion dishes, grills, rib-eye steaks , etc ., at very decent prices . The billed cost of the dinner excluding the wine, but including the water and coffees, came up to EUR41.50 between two (EUR20.75pp). A very good, value meal, and very enjoyable as our craving for a good pizza was well and truly satisfied.

Very good casual-concept food; very good service; very good value.

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Da Pipp Valletta:

An excellent lunch for me and my wife at Da Pippo restaurant in Valletta yesterday. For starters my wife ordered lobster ravioli with king prawns while my choice was linguine marinara with king prawns, shell on mussels and cockles. Some appetizers were brought to us prior to this, which consisted of maltese bread with aioli sauce, black olives, parmeggiano reggiano and sundried tomatoes. For main course we had wild seabass with a lemon sauce together with a seafood stew on the side. The main course was complimented by roast potatoes and vegetables. We also had a half bottle of white pinot grigio wine and a bottle of still water. For dessert we had miniature ricotta cannoli and cassatella siciliana. The cost of our lunch came to Eur75 with tips which is quite reasonable indeed. The food at this restaurant is always very fresh. Service is efficient and very friendly. The ambience at this restaurant is very lively, partly because lunch time here is very busy, and also because of the good number of paintings always on display on the restaurant’s walls. A positive experience indeed. Will definitely return.

 

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