Dinner at Zest Restaurant, St Julians - Friday, 29th November, 2013.

Zest Restaurant in St. Julians, described by its owners as the place where East meets West in both dining and decor, is a well appointed, chic restaurant that offers the best in European and Asian cuisine prepared by a team of experienced local and Asian chefs that succeed to bring to the table exquiste choices from Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, Japan, as well as Continental European cuisine given an Asian twist.

The ambience, atmosphere and decor at Zest, is one that projects relaxed elegance with contemporary design and comfort. The open wine cellar and the sushi bar where patrons can sit around the chef and enjoy watching him demonstrate the art of preparing Japanese sushi are enjoyable and attractive added features.

Food Selections:

Our food selections, that were ordered and suggested by the Maitre D’ to share between five persons, were a selection that reflected the East meets West concept of this restaurant.

An amuse bouche of a very tasty and spicy fish-soup was served as soon as the food orders were made, and still and sparkling water was served.

Starters to share:

A three tier presentation of the Asian Platter was served with choices on each tier of:

Yam Vun salad, peking duck roll, rabbit and beef satay with Ba Pao.

Yum Vin Sin Talay with Glass noodles, seafood salad and prawns, calamari and cashew nuts.

Steamed dimsum platter with Bal Pao Indonesian steamed bread bun with dipping sauces and salmon and squid taki.

For Main courses, a selection of dishes to share were served around the table:

Thai steamed Sea Bass in Thai lemon sauce, Kafir lime and lemon grass, served with seasonal vegetables and fragrant rice.

Chicken Teppenyaki - Japanese style grilled chicken served in sauce;

Beef Teppenyaki - Japanese grilled beef served in sauce;

Steer fried vegetables with ginger;

Bami Goreng -Indonesian stir fried noodles.

Desserts:

Both the Bento Box with dark chocolate and chilli fondant served with a type of passion fruit ice-cream as well as the Banana and Ginger Tart Tatin with coconut ice-cream and sesame and drak chocolate truffle went down well. Both desserts were made in-house as befits this class of restaurants.

Wine list: A good selection of wines are offered, with normal mark-ups up to 100% over retail. Our choice were for two bottles of Piera Martellozzo - Sauvignon blanc at EUR19.50 a bottle, which paired well with the spicy flavour of the food.

Service: Outstanding service. In my opinion service at this establishment as well as the cuisine quality have gone up a couple of notches since our last visit. That is one aspect that we would like to see in all restaurants, consistency of something that is already very good, with improvements and further development from year to year.

Value or money: The price of the diner as described above, for four persons and a young boy, sharing, excluding the wine, but including three bottles of water and espressos came up to EUR200, approximately EUR50 per person excluding tip of course. The meal was substantial, with good portions of quality cuisine, which at this price per person offered very good value for money.

Reviewers Impressions:

Ambience, atmosphere and decor: Very Good +

Cuisine Quality: Very Good +

Preparation and Presentation: Very Good +

Harmony of menu: Very Good.

Wine List and Mark-ups: Good choices, mark-ups about 100% on most wines.

Service: Very Good +

Value for money: Very Good with High standard of cuisine quality and service.

RATING: 9/10

Recommended.

Contact information:

Zest Restaurant,

12, St. George’s Road,

St. Julians.

Telephone: 21 388 000.