I am very pleased to be able to report a lovely dinner we were fortunate enough to have at the Medina Restaurant in Mdina. This came in stark contrast to the very poor lunch we had in Valletta on Monday. After a couple of weeks stuck at home following my eye operation, I was more than glad to finally start going out again and decided to kick off the week with lunch in Valletta, thereby combining some necessary errands with a nice lunch.
My initial idea was to try out somewhere we hadn’t been to before. I therefore went straight for a few of the establishments which were suggested elsewhere on this page. However much to our dismay, every restaurant I called was actually closed on Monday! So failing all of this we decided to return to a restaurant we know well and where we have had many a decent meal in the past. Although admittedly our last meal there was not quite up to scratch, we had wrongly put this down to them having a bad day.
Very unfortunately for us, the entire lunch was one disappointment after another. We were four in all and I can very seriously say that from four starters and four main courses only one of the eight dishes was in any way acceptable. The rest was simply very poorly prepared, unpalatable and unpleasant and was without a doubt the product of a very untalented and/or a disenchanted chef. It was not a matter of a dish being overcooked or mistakenly served underdone. Neither was it a case of a sauce or certain ingredients not being to our personal tastes. It was simply all very unrefined, uninspiring and very poorly put together food, of an overall low standard for any level of restaurant. Amazing how an establishment can suddenly slip down into rather abysmal depths.
But enough on this and onto much more pleasant circumstances. The Medina Restaurant offers without a doubt that perfect romantic setting for a stylish and cosy dinner for two. It is housed within a splendid, ancient Norman building, complete with vaulted ceilings, fireplaces and typical courtyard, offering tons of authentic charm. It is also one of those rare establishments in Malta where you are first stylishly invited into the separate bar area, where you are served aperitifs while you look at the menu, and only ushered to your table shortly before your food is ready to be served. A very civilised procedure indeed.
We were very warmly welcomed by the owner Noel Debono, a true gentleman if there ever was one. After ample consultation with Noel, we made our choice of food and wine and after a short pause we were smartly shown to our table.
The service throughout the meal was professional, attentive and fully committed, perfectly choreographed by three very seasoned gentlemen who knew exactly what they were doing. The increasingly rare added touches did not go amiss, such as the individual serving of bread with the use of thongs, the similar serving of lemon slices into our glasses after the water was served, the grating of parmesan cheese at table straight into my pasta – all little gestures which together make for that added level of overall service which in today’s normal dining world have all but disappeared.
As an amuse bouche we were served a totally delicious celeriac velouté with cream and topped with a cured clove of garlic. For starters we took a Tiroler speck with mozzarella di bufala and a tagliatelle with duck rillette. These were extremely different starters insofar as the former was a rather plain and straightforward dish bursting with uncomplicated wholesome goodness, simply emanating from the excellent quality of its ingredients, whereas the latter impressed through the intriguing complexity of its countless flavours. Both the speck and notably the mozzarella were of exceptional quality and were rightly unceremoniously served with a few berries, salad leaves and cherry tomatoes. On the other hand the tagliatelle were prepared with very generous quantities of tasty shredded duck, caramelised red onions and mango, all in a slightly sweetish, creamy beef velouté. This produced a rather unexpected and appealing combination of tastes, which married well with the perfectly cooked tagliatelle.
As for the main courses we selected a local pork dish and an Aberdeen Angus rib eye. The pork was a medley of fillet and belly, served in apple cider and pan juices, and was plated along with a variety of perfectly prepared, chunky yet elegant vegetables. Although both meats might have been cooked ever so slightly less, the sheer variety and goodness of the vegetables, coulises and garnishes made this a most enjoyable dish. The ribeye was of irreproachable quality and was also served with an impressive array of accompaniments, all ready plated.
Without wanting to enter into any polemics and keeping in mind that although the trend in now finally changing, it is obvious that many Maltese people are still exceptionally big eaters by most standards. Well, to our own personal weights and measures, we found the portions at the Medina Restaurant to be very much on the large side. Admittedly this is extremely good news for many of my compatriots, however we would have been more than satisfied with smaller portions both with the starters and more so with the mains. But then again this is a very subjective matter I suppose. And in any case, in our particular predicament with seven ravenous canines at home, nothing ever goes to waste. Not that I am advocating that any excess of such fine food should necessarily end up as dog food. But we are so accustomed to asking for any leftovers to be packed for us for our beloved pets, that this has now become somewhat of a ritual. So even in a case such as this when we left with perfectly edible pork and a slice of delicious rib eye, it is inevitable that it will be our dogs who will be enjoying this notable feast back home.
On the wine front, after some hesitation I decided to go for the Alexis Lichine Saint Emilion 2012. I was already quite familiar with this wine and rightly so did not have any tremendous expectation in its regard.
Following this copious banquet and in spite of some terribly scrumptiously sounding descriptions, we really didn’t have any space left for dessert. So we had what could possibly be considered as a three-in-one – a dessert, a coffee and an after dinner drink, all combined in one, in the form of a delicious Irish coffee. This was more than enough to stamp out any lingering greed or desire for anything more. So we paid both our bill and our respects and thoroughly enjoyed a walk around the enchanting, magnificent streets of Mdina by night, before heading home, doggy-bag in hand and stomachs full, pleased with our choice of restaurant this time round.