A Maltese Foodie

Dear all, I'd like to wish you all a fabulous 2017. May it bring delicious food shared in good company and washed down by an excellent vintage. We're looking forward to trying the places on our "to go" list and sharing it with you. Have a happy 2017 and if you're out be careful if you are drinking and drive safely! AMF

Too many places boast, only for patrons to be disappointed. We live in a world of duplicitous quality claims: organic veg which is not organic, honey which isn't honey. We also live in a world of exaggerated emphasis on pizza cooked in a wood burning oven. Sure a good oven can give the pizza an excellent woody and smoky flavour, but restaurants aren't to be dismissed if they have no wood burning oven. It's tiring. Vecchia Taranto is modest and unpretentious, yet continuously churns out one of Malta's best and most tasty pizzas. I think I can say that for the past two years it has been my favourite pizza place in Malta. Located in Valletta, opposite the parish church of St Paul's shipwreck is this tiny door which proudly flies the Maltese and Italian flags. This is Vecchia Taranto. You enter and see the oven and the pizzaioli working away. So many pizza places make a big fuss about wood burning ovens. The oven here is unassuming and not wood burning. But the pizz...

I just love when a place just takes me completely by surprise, and what you thought would be mediocre turns out to be a total blast. It happened to me when I was a teenager and my parents' idea of a family holiday was to go to watch the military tattoo in Edinburgh. For me it was something stuffy my parents enjoyed, in a place known for rain. Boy was I ever so wrong! It turned out to be one of the best family holidays we ever had - the Edinburgh fringe festival was on and I got to meet Dara O'Briain, explore Edinburgh, the tattoo was a pure spectacle set against the backdrop of the castle, and to top it all off we then went on to explore the Highlands. It was fantastic. I approached my first visit to Ta' Bertu with the same sort of trepidation. "Ta' where?" I hear you ask. Don't worry, I had the same reaction back then. Set on a main road in St Paul's Bay, is this unassuming little place. Blink and you'll miss it and will have to drive the whole ...

It was an unassuming October morning in Malta, and there I was stuck in morning commute traffic. All of a sudden a clip of sunshine burst through the radio. It was the teaser for what was to become Malta's viral sensation - singer Clinton Paul's song and advert for one of Malta's most popular burger joints, New York Best . The video has been seen over 50,000 times, in fact, let's watch it again: CLICK HERE . It is guaranteed to brighten up the dullest of days, or the saddest of moods. We are not strangers to New York Best, and squeeze in a visit every so often. We usually go for a burger - single, double or triple if we dare! Anything with bacon jam usually gets my thumbs up, and the NYB burgers get both thumbs up. We've tried as many as we can, but gravitate towards a couple of favourites such as the juicy lucy, or a good old (cheese)burger. The burgers are always perfectly pink in the middle - no complaints from us here about that (this is a reference to a not...

Chef David Darmanin needs no introductions in the Maltese culinary world. It is encouraging, and we love him for it, that he has managed to break away from our shores and take his magic to another isle, the United Kingdom, where he set up PFGT , or as it is better known, Pretty F*cking Good Toast which is currently based in Hackney, London. This is not just toast, it is posh, amped up, gastro-toast ready to grab your taste buds and destroy your conventional toast ideas. You can imagine the dismay that Chef Darmanin chose to do this abroad and not in Malta. But our (collective) dismay was short lived, and Lovin Malta , Stretta Beer and PFGT descended upon Camarata in Merchants Street Valletta for a pop-up on the 20 December (2016) which was so well received that an encore (two actually) was quickly organised. The event started at 12 noon, and I arrived a little later than that. The venue was already chock-a-block, with people waiting,chatting and salivating at the look and the ...

Don't you just hate when it happens? You have a list of places you still want to try, but when someone asks you, "Where shall we go eat?" you draw a blank. For this reason, I am writing this post, and pinning as a Featured Post which will be updated as we go along - it is a list of places still to visit. Let's see how quickly we'll get round to checking them out. In no particular order, the places to visit are: Noni, Valletta; 59 Republic, Valletta; Shoreditch, to try those burgers/milkshakes everyone is raving about; Frida in Ta' Xbiex; Taproom, Valletta; Da Filippo in Marsaxlokk

Hello everyone, This blog, created on Boxing Day 2016, is an attempt at navigating the Maltese food and restaurant scene in an honest, independent way. The views published are my own, and no sponsorships are given/taken. Furthermore, the review is a snapshot of the experience had - meaning that the place reviewed might fare differently on other occasion. The blog was born out of a need to have a place to catalogue dining experiences, which are not limited by genre or price range. The aim is to be as comprehensive as possible, with a personal touch. Pinned to the top right hand side of the blog is a post listing places I still need to visit; let's call it motivation. I hope you enjoy reading this and that it may be helpful if you are looking for a place to eat on this small island called Malta. A Maltese Foodie (AMF)   food blog, restaurants in Malta, Malta, restaurants, food, foodie, eating out, guide, food trucks, dining

I never expected I'd be so surprised by a restaurant. Ali Baba, the restaurant situated in Gzira, specializing in Lebanese cuisine, was a real find, one I was wholly unprepared for. And I am glad of it because I could delight in the pleasure of the discovery. I was, I must admit, a latecomer to the party, having first visited about five years ago. Patrons and regulars remember it in its previous incarnation, but although the decor has changed the food has remained delicious. There is an impeccable eye for detail in this esteemed establishment. The ambience, the wine list, the quality of the ingredients and the breadth of the menu. Ah the menu.  One can get lost in the menu, and with great pleasure too. The list of starters and mezze is never ending, one more mouth watering than the other. The home made sausages are superior to those offered in most other restaurants (well they're home made for one). The "arayess ghanam", parcels of pita bread filled with grilled...