We already had the pleasure of a most enjoyable meal here last Summer.
This waterfront establishment really has a lot going for it. It has enchanting views, especially if you sit on the outside terrace and I simply love the cool relaxed stylish sophisticated beach type decor inside, which has been very cleverly done.
We went for an early lunch as we were told that they were going to be very busy.
What immediately caught my attention was that there was a mini swarm of staff, if you’d excuse my David Cameron insensitive styled expression. It is rather comforting to see a restaurant properly staffed and they most definitely were.
We were offered lovely fresh simple Maltese bread, which should be the norm in many more restaurants, rather than all these fancy breads which are often a disappointment and not half as good. Also a small smart and tasty bruschetta.
We started with a tuna carpaccio which was thickly cut as has now become the norm. I am so happy that things have moved on from the paper thin carpaccio days, when a plate full of this starter amounted to not even one mouthful and in many cases you had to peel it off the plate in small shredded rather tasteless morsels.
We also had a plate of raw but perfectly seasoned langoustine. Both dishes were absolutely delicious and were also beautifully and impressively presented on enormous rectangular china.
For mains we had steamed mussels which, as the server advised, were quite small, but very fresh and tasty and cooked in a very moreish zuppa, which was a true delight to mop up with the Maltese bread. And a spaghetti ricci which was totally splendid. I have had this dish countless times, but this was possibly the best one ever so far! The pasta was very al dente, any more and it would have been undercooked, indicating that it was really pulled out at its optimum time. Unlike many such dishes I have had in the past, where you have rather bland plain pasta topped with a dollop of sea urchin, this was cooked in a lovely tasting and unctuous jus, which most definitely also included the right amount of cooking water in typical Italian style. The lovely texture and flavour of this heavenly liquid made it quite simply a perfect dish of spectacular standard.
As we often do when the food is excellent, we proceeded with desert. We had a sumptuous apple strudel and a delightful Baia Special Sundae which was a decadent concoction of ice creams, caramel, nuts and syrups, just excellent for my diabetes.
For wine we went for a lovely New Zealand Greywacke sauvignon blanc, which had truly extraordinarily intense aromatic flavours of various fruits and also a deep vegetal taste, all making for a crisp but mouth-filling palate. It is firmly based on other New Zealand sauvignon blancs, but it then runs a few extra miles.
And now for the service. I was ever so pleased to see that our service malediction was finally lifted and even totally smashed. We had truly excellent and attentive service throughout the meal. So much so that I could mention a number of very revealing thoughts and gestures which are very indicative of excellent care. We were handed several clean napkins throughout the meal without even asking. When presenting us with the menus again for the desserts, they were already opened for us on the right page. When one of the desserts took slightly longer than the first to arrive, a server came along after a couple of minutes to apologise for the delay and to inform us that it was soon on its way. Similarly by the time we ordered our liqueurs the restaurant was packed and the drinks took slightly longer than normal, however again a server came along to apologise during the little waiting time. Finally when we were given the bill and I simply handed over my credit card, the sever very courteously asked me whether I wanted to check the bill before paying.
These are all signs of exceedingly attentive service, well beyond the norm. The only one small and also amusing glitch, came in sharp contrast to our previous meals where after our main course service entirely failed and it took us ages to even order our deserts. Well here exactly the opposite happened. While my wife was still eating her main course one of the servers came along, cleared my empty plate after rightfully asking me to do so and proceeded to inquire whether we required deserts. At which point I promptly asked whether they needed our table and if we were meant to hurry. However he immediately realised his error and apologised profusely.
To summarise therefore, all of the three main dining factors were excellent – the ambiance and setting, the food, and the service. I would easily say that this is most definitely one of the very finest, if not the number one, Italian restaurant in the North of Malta, offering stunning food.
The only problem we encountered was the oppressive heat, as the entire place is open and therefore air conditioning is not possible. There were ceiling fans which helped, however in the current heat wave it is truly hard to withstand doing anything without AC.
Last but not least, Baia Beach Club is also charmingly equipped with piped music inside its toilets, making for more inspiring pees and poos smile emoticon