Round-Up of Restaurants visited in September, 2014.
Positives
Restaurants for adjudication have to be carefully selected. There are far too many average restaurants which although might be good for a quick lunch, would not qualify for any award ratings. Restaurants featured here must be well above average.
Round-up of restaurants visited in September, 2014.
Merkanti Bistro at the Hilton - 18th September.
A very good six course tasting menu, comprised of:
Three starter courses as shown in the photographs, served to each diner at our table;
Main Course: Fresh tuna steak, pan seared and finished as ordered by each diner;
Pre dinner dessert;
Choice of dessert:
It goes without saying that this excellent dinner was complemented by appropriate wine, water, espressos and complementary liqueurs.
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Dinner at Zest Restaurant - Hotel Juliani, St. Julians.
Friday, 19th September, 2014.
Asian style dinner at the restaurant at which east meets west in food as well as in style.
Zest Restaurant is another of our regular restaurants for something different.
We did not opt for one of their standard set menus but selected individual items from the menu according to each individual taste.
Food selected:
Starters:
Amuse Bouche and home-made bread.
Asian Platter for two- Yam Vun Sen Salad, Peking Duck Roll, Rabbit Satay, Beef Satay and Bak Pao
Steamed Dimsum Platter Japanese Prawn Gyoza, Bak Pao Indonesian Steamed bread bun with pork and Thai Style Chicken dumplings served with a dipping sauce
Red prawn risotto - Local red prawn risotto scented with kaffir lime & lemon grass.
Main Courses.
Pepes Jkan -Steamed Red Snapper wrapped in Banana leaf served with a red Curry sauce.
Thai Steamed Seabass - Steamed Seabass in Thai lemon sauce, kafir lime, and lemon grass.
Served with seasonal vegetables and fragrant rice
Desserts (In-house prepared):
Bento Box - Dark Chocolate & Chilli Fondant with Raspberry Sorbet.
Banana & Ginger Tart Tatin - With Coconut Ice Cream, sesame and dark chocolate tuille;Selection of Sorbets.
The dinner was complemented by two bottles of water, one Gavi di Gavi wine at EUR21, espressos and complementary Avernas. Cost excluding the wine EUR176 (EUR44 per person). Enjoyable. Very good service and very good Asian style cuisine
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Dinner at Zeri’s Restaurant, Portomaso, Friday, 26th September, 2014.
Zeri’s is certainly one of the busiest and sought after restaurants at the Portromaso complex, and yesterday Friday, 26th was no exception. The restaurant was full, inside as well as outside on the smallish terrace. I have noticed some staff changes from our last visit, but nevertheless both the food served as well as the service were very good as usual.
Food ordered:
Starters:
Pan seared scallops with orange oil, and seasonal salad;
Linguine vongole;- with fresh clams tossed in olive oil, garlic and cherry tomatoes and mint.
Calamari in padella - pan fried calamari enhanced with garlic and parsley and served with fresh , seasonal salad dressed in balsamico;
Cozze in Bianco - black mussels simmered in garlic, chopped tomatoes, white wine and basil.
Main Courses:
One 800gm Tannuta (Black Bream), for two persons, grilled.
One 400gm USDA Rib-Eye steak grilled medium-rare;
One 250 gm Char grilled Black Angus Fillet of Beef served with tartufo sauce.
Desserts:
Dark chocolate fondant served with vanilla ice-cream and Bailey sauce;
Cassatella Siciliana;
Creme Brulee;
and one Vanilla ice-cream.
Two bottles of water; pre-dinner drinks; one bottle Sancerre and half bottle Chateauneuf du Pape; espressos; and complementary Avernas.
Price for the food as detailed above, plus the water and espressos , (excluding the wine and pre-dinner drinks), came up to EUR168.5 (EUR42 per person). Wine and alcoholic beverages are optional and prices always depend on the wine quality ordered.
Good cuisine; good presentations; very good service, with quite reasonable prices for the restaurant’s concept as well as the location.
Zeri’s Restaurant is a WRMC Blue Riband Restaurant, and listed in the WRMC Top 30 Restaurants in the Maltese Islands guide in Wines And Restaurants of Malta.Com
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SaReGaMa - Saturday, 27th September, 2014.
Nice dinner Saturday, 27th at SaReGaMa Indian Restaurant at the Fortina Complex, Tigne Point. Were booked and seated for the 9pm sitting which like the two sittings before was fully booked, bit less hectic and rushed. Saturday night was Tandoori Night, with the kitchen and the tandoori ovens moved to the garden and the dinner was buffet style with everything cooked there and then in full view of the diners. This was part of the SaRegaMa annual Days of India Food Festival which features a different themed night every evening between the 26th of September and the 1st of October. Price was approx EUR35 per persons for the food - soups, starters, various styles of chicken tandoori, fish tandoori, prawns , sauces, all from the cooking stations; and dessert served at the table.. Enjoyable.
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