Hi everyone! It’s been a few weeks since I’ve posted about a dining experience at a restaurant I truly enjoyed! Good news is that I did find one restaurant in Naxxar recently that has ticked all my boxes with regards to culinary experience, service, easy parking and a specialty to return for – truffles! It’s called THE VILLAGE KITCHEN.
It is a restaurant situated in Naxxar on the way to San Pawl tat-Targa where it is very convenient to park any time of the day.
My guests for this food tasting event: Dale, Rebecca, Kristine and Fallon
After visiting this place for lunch twice, I decided to revisit the third time for a documented Review for the Blog, and for this reason, I invited a beautiful crowd of food loving socialites (who don’t mind being photographed), to join me on this one, for some food tasting and fun! Many of us enjoy dining out regularly, so obviously, who doesn’t like to discover a new eaterie to check out!
Photos Mark J Soler
OUR EXPERIENCE AT THE VILLAGE KITCHEN
We arrived early at 7 pm to find Chef Mario and the team preparing tables and food preparations for a fully booked place on a Thursday evening. First to arrive were Fallon Greck Blackman and Dale Schembri followed by the gorgeous ladies Rebecca Lia and Kristine Gorosneva. We had a welcome drink together by the bar and soon after we sat down to start our culinary journey. All my guests were super excited to try out this place for the first time!
Dale Schembri & Fallon Greck Blackman
Starters
For starters, we began with potatoes and curry croquet with Mediterranean vegetables and a warm chickpeas and cumin soup, served with a home-made brioche and chicken liver parfait. Very tasty! We ordered drunken pears and gorgonzola salad which were presented in a beautiful way. We enjoyed this very much and in the meantime, we started warming up to the atmosphere. We were listening to some funny jokes of the season by Fallon and of course taking loads of selfies to share on our social media pages as some of you saw on my instastories @graziellecamilleri!
Then came some fish to taste – We ordered a fritto misto of calamari and local red prawns served in tray for us to share. Delicious. Crunchy on the outside and tender on the inside. We ordered a wagyu beef carpaccio served with fresh black truffle and pecorino served fresh and on the spot by Chef Mario.
About the Truffles at The Village Kitchen
The truffles served at this restaurant are imported every week from Perugia and served fresh at the table. The truffle is a fruit of the earth that has been well known since ancient times and is considered a delicacy. Three particular species are grown in Sicily: summer black truffles (Tuber aestivum Vittad. 1831), which fruit between May and June and can be sold in autumn and early winter as well (Uncinatum Chatin variety), winter black truffles, known scientifically as Tuber brumaleVittad., and whitish truffles (Tuber borchii Vittad.)
To date, this is the only restaurant I know of in Malta that is specialising in offering truffles in its dishes and is planning more dishes as their clientele becomes more regular and returns for more!
After this arrived our favourite of the night – the home made egg tagliolini pasta with a creamy delicious sauce served with sliced truffles. OMG We were impressed with the taste and subtle smells of this dish. It was the only moment of complete and utter silence! And that’s saying something with this crazy bunch! If you love pasta, and you visit this restaurant in Naxxar, this dish is a MUST! All of us at table agreed unanimously about this!
Pasta with truffles at THE VILLAGE KITCHEN
The MAINS
For main course, we tried the risotto with a creamy cheese sauce which had such an amazing taste from the various types of cheeses and herbs mixed together. This would be my choice for just a lunch visit for example. Tasty, nutritious and filling.
For meat lovers, they have this very tasty pork belly with celeriac and apple sauce and beetroot and red wine gel which is also excellent. I had a taste of it only as by this time I was so full from all the different dishes. Rebecca who enjoys meat dishes a lot, loved its taste and texture very much.
To conclude, we ordered the Bacio ice cream cake, which on its own is a great reason to visit The Village Kitchen. WOW! I recommend you go in and order this Bacio ice cream cake and tell them you heard it all from me, Grazielle !
the risotto at The Village Kitchen
So to conclude, here are our conclusion as to why we like this restaurant very much…
• They serve the freshest most delicious truffles from Perugia, Italy
• The menu is divine and varied
• Seating allows for you to have a conversation without being too close to others
• Open for Lunch & Dinner and Large Event Groups
• Ideal for corporate meetings and events and dinner parties
• Also lovely for romantic date nights
• Service is ever so friendly
• This place is run by Mr Michael Zammit Tabona, owner of hotels and various other businesses so he really knows what the customer wants and needs
• Price is excellent value for the great quality you receive
• Easy Parking
I would like to thank all my adorable friends for joining me on this outing! There will be many others! I hope that you all enjoyed this blog feature and that you will make time to try this place out for yourselves when in Malt
Thank you to all the team at The Village Kitchen! A la prossima!
xxx
Grazielle
The Village Kitchen,
MarkizSciclluna Street,
Naxxar
Malta
Tel 2748 4554
