I feel that I should start off by reassuring everyone that you really need not remove your underwear before entering this restaurant. I went as far as confirming this when reserving our table. And just in case anyone is thinking that I have totally lost it, to an even more severe level than my normal self – if this is at all possible, then I suggest that you look up the name in an urban dictionary…

Without wanting to dwell too much upon the name, I do feel that it is quite an odd and unlikely one for such a good restaurant. Although it is in no way connected to the Army & Navy Bar in Sliema, I am told that it does originate from a previous establishment housed within the same building, which was called the Commando Bar, and which was mainly frequented by British services personnel.

But although admittedly such a name does not somehow evoke images of the finest cuisine or a top refined restaurant, this is exactly what Commando proved to be.

The seating arrangements are nicely laid out, whereby tables of four such as ours consist of a comfortable semicircular settee for the ladies and two opposing chairs for the gents. This already sets the scene for a convivial meal and certainly beats normal tables and chairs in both comfort and general atmospheric feeling.

Immediately upon being seated we were very efficiently asked if we would like aperitifs, and while three of us decided to go directly to wine, one followed the distinct recommendation of the waitress to take a whisky. Strangely enough he was automatically served a Laphroaig, which to me is a legendary and inimitable whisky and simply to die for. However I cannot understand why he was served a superior and therefore more expensive whisky and more so one which is infinitely more appropriate as an after dinner drink. Furthermore this whisky is not appreciated by all due to its very pungent, super peaty and even phenolic taste and is probably one of the most unlikely whiskies one would ever expect when ordering a simple plain whisky.

I am perhaps insisting on this point as it seems to have become a recurring problem we are encountering more and more in many restaurants in recent times. When ordering a normal generic drink we end up being served the most expensive brand in the house. We will definitely start to look out for this in the future and no matter how petty it may seem, I will certainly start to enquire as to the exact brand and category of spirit we order from now on.

We can now move on from these relatively insignificant matters and proceed to what I feel should be unreserved exaltation towards every other aspect of this astounding restaurant.

We were served by two young, efficient and extremely pleasant servers, who not only did their best to laugh at my stale jokes, but who were also very helpful and looked after us very professionally and attentively. I think that they managed to achieve that rare balance between smartness and friendliness, which can often be so hard to reach.

And now to the food! I am not easily impressed, but this is probably as close as I can get. The quality of the food served was totally amazing, very refined and full of lovely flavours.

For starters we had a duck leg croquette, which had a lovely rich and tasty shredded duck filling and a crispy, delightful crust. This was served with a prune purée, pickled apples and nuts. Two of us had seared Scottish scallops with a cauliflower purée and lentils. These were absolutely sublime and although it is a dish we have had countless times both in Malta and abroad, I simply cannot recall ever having eaten any better than these. They were cooked to perfection, very moist and succulent while also retaining their very delicate natural flavours. We also had the starter special of the day, which were potato gnocchi made with ricotta and truffles. This dish too had the distinct signature of greatness through its very delicate yet striking flavours, clearly manifesting the work of a very talented chef.

For main courses we had a grilled Irish ribeye with herb butter, which was clearly of very good quality and cooked to perfection. Two of us had the main course special of the day which was breast of caramelised duck sided with parsnip and vanilla purée. This was an unmatched rendition of this seemingly simple dish, which elevated it to new heights of perfection. Not only was the meat impeccably cooked and absolutely succulent, but it was also extremely tasty and beautifully seasoned on the outside. The fourth main was an equally well prepared oven roasted rack of lamb, which was of the same exceptional level of quality as the other dishes and boasted lovely flavours and textures to produce yet another great dish.

All starters and mains were prepared to a truly unexpected level of finesse, yet all displayed very marked and sometimes intense flavours, one of the hallmarks of an exceptional kitchen.

We complimented this remarkable meal with very palatable Côte du Rhône Château de Boussargues, which was a grab at € 16.50 and proved to be more than adequate.

As for desserts we decided to share two dishes between the four of us, being a lovely silky and tasty crème brûlée and a delicate white chocolate mousse. Both desserts were of the same excellent standard as the rest of the meal.

We also chose our after dinner drinks from the dedicated section of their dessert menu, and sure enough one of the principle suggestions here was Laphroaig. So we went for a Macallan just to change…

So my recommendation for anyone who hasn’t been here yet is a loud and resounding GO!