Colmar is a pretty little town just South of Strasbourg and also in the region of Alsace. Fortunately for us this is where our culinary holiday life finally settled down and came back to normality, without any further wild exploits such as we had experienced so far in this trip.

So we were happily reunited with our normal gourmand travel routine of good and interesting restaurants, with the occasional outstanding one for good measure.

Our one main meal in Colmar was perhaps not outstanding, but it was certainly very decent, of a good and very satisfying level and therefore most enjoyable. This was about as traditional a French restaurant as it gets. Your slightly elderly gentleman maitre d’ floating around instructing his two young novices, a distinct oldie woldie feel to the place and above all a good selection of some of the best and most renowned French classic dishes, all presented and religiously served the way they were meant to be. Not much novelty here perhaps, but then again cuisine is definitely not only about novelty, it is simply about eating well.

This seemingly fool proof formula of playing it safe paid out perfectly, as we had what may be considered by any standard a very good meal.

For starters we had a lovely grilled goat’s cheese salad with a variety of crispy greens, croutons and lardons, drizzled in a delicious tangy vinaigrette. Also beautifully wholesome traditional French fish soup, thick and unctuous and served with the obligatory garlic croutons, rouille and grated Emmental. In traditional French manner, when we had finished our soup one of the servers came to our table with the pot and served us more.

As for the mains we had coq au vin which was lovely and perfectly cooked and two fish dishes, a cod and a monkfish. The fish were also naturally served in northern French tradition and therefore came in rather thick, tasty sauces. This goes very well with both river and Atlantic fish. Both sauces had essential ingredients such as cream, mustard and chives and proved to be tasty yet delicate and a very appropriate way of eating such types of fish on a cold wintery evening.

As for wine we went for a local pinot noir which, reminiscent of Burgundy reds, was slightly spicy and velvety and nicely textured.

From a service point of view all was perfectly orchestrated and possibly what today’s diners have come to expect. A warm and welcoming maitre d’ who made sure we were comfortable, made us feel welcome, explained the menu, made his recommendations, replied to our questions in a human non-robotic manner and took our order. He then returned discreetly after each course to check up on us and finally charmingly bid us farewell on our way out. He was friendly but cautious and polite and never overbearing.

He in turn was seconded by two silent servers who quietly, carefully and methodically went through all the required motions to perfection and minute detail, throughout the meal.

From my point of view both functions are important when dining out. The warm welcoming factor, as well as the to-the-point efficiency of competent service. At this establishment they had worked out this balance to a tee.

We love a good couscous as well as North African cuisine in general. So we had been meaning to try out this Moroccan restaurant in Qui si Sana for some time.

The place is not typical of a Moroccan restaurant insofar as they seem to have purposely steered clear of the obvious and somewhat expected traditional colourful décor. This has produced a rather bare ambiance with the exception of one large and superfluous TV, which admittedly was mainly showing clips of what distinctly looked like Morocco and thankfully had its sound turned off.

We were very warmly welcomed and served throughout the evening by two keen, courteous and friendly lads, whose positive and helpful attitude largely compensated for a series of unintentional and sometimes humorous hiccups in the service. This came in sharp contrast to the many servers we encountered abroad during our recent trip, who in their majority served in a perfectly precise and efficient, quasi-robotic manner, but who were largely devoid of any human warmth or charm. Many cultural stereotypes come to mind…

We were four at table and decided on a selection of mixed starters to share, followed by a lamb couscous, a vegetarian couscous, a lamb tagine and chicken breast skewers.

The starters were interesting and varied and included a selection of salads, pastries, hummus and diced liver which were pleasant and overall satisfactory. Portions were also very generous to the extent that we chose not to finish them all, thus leaving space for the mains. The staff very astutely only removed the empty dishes and left the others on our table to accompany our mains. This was good thinking on their part.

The grain of my couscous, which may be considered the dish’s main component, was simply cooked to perfection. It was light, fluffy and of a perfect texture. Similarly the lamb which accompanied the couscous, as well as the one in the tagine, was perfectly steamed, extremely tender and had that lovely luscious fatty taste that only lamb can produce. The vegetables were served very chunky, as is customary with couscous. However both couscous dishes might have been a bit more tasty and it seems that the cooking sauces which are added to the dish could have used a bit more seasoning or were perhaps too watered down. Realising that we love harisa, one of the servers kindly suggested that our couscous be cooked already spicy, to which we very much agreed, however this was not the case. The chicken skewers were tender and tasty, although they were not skewers.

Morocco produces some very acceptable red and rosé wines. Actually the rosé is more of a very pale blush type rosé, which they call vin gris. Although Moroccan wines were mysteriously absent on the wine list, when inquiring we were informed that they were in fact available. So we went for a red Domaine Toulal which did slightly lack body, but was nevertheless quite pleasant.

Much to our surprise and delight, we were offered free desserts and tea and may I state that this was in no way offered to us to appease any form of complaint from our side, but seemingly just out of traditional Moroccan hospitality. Here again we couldn’t help comparing this generous gesture to our very recent countless restaurant meals abroad, where absolutely nothing is ever offered for free to customers. Well not unless you have some massive dispute with them…

The baklava traditional pastry desserts were nice and the mint tea was lovely. As expected, it was aptly poured from high above, both to show off but also to aerate the tea so as to release its full flavour. Luckily the pastries were simply placed on our table smile emoticon

We found pricing to be very reasonable, offering the diner good value for money, especially in view of their large portion sizes and ample freebies.

To sum it all up, I would say that visibly there are various small improvements which would only add to the dining experience in this restaurant, both in terms of food and notably in service. However we still had an enjoyable evening and after all it’s not like there is a couscous joint at every street corner in Malta. So next time we feel like one we would gladly return.

Having been subjected to so much physical and psychological abuse, while simply in the innocent search of a good meal, our sense of gratification once we had this great dinner, was hard to imagine.

The entire meal was truly a treat, all very cleverly and delicately prepared by a very talented chef indeed. For starters we had warm foie gras on brown bread, perfectly seasoned and served with a selection of dried figs, apricots and raisins, drizzled in a dark intense coulis, as well as a mushroom and cheese tartlet very cleverly served with a fresh vegetable macédoine in its own bouillon on the side. All were very originally prepared, extremely tasty and simply a delight to eat.

This was followed by a magret de canard, scallop and king prawn skewers and a veal steak (there were 3 of us eating). All were cooked to perfection, were served in complex but perfectly balanced sauces and were accompanied by delicious vegetables prepared in very interesting and tasty ways. These included Brussels sprouts with a touch of herbal oil, glazed honey and sesame carrots and a butternut purée. We had a selection of desserts which also proved to be both original and sumptuous including a café gourmand which is an expresso coffee accompanied by a selection of several tiny, bite sized desserts. This has been a very popular dessert option in France for many years now and makes perfect sense as it allows you to sample different desserts. We chose a good old can-never-go-wrong Chablis to accompany the meal. So very thankfully after such a saga this restaurant did prove to be a true delight and our efforts and perseverance were finally rewarded.

If I may make a few comparisons with the restaurant scene in Malta, I would say that in recent times we have eaten at several establishes in Malta which are imitating this style of cuisine. Very original dishes, ingredients, tastes and sometimes even unlikely combinations of all these factors are put to play. Chefs are hard at work attempting to produce their own original creations highlighting their talent and dedication to their profession. However I must say that on many an occasion we have found very simply that originality is given precedence over goodness. Some ingredients are quite unexpected but they add nothing to the dish. Some combinations are truly original but they are bland or unbalanced. Sauces are prepared differently but do not perfectly match their accompaniment. Dishes are delicate and refined but relatively tasteless.

Some chefs are over ambitious, get carried away, or are just trying too hard. Some are locked in their own subjective and imaginary world with visions of grandeur, while in reality they are dishing out rather uninspiring creations. I love originality and creativity but only if it results in an improved version of its predecessor. Unless you are truly capable of making an old favorite dish even better than it already was, then leave it alone. If you do not really have that very rare talent of mixing some very unlikely ingredients to produce a delightful and perfectly tasty original dish, then stick to what you know. In recent times we have had so many meals studded with these wonderfully described dishes made out of the most exciting ingredients, only to be served with bland, far from delicious, albeit original dishes.

The chef at this restaurant in Strasbourg on the other hand, quite simply had that rare talent and skill, that additional bit of flair and panache, to produce truly great dishes with perfectly pleasing and appropriately intense flavours.

To end off our Strasbourg story, after this lovely meal we were expressly offered a drink on the house as a kind gesture of apology for the incident the night before. And before everyone starts screaming abuse at this seemingly petty and insignificant gesture, I have to point out yet again that this is not Malta. In France it certainly is not the rule of the day to offer a free drink to your customers. On the contrary this virtually never happens at all. And while on the subject you may have also noticed that this custom is now on the decline in Malta too. So rather than taking offence at this we were quite appreciative, knowing that in their eyes this was quite a rare treat. Another factor to keep in mind is that based on one of their recommendations we opted for three glasses of champagne, which would normally amount to a selling price of close to €30. So I think that even if one had to look at the issue purely in monetary terms, then we were quite handsomely rewarded.

Finally before we left, I was invited into the kitchen where the chef patron wanted to have a last word with me before we left. As he was right in the middle of service and extremely busy, he was unable to come to our table himself. He was a relatively young, down to earth, smiling person who genuinely wanted to make sure that an overall satisfactory outcome was achieved between us. He again apologised profusely for the day before, explained to me how they were all doing their very best, but that naturally everyone makes mistakes from time to time.

Well what more can I say to what happened here. The power of social media, I suppose. In all probability in the past such a complaint would have fallen on deaf ears and no real recourse was available for the customer. How times have changed!

But believe it or not I can still pull one last twist out of this story… The huge irony of it all is that by the time we got back to the hotel that night, I was by then suffering the symptoms of fully blown food poisoning from the night before, which had become increasing worse throughout the day and evening. I had one of the worse nights of my life and learned to count up to 18 – yes 18! If you see what I mean…

All this came with stomach-wrenching craps, pain, nausea and headaches, leaving me very weak and shaking. Did I consider raising social media hell all over again with the seafood restaurant, under whose hands we really and truly suffered much more than with the other one? Well of course I did and in all honesty and hindsight they deserved this treatment infinitely more than the other. But as you might have guessed we decided that we had already been through enough furore to last us many many days, and just let it go.

So the irony of the situation was that in spite of having paid top dollar for a meal which nearly killed us, and having just experienced how effective social media is when you truly need it, we did absolutely nothing to remedy this much more serious situation.

That night while I sat doing my painful repetitive business, tablet in hand, in a fair and equitable gesture of reconciliation, I removed all negative posts against one restaurant, while I angrily cursed the other. Oops sorry, excuse me, but I’ve got to go again!

At this stage it might be useful to point out that very fortunately for us we do not usually encounter so many problems while traveling abroad and certainly do not incite or relish any of these incidents in any way. On the contrary, similarly to most normal people we are happiest when all goes to plan without any hassle, problem or extraordinary incident.

This trip however did certainly start off on the wrong foot, especially insofar as our dining experiences are concerned. I simply put it all down to bad luck and just a matter of several unfortunate circumstances. I am definitely not suggesting any conclusion other than this.

It just happened that our first highly anticipated gastronomic evening in Strasbourg turned out to be a terrifying ordeal when we were first forbidden entry into one restaurant and then poisoned in another!

After all these traumatic experiences you would instinctively want to forget the past and move on, and above all look forward to the future and what a new day may bring. But try to imagine our predicament. We woke up to the looming prospect of returning to a restaurant were we were rudely locked outside, which we exposed to the world in social media, where we denounced the staff, angered the chef patron and naively accepted to return enabling them, in their own words, ‘to make it up to us’!

You might be asking the same question that we were throughout that entire second day in Strasbourg – wasn’t being poisoned in one restaurant enough? If the first restaurant could do it so effectively without even trying, imagine how good this second one could be when doing it with great purpose and intent!

So needless to say we had very mixed feelings about my wise judgement the night before to return there. Would we be treated in a friendly or hostile manner? Would this attempt at reconciliation end up in some massive argument? Would the poisoning be at least quick and painless? I desperately suppressed visions of a video I had seen a few years ago called disgusting chefs caught on camera…

I’m not quite sure what fueled our determination to retain our reservation, but in spite of our very dubious feelings as well as our ever deteriorating physical condition, we probably felt that things couldn’t really get much worse. I also felt that under the circumstances we really couldn’t bail out at the last minute after having accepted their ample apologies. So that evening we walked rather gingerly to the rude restaurant, really not quite sure what to expect.

When we got there and entered, through an easily opening door, may I add – we were greeted by the same waitress from the night before. She was visibly uneasy and doing her best to act normally. We were shown to what looked like their best table, took off our coats and asked where we could put them. In a snappy manner she indicated that we had just passed in front of the coat stand and then must have realised that she was out of order and came forward to take our coats herself.

I seriously began asking myself why on Earth we had decided to come back here, really not in the mood of being served by a rude waitress the day after she literally left us out in the cold. But in the end very thankfully our patience and perseverance paid off, as in time we fully realised that her approach was not out of arrogance or spite, but simply out of an inherent lack of people skills. She went about her business serving everyone in the same super efficient manner but with a marked lack of charm and warmth. Her colleague too could be easily described in a similar manner, although admittedly of a slightly friendlier disposition.

To put the whole situation in context, this is Strasbourg, a big city in eastern France, which offers many attractions of which spectacular hospitality is not one. People do their job very quickly and efficiently and often do not feel that dishing out charm and making friends with customers is part of their job description. Us Maltese on the other hand are probably at the very other end of the spectrum in this regard. When dining out particularly, we often chat and gossip aimlessly with the staff as if we were long-time buddies. We find it perfectly acceptable for a server to ask us personal and even somewhat delicate questions, because often this is the order of the day. In many places such as Strasbourg this would be considered much ruder than leaving clients alone and getting on with your business.

So having sat there and observed the girls at work, I soon started to see the other side of the story. Clients walked in and out of this busy little restaurant at leisure, were greeted by a very curt ‘bonsoir you may sit there’ and without much fuss everyone went on their business. Is this too clinical an approach to catering even in a place such as Strasbourg? Probably yes and admittedly in most other restaurants we were met with a bit more warmth, sometimes visibly forced and apparently not so genuine, but at least some form of effort was made. Should people working in catering and the entire hospitality industry be adept in social skills and customer care no matter where the place may be? My reply would again be yes, otherwise if this is not for them they should work in a different industry. If this restaurant like so many others abroad, trains its servers to get along with their work very efficiently but with no human rapport with its clients necessary, then shouldn’t it also employ a maitre d’? Definitely yes. And my last question in this series which requires no answer – was it wrong to leave us standing outside when we were visibly trying to get in, especially if they were aware that the door often gets stuck?

In today’s world where we speak not of a meal but of an overall dining experience it is more than obvious that the art of handling customers should be a priority in any restaurant’s agenda.

But anyway enough of this. The girls did warm up to us a bit during the meal and the visible awkwardness did somewhat abate and above all we finally and most gratifyingly had our first truly excellent and faultless meal of the trip!

After the shocking experience of having been quite simply and literally left out in the cold, we were determined more than ever before to finally treat ourselves to a no less than splendid meal. So we impulsively decided to go the whole hog and to bestow upon ourselves a lovely dinner in a grand looking seafood restaurant which we passed by earlier on, just next to our hotel. So we headed there with a vengeance, our taste buds and tummies tingling in anticipation and above all with the distinct intention of using this self-indulging exercise as palliative therapy for our recent nightmare.

This is one of those fancy looking joints with large gilded menu stands outside and live crabs and lobsters happily hobbling around in the front vitrine, beckoning you inside with their jerky claws, totally oblivious of their forthcoming fate in the days to come.

We started off with a glass of champagne, followed by a good bottle of Pouilly Fuissé and ordered the works, culminating in a grand platter of mixed shellfish for two, priced at €90. We sat there waiting for that soothing feeling of relief that we all so much crave when spoiling ourselves rotten after a traumatic experience. However to our great dismay, this feeling never came.

Much to our distress, our grand crustacean-waving seafood restaurant turned out to be a bit of a sham. I would very confidently say that the entire experience left a lot to be desired. The service was mediocre, the overall feel was far from one of opulence and class, there was very audible and frequent shouting coming from the kitchen and worst thing of all the food was several grades lower than anticipated.

We are very keen on all seafood including oysters. However I believe that if there is one type of food which must be perfectly fresh and of impeccable quality, failing which it quickly degenerates from excellent to disgusting – it must be seafood. This was perhaps one of those rare occasions were the quality was somewhere in the middle. It was ‘ok’ and most of the many items tasted pretty good. There were others however which lacked the telltale signs of freshness and naturally invigorating sea odours and flavours. Not quite bad or foul tasting and not quite off-putting enough to send back. Famous last words…

The truth of the matter was that seemingly the only grand factor of this establishment was their pricing, and grandiose it truly was. This was amply and unambiguously confirmed later on that night and more so the day after, by the countless frantic dashes to the bathroom and the subsequent requirement of ingesting several Rennie’s and a couple of Gavescon’s for good measure, to try and get some sleep. But we’ll come to that a little bit later…

Meanwhile and still unaware of the full consequences of our meal at the seafood restaurant, we were even more upset at the final outcome of the evening, having ended up paying a little fortune for a big disappointment. Our surreal experiences that evening infuriated me to the extent of taking some form of action. Sitting in our hotel room that night reminiscing about the evening’s major mishaps and before the main digestive onslaught which might have directed my rage elsewhere, I decided to research the first rude restaurant. Feeling totally mistreated, I posted an account of the horrific manner we were treated both on the restaurant’s Facebook page as well as on Tripadvisor. This is not at all something I would normally do, or for that matter something I have ever actually done, but on this occasion I really couldn’t retain so much disappointment bottled up inside me.

Much to my surprise within minutes the restaurant posted back on their FB page making a full blown apology for this unfortunate incident. They also took the initiative of mentioning that they would be happy to offer us some sort of commercial gesture to make up for our negative experience that evening.

I posted back making it clear that I was not after any freebies but simply after a good meal. They claimed that the waitress hadn’t seen us and that the door was unlocked but often gets stuck. All rather lame excuses I must add, however their overall tone was very much one of apology and reconciliation. So my final word was that their apology was accepted and that we will make another attempt at dining at their establishment the day after.

Meanwhile while all of this was happening, the effects of our seafood meal were starting to unfold in a very nasty and obvious manner. It suffices to say that tablet in hand many of my posts were not made in the bedroom per se but in the adjoining little room… Oh my, imagine arguing about the rude treatment at one restaurant while you are suffering the physical consequences of eating in another. What had we done to deserve this? Did we really need to travel so far and pay so much money to contract food poisoning when I can easily think of so many places so much closer to home smile emoticon

Before I continue any further, I must start off by saying that mainly based on my many years of residence in France, I am totally bias towards French cuisine and to all that is French which is even remotely edible and drinkable. The impressively extensive specialities both in the form of classic as well as regional dishes, the fresh produce in the form of meats, fish and seafood, the 500-odd cheeses and of course and above all the range of outstanding wines – all pure culinary bliss. It should suffice to say that words such as cuisine, gastronomy and restaurant are all derived from French.

So after many days of culinary limbo, gastronomic purgatory and holiday hell, and in spite of the many interesting and beautiful places we had visited, we were more than longing to cross into France, to finally have the first and by now well deserved, excellent meal of hopefully many more to come.

We therefore hastened our arrival in Strasbourg, ensuring that we would be well in time for dinner after locating and settling in at our central hotel. So we set off early in the general direction of La Petite France – the stunningly pretty central quarter where many of the restaurants may be found.

And many restaurants we did indeed find. The number of dining establishments alone, all lined up next to each other, one in every street corner and several in between, already made a very clear statement on the importance of food. This is typical of all French cities and starkly contrasts the cities we had just visited in Germany, where the concentration of eateries pales in comparison.

Now for those who are not too familiar with Alsace, this is the easternmost region in France lying directly on the German border and actually having been passed successively between France and Germany several times in its history. Although today Alsace is resoundingly French, the German influence there is still very evident, not least in their cuisine.

Their main traditional dish is in fact choucroute – which is pure and simply sauerkraut in French! Now I have had many a lovely choucroute à l’alsacienne in the past, which in spite of its Germanic ancestry, has been largely exposed to massive French improvement. But after having been force fed plain sauerkraut for days on end until it was virtually coming out of our ears, there was no way on Earth that we felt even remotely tempted. After all, even in Alsace the majority of restaurants sported classic French fare in all its glory, with all of the delicious old favorites on offer.

Although we were spoilt for choice we quickly decided on a small, intimate and rather chic looking establishment. It only offered an extremely limited menu, which is already not a bad thing in itself, plus it also featured many of our favourites such as foie gras, oysters, confit de canard, tournedos… all pure bliss and music to our ears and senses. The menu itself foretold stories of grandeur and included hints of gastronomic mastery.

At this point it is opportune to remind you that this is eastern France in January and the temperature outside was exactly one degree Celsius. So without further ado we tried to get into the restaurant. However although we could see people inside, the door seemed to be locked. After several failed attempts to get in, one of the waitresses finally came and opened the door, only to inform us very curtly that they opened at seven, which was exactly in five minutes time!

I suppressed my initial reaction of giving her a good piece of my mind and quickly forced myself into ‘don’t let this little incident spoil your entire evening’ mode. So I took a deep breath, rose above it and managed to let it go. I proceeded to politely ask her to keep a table for us and rather awkwardly told her that we would see her again in exactly five minutes.

So we marched around the block several times desperately trying to stave away the otherwise inevitable hypothermia, while looking constantly at our watches. These were amongst the longest five minutes I have ever had the misfortune to endure. When they finally passed, with an extra three or four minutes for good measure, as we were finally approaching the restaurant we saw another couple entering before us. Oh great, we thought, they must therefore surely be open now. However when we got to the door just moments after, this was still locked and we were once again unable to enter.

After waiting politely for the door to be opened for us, I finally caught the attention of the same waitress inside, however incredulously rather than coming to open the door for us, she simply ignored us and went off to serve the couple who had just been let in.

Unable to even believe that this was really happening and expecting someone to come rushing to the door at any moment with an astounding explanation and an even more fitting apology, we actually lingered at the door a good while longer. But no, to our ghastly horror we were actually left there like miserable beggars – hungry, undesired and cold!

We finally turned away, in total disbelief and silently headed away, anywhere, as far as possible, desperately in search of some solace in the form of a good meal.

Most of our time in Germany was spent in Trier and Heidelberg, both stylish, historical and touristic centres in the South Western regions of Germany. We enjoyed our time there and as always placed the anticipated dining aspect of our trip as one of the top highlights of our travels.

We thoroughly enjoy the culture, history, architecture, scenery and site-seeing in general, but this most definitely needs to be complemented on a daily basis by a light – or not so light, tasty lunch, and above all by a lovely, full and generous dinner to end each interesting day. We eat well when at home, so it wouldn’t cross our minds to lower or curb our eating habits in any way while abroad.

While in Germany rather than obtaining recommendations from our hotels, we decided to go down the Tripadvisor road and simply tried restaurants which were given the very best reviews and which therefore enjoyed the highest ratings. Without making it sound like a bit of an obsession, when we travel we always like to try the typical, local fare, representative of the region’s specialities. If we wanted to eat exactly the same food as we eat at home, then we would do best in staying there. When in Rome do as the Romans do and all that… Also this is one good way of discovering new delicacies and extending your culinary knowledge in general.

However in spite of all our perfectly good intentions and more so of strictly sticking to the most highly recommended establishments which were meant to be the very best in town, we were subjected to one bad meal after another, much to our dismay and rising frustration.

We had various nondescript boiled meats, fatty pork products, tasteless sausages, mashed potatoes swimming in bland lukewarm gravy, boiled turkey steaks covered by a less than delicious tomato sauce (yes boiled turkey steaks with tomato sauce – this is not a typing error!) and loads and loads of sauerkraut. The very best dish we managed to have is the renowned (Austrian) veal schnitzel, which admittedly can often be pleasant, but how many schnitzels can you eat? Meals ranged from bland and uninteresting at best, to inedible hospital food at worst.

We also tried a couple of desserts, however none of them were anything to write homepage about. And if you might be thinking of apple strudel und kompanie, that is mainly centred around Vienna, which is admittedly Germanic, but not all Germanic is Vienna.

Without any doubt, our best meals were our breakfasts which all featured a nice fresh selection of cheeses, hams, fruits, yogurts, cereals and pastries, providing a tiny beacon of hope in an otherwise vast gastronomic desert. And what probably kept us from leaping out of our 5th floor hotel window were the copious amounts of excellent beer and equally delectable riesling sekt – the lovely local sparkling wine. But even these need at times to be accompanied by a decent bite to eat.

Now some of you may be thinking that this is Germany and that is exactly what one should expect, while others may be saying that it serves us right for eating German food in the first place. But it really beats me how people can go out for a meal to a restaurant and enjoy being fed what a truly untalented and unimaginative parent might whip up at home in a few minutes to shut up their young hungry children. Well the most likely answer to this question is that they don’t!

It seems that even most locals would much rather go for a pizza, a burger, or go ethnic for a Turkish, a Thai or a Chinese. Traditional German fare has long been out, especially with the younger generations. This is not dissimilar to say the English, who save a few old favorite dishes at a pub meal, would rather go for an Indian or oriental restaurant, rather than going out to an English restaurant. And I suppose that we in Malta are exactly the same. With the exception of a rabbit meal how often do we go to eat at a Maltese restaurant? For clarity’s sake I am not comparing German cuisine to Maltese cuisine and neither to English cuisine for that matter. I am only comparing dining habits in these countries.

So I suppose in many ways we were playing the dumb tourists who insisted on doing exactly what dumb tourists do and also insisted on riding it out till the bitter end, rather than cleverly changing tack somewhere along the line and slipping into a tasty Turkish instead.

Without wishing to offend anyone who might somehow hold German cuisine to heart, my advice would be a resounding ‘don’t even bother trying’. Go ethnic or try to find a good Italian or French restaurant when you’re there. You are lucky that we did all the experimenting for you and resiliently stuck to the seemingly near-impossible task of having a great German meal. For German cuisine is what it is – you either dislike it or you hate it.

So on our last day in Germany we leapt out of bed at the crack of dawn, jumped into our hired car and sped straight to the French border without any further delay, diversion or distraction.

This was my first time in Luxembourg and to be honest I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. Nestled precariously from a gastronomic point of view between France and Germany, this relatively tiny country has very distinct influences from both its comparatively giant neighbours, leaving me wondering on which side of the gastronomic fence it really lies.

We had a great time and a truly lovely lunch yesterday at Rogantino’s.

This is such a unique venue with tons of charm and authenticity. The drive alone into what is probably Malta’s finest remaining countryside is enough to relax and unwind you. And for those who, like me, consider the ambiance and surroundings of a dining establishment to be a vital factor in the overall enjoyment of such an outing, then this is definitely the place for you.

Set in a perfectly bucolic country setting and literally surrounding by fields, valleys and hills, Rogantino’s enjoys an unrivaled location in Malta.

Complimenting the actual location is the building itself, which although slightly jaded on the exterior, boasts unending character inside. It was in fact a hunting lodge built by the Knights of St John which is today the chef patron’s – Tony Grech’s casa bottega.

The house’s style of cuisine is firmly and consistently centred on wholesome, uncomplicated, delicious home style dishes, whenever possible utilising fresh produce from the surrounding farms and fields.

I had a mouthwatering lasagne with spinach which was really divine. It had all the flavours and textures of a perfectly home cooked lasagne and one of the best I have had in many years. This was followed by one of Tony’s signature dishes – suckling pig. What a treat! If you fancy an excellent suckling pig then look no further… I just cannot think of a better place to have this. It was very moist and succulent, which sometimes tends to be a problem with suckling pig elsewhere – truly cooked to perfection. And also served with a massive mouthwatering piece of crackling.

As the style is firmly based on Maltese & Mediterranean traditional cooking, the suckling pig was simply and delicately served in its own jus, however Isabel Tapp fancied an accompanying apple sauce. This is not quite their usual style and one must keep in mind that this is anything but your run-of-the-mill commercial establishment and is Tony’s home and traditional kitchen who has his own style and rightly sticks to it.

However although apple sauce was not on the menu per se, it was immediately prepared ad hoc to our demand without as much as a sigh or a groan. An exemplary demonstration of genuinely caring service perfectly orchestrated by Tony’s most gracious daughter Christina, who heads the service with unending charm and effortless skill, proving to be yet another great notch in the impressive Rogantino belt.

Although I was initially more than happy having the suckling pig au naturel, Isabel’s apple sauce looked (and tasted) too delicious not to share it with her.

Maria Bonello Permina had a delicious grilled brie salad as a starter followed by a lamb shank in honey sauce. Both dishes were absolutely lovely. Our very close friend and spiritual brother Ted had lasagne, followed by what he claimed to be, and most definitely looked like, the most delectable and perfectly cooked pork rack. While Isabel’s better half George also started with a lasagne, followed by a lovely tasting ribeye steak, proving the diversity of both the menu as well as Tony’s ample skills.

All this hearty and generous food was perfectly complimented by several bottles of smooth and luscious Chateauneuf-du-Pape Domaine Barville (Brotte) 2011, which amply exhibited its distinctive full, complex, yet balanced flavours. I have always been very partial to Chateauneuf and find that it marries perfectly to this type of home cuisine.

We had various interesting and perfectly adequate desserts including a mixed red berry sorbet, cassata siciliana and chocolate semi freddo, admittedly not quite fait maison, yet still very much home made and very obviously better than industrial fare, originating in a private kitchen in Rabat.

This epic meal was glamourously and rather decadently followed by coffees, Averna’s, calvados and old Hine cognac XO’s !!!

But to top all of this up, as if it still weren’t enough, after lunch we moved into the quaint bar area where Tony displays just a small fraction of his incredible collection of old wines, sherries, ports and spirits for an exclusive guided tour and tastings. It is evident that Tony has outstanding and intricate knowledge of beverages and the history of their production and what is even more marvelous is that he takes great pride and manifests so much pleasure and passion in showing you around and sharing his insights while pouring you a bit of this and the other. What an absolute delight!

Wow, there is possibly no better end to a superb lunch than a lovely degustation of rare old fortified wines and spirits tactfully conducted by the house’s patron.

A big thank you to you Tony and Christina for looking after us so well and for treating us to such a perfect Sunday.

The very beginning of our journey took us through the southernmost part of Belgium where we only had time for one quick lunch. So we decided on that most typical of Belgian dishes – moules frites.