Diners' favourite restaurants win commemorative plates

The top 38 restaurants, voted through the Definitive(ly) Good Guide to Restaurants Survey, were recently presented with commemorative plates during a gala dinner at the Westin Dragonara Resort.

The awards, supplied by Dudsons Ltd, were presented by Tourism Minister Francis Zammit Dimech at the dinner hosted by The Definitive(ly) Good Guide Co.

The fourth Restaurant Award Ceremony coincided with the launch of the fourth edition of the Definitive(ly) Good Guide to Restaurants 2004, sponsored by Vodafone.

Definitive(ly) Good Guide Co. managing director Lisa Grech said "it is great that restaurants, which strive to improve their product, are being recognised for their efforts by their clients, who are rating them in our annual survey. This can only be good for restaurants in Malta and Gozo in helping to maintain and improve standards".

The awarded restaurants are chosen from the highest rated, both overall, and in the various price categories for Malta and Gozo, also taking into account individual food, service and ambience ratings, value for money, comments and other data from the survey.

Mange Tout scored highest for food, service and overall, while The Blue Elephant scored the highest for ambience.

Additional Awards were also given to the Best Maltese Food restaurant, La Maltija, sponsored by the Tourism Ministry; the top rated Business Entertainment restaurant, Grabiel, sponsored by AirMalta; Most Romantic restaurant, The Blue Elephant, sponsored by the Definitive(ly) Good Guide Co; the Best Value for Money, The Avenue, sponsored by Knorr; Most Child-Friendly restaurant, The Avenue, sponsored by the Definitive(ly) Good Guide Co; and the Best Restaurant Toilet Award, The Blue Elephant, sponsored by Roger Satariano & Son Ltd.

The fourth edition of the Definitive(ly) Good Guide to Restaurants in Malta & Gozo includes the results of the 2003 restaurant survey, received from over 650 regular restaurant diners, who eat out an average of twice week - equivalent to 65,000 dining experiences.

Among the 49 changes in the list of 150 restaurants (out of over 1,000 restaurants in the Maltese islands), there are 25 new additional restaurants and 24 that are no longer in the guide.