After several long and painful weeks of forced separation due to mutual travels, we finally met up again with our dearest of friends Jeremy Copeand Michael Owen MBE. As they very much share our passions of eating, drinking and writing, we really have a lot in common and revel at the thought of meeting up for yet another meal together.

So we agreed to meet for lunch and what better setting for an outdoor luncheon than the magnificent gardens of Palazzo Parisio in Naxxar. These magical gardens have the eminent label of Grandi Giardini Italiani which sets them at an exalted level insofar as gardens are concerned. And although I must say that I have seen them in a slightly better state of upkeep, this was most marginal and took nothing away from the splendour of the surroundings.

Similarly pleasing to the eye are the stylish canopies and other sheltering structures, the table setups and the servers’ uniforms in elegant, flowing, most Summery, loose fitting and totally white cotton attire. The only one clashing item in this relative opulence were the extremely thin, lowest grade style paper napkins. I really don’t mind paper, however surely a slightly better grade would have been much more inkeeping with the overall ambiance of the establishment. Another unfortunate and very annoying occurrence were the many flies which plagued us throughout the meal, which after a while can really get on your nerves.

We were handed menus and wine list along with a lovely added touch in the form of a complimentary welcome Pimms, which was as good as it was unexpected and thoroughly appreciated. We were also given a nice mixed basket of home made breads. The menu which is predominantly Italian, is rather imbalanced insofar as it features a great number of starters and very few main courses, to a vastly disproportionate level. Also immediately noticeable was the overly high pricing of the starters, while mains were fairly reasonably. As for the wine list this offered virtually only Italian wines with very little other option. Wines too in my opinion were overpriced and could do with a handy downward revision of at least 10% to 15%.

Following a tasty truffle and mushroom risotto amuse bouche, we started with two chilled cucumber soups which were delightfully refreshing and very well prepared. A mixed tempura which was unexpectedly massive and rather chunky and although not perfectly light and fluffy, was still rather pleasant. Also a salade nicoise which was excellent and only lacked one of its countless essential ingredients – anchovy.

For mains we had a mixed smoked fish plate which was lovely, tasty, delicate and light. Homemade cheese ravioli with a tomato based sauce which were also well enjoyed and cooked just right. There was a lovely seared tuna which was perfectly served pink and had excellent smoky flavours and was served over a well prepared mixed salad. Lastly a veal dish which to be perfectly honest I cannot totally remember much detail about. As I have already mentioned elsewhere, before eating out, I check whether the restaurant has an online menu and when they do I very obviously and naturally assume that this menu is kept up to date, hence its very existence. I do not therefore expect to waste my time and spoil part of my meal by writing endless descriptions of dishes and all I have to do is to remember which dishes we took and later refer to the online menu. However unfortunately this was not the case with the Luna, so certain details do now escape me. However I must admit that the veal was by far the poorest dish and the meat was on the tough and dryish side, alas.

The service was initially of a very high standard, if at times a bit too keen on the wine and water pouring. However towards the end of the meal, from a situation when we were treated to the full and constant attention of the staff, they all seemed to have disappeared and our final coffees and drinks took ages to order. And even more annoying was that as time went by tables and chairs all around us were being cleared, lifted and shifted across to the other side of the garden where a small army of personnel were hard at work visibly preparing for an evening function. So what started off as a rather idyllic setting with very attentive service ended up as a case of musical tables and chairs all around us and with no one to place our final orders. I must also mention that when using the toilet I was followed by what looked like a rather surly kitchen worker, who also used the patrons’ toilets, which is rather distasteful and which should be avoided due to the obligatory staff toilets in such an establishment.

We did however persist and find the patience to wait, until we finally managed to get our coffees and finishing drinks, in spite of their enormous price. I believe that € 8 per shot of standard spirit or liqueur is asking far too much and several drinks listed were not even in stock, which should not happen in this type of establishment.

We still had a great time at this restaurant and would still recommend it. I just encourage the management to reprice their beverages to more realistic levels and to co-ordinate service and setting up of evening functions to a better degree, so as not to infringe on the comfort of their lunch clientele.

In the end the main scope of the outing was to catch up on so much news and gossip with Jeremy and Michael and this we certainly achieved.