Acqua Terra e Mare: Restaurant Review

A celebration of life with beautiful friends at a luscious fish restaurant in central St Julians

Hello wonderful souls! Every month Blog by Grazielle visits new and trending restaurants and we make sure we take some of our time to go out there to check them out and if we are impressed then we are happy to share a few of our exciting discoveries with you because we know you all love a great restaurant! So last week, Easter week, I had the honour to enjoy a few hours of culinary bliss with a group of girlfriends of mine, 5 beautiful women who all enjoy a good catch up, fine dining and a great ambiance. We agreed to meet at Acqua Terra e Mare restaurant, situated at Malta’s Portomaso Marina, a restaurant that came highly recommended for its exquisite seafood cuisine by Chef Patron Kleaven Cassar and his team .

Wearing: River Island Jumpsuit Sandals: Aldo Shoes

This Mediterranean cuisine restaurant that has been open since November 2014 and has a myriad of excellent online restaurant reviews from both locals and international diners alike, but it recently caught my attention since it has welcomed a new partner Kevin Buttigieg on board and for that reason, we deemed it a great excuse to fish it out for ourselves!

Upon arrival, a quick look around the indoor and outdoor decor of Acqua, Terra e Mare already sets the tone for what promises to be a delightfully upmarket dining experience. Classy and elegant decor whispers good taste, as you marvel at the beautiful open kitchen, past dark wood panelling and beige coloured walls. Then you walk out onto the terrace overlooking the spectacular Portomaso marina, with the superyachts sitting happily a few metres away from the outdoor tables. Attending staff are warm, welcoming and professional in their approach and that makes you feel right at home immediately.

The weather was lovely that day and we could feel the summer breeze at around 7 pm when we arrived which allowed for us to begin our dining experience al fresco amongst the palm trees. A few minutes into our arrival, we were served a few glasses of prosecco wine and we kicked off by ordering fresh Gillardeau oysters for 6 persons to share and this is what they looked like. Oh my goodness! What a kickstart! Now let me explain the word “Fresh”. At this restaurant, these fresh oysters are as fresh as you can get, with the taste so delightful, you are immediately transported to the ocean and you cannot help but say something out loud as they are amazing!!

We all had to take a social media moment (as you do) to check in our location on Facebook, post some photos of this wonderful moment, Instagram Stories and lots of selfies and pics of these first yummy food dishes, so we could get on with the rest of the meal in peace and as it got a little chilly, we moved indoors to continue the evening.

Antipasti To Share

We ordered the “selezione di pesce” listed 1st on the second page of the menu which is very popular with the regular clientele. This includes 6 sharing items, in our case we had Cured Salmon, Arancini al Nero di Seppia, Grilled Calamari, Seared Peppered Tuna and Swordfish Carpaccio. We also ordered additional pasta with vongole, and mussels to share.

Bringing out all the delicately exquisite flavours of the sea, all these items were tasty and well textured, beautifully presented. What a treat. This is the type of genuine fish cuisine made with love and care and you really can taste that freshness from mother Earth’s goodness.

As mains we ordered 4 whole sea bass, which were cooked in rock salt and divided equally amongst the 6 of us.

Last but not least we wished to try out all the desserts on the menu as you can see in the photos and here is what they were -Tiramisu, Lemon Tart, Cassata Siciliana & Cannolo di Ricotta, Pistachio Verin, chocolate fondant with vanilla ice cream and the vanilla panna cotta with apricot jelly and honeycomb. These desserts are made in house by their pastry chef and we loved each and every one of them! Everything was delicious but the sweets shot up my respect of this place all the more!

Gwen & Trinity

In Maltese, I would call this restaurant “ Ta Vera”. It cannot be translated to English easily but I would say it is one genuine restaurant not to be missed for its authenticity, class and quality. It is a place I would take my foreign guests to, where I would organise a corporate lunch meeting with a special foreign guest who wishes to have a Mediterranean flavoured meal. Simply super and it is a recommendation by the 6 of us ladies!

MY LOVELY GUESTS

Before I conclude allow me to introduce you to my 5 guests who joined me on this outing : We had Michelle Dimech a very good friend of mine, a bestie who loves exploring cuisines and travelling like me and is a very talented hairstylist. Thanks to Michelle and her team, my hair is always in great shape. Fallon Grech Blackman, who loves the camera even more than I do is a lovely guest to have because she is so funny and carefree and she just spurts out whatever comes to mind, so you never know what subject will come out. This is from experience an awesome ice breaker at table because we never have those awkwardly quiet moments!

Trinity is a stunning career mum, an interior designer, mum of two kids, who exudes good vibes, she loves socialising and dining so it is always such a pleasure to catch up with her and her positive aura. We’ve been friends for years and we have always been so proud of eachother’s accomplishments and life experiences. Trinity’s sister Gwen Fava, a beautiful Maltese specimen of a woman is also a very easy going woman with a strong personality yet so kind and humble. She enjoys a trendy restaurant and loves good company. Last but not least Anthea, the fire cracker and lady in red is a woman I respect and look up to very much. A mum of two beautiful kids, she is a true example of altruism, warm energy and passion for what she does as a hairstylist. Totally sets the pace for her two kids to follow, she is one of those soft spoken ladies who you just want to be around all the time because even on a bad day, she is smiling and doing her best to make others happy. So yeah! all in all a mixed group of women coming together to celebrate life, to celebrate Easter and to celebrate eachother’s happiness at Aqua Terra e Mare.

Trinity

Fallon

Anthea

Mixa

I would like to thank you all for joining me on our outing with Blog by Grazielle and I would like to thank all the staff and management especially the restaurant manager Amy Camilleri for her outstanding charisma and skills and for taking such good care of us. Wish you many more successful years ahead!

Xxx
Grazielle