Variety of traditional Maltese food: water biscuits (galletti), sun-dried tomatoes and a goat cheeselet (ġbejna).

Ed eats

Oleander
10, Xagħra Square,
Xagħra

Food: 6/10
Service: 8/10
Ambience: 8/10
Value: 8/10
Overall: 7/10

Winter has really acted up this year. It doesn’t quite know whether it wants to hang around a little while more or just head back home and try for better luck next year. I know that it’s not spring until the fashion world tells us so, but the weather is really acting defiant.

I sulked in my cave for a whole weekend of bright sunshine, wishing winter would return for just a little while but, on the third day, I ventured forth. The sun was bright, I had no plans, I hadn’t cooked lunch, so everything was stacked up against me. I’d just have to face the great outdoors or suffer starvation. So I drove to Gozo.

I don’t know what I was thinking. This was my most illogical option possible and yet there I was, following a shiny line of polished vehicles around the island. How often does one spot a 1966 Ford Mustang? I spotted three, such was the incredible number of cars that I shared a road with. Luckily, by the time I made it to the ferry, I just drove straight on to it like an unlikely movie scene where the ferry snaps shut behind the protagonist. Just an hour after I left home, I was in Gozo. The stars had aligned in my favour.

I drove around for a while, because I like zombie apocalypse movies. Most villages were completely devoid of inhabitants so one could very easily shoot a zombie movie in one of them without really spending much on building a set. I’m not sure where all the inhabitants of Gozo were at lunchtime but the only place that showed signs of life was Rabat. Sorry Queen Victoria, I prefer the name we used before you quite vainly re-christened the town.

One of the apparently uninhabited villages was Xagħra. I drove through at lunchtime and was delighted to see that Oleander was open. It had been ages since I’d last eaten there and I wasn’t about to face an impending apocalypse on an empty stomach. In this situation, Douglas Adams suggested beer and peanuts but I’m sure he’d think highly of us if we planned our meal outside the culinary breadth of a British pub in the 1970s.

The tables in the square were inviting but the wind was picking up so we sacrificed the bright sunshine for a table inside the restaurant to make sure our plates remained warm for longer. We were shown to a table by one of the two men who were taking care of the service that day. There is an evident experience gap between the two of them, yet there was no dip in the service as a result. Throughout lunch, we were paid the right amount of attention and were served pretty expertly.

The man who brought our menus over was keen to let us know they had lamb fillet, grilled squid and fresh fish as specialities of the day. I’m pretty sure there were a couple of other items but my memory only stored the ones that had me think the hardest. I felt like all three but couldn’t possibly eat them all. Finally I struck a deal with the better half. I’d order the squid and eat most of it. She’d do the same with the lamb. We’d then swap a little.

For starters, I was tempted by the seafood pasta, mainly because it is specified as in bianco and because I was really up for pasta before I walked in. I was a little surprised that the normally sensible one picked a mixed antipasto from the list of starters.

My main course was another show of the generosity of the portions at this restaurant

To be fair, the menu that’s printed is quite boring, with mushrooms in garlic and smoked salmon salad as highlights of the starters section. The rest of the menu goes through a few pasta options and the staple main courses, with the addition of beef olives and another couple of traditional Maltese dishes.

The price of most of the food looks decent, too. The wine menu is also very reasonably priced and much more imaginatively put together than the list of food. We picked a Chardonnay from Macon for a pretty decent €20.

This was served very properly and followed by a little dish of antipasti to share. A very fresh ġbejna (goat cheeslet), sun-dried tomatoes, and those galletti (water biscuits) that have been pre-seasoned so they have bits of dried herbs stuck to them. I’d have presumed the sun-dried tomatoes were powerful enough and the ġbejna too delicate for them but there they were. I appreciated the thought and enjoyed the ġbejna but it would have been nice to check what we’d ordered. Much of the antipasto listed as a starter shares ingredients with this amuse-bouche.

Our starters were served really quickly. Worryingly so in the case of my pasta. The portion is very large, particularly for a starter-sized dish. A few mussels and clams in their shells were assisted in their quest for representing the sea’s fauna by tiny shrimps, even more mussels and clams, and a few rings of squid. The sauce was thick and quite concentrated, the pasta cooked al dente, and I ate through about half of it before I decided I should leave room for the main course. I prefer a more pared back version of this dish but I suppose this kind of salty intensity appeals to many.

The antipasto was a decent mix of grilled aubergine, salami, olives, bigilla (bean paste) and the items we’d had as an amuse-bouche. The dreaded galletti were there, too. This dish alone would have sufficed as a starter for both because it is varied and generous and a pleasantly fresh start to any meal. With a bit of cunning, it will be easy to visit Oleander, share one of these starters and have a plate of pasta to walk out with change from €20 and a belly full of pretty satisfying food. Provided you’re not picky with the pasta like I am.

My main course was another show of the generosity of the portions at this restaurant. Two large squid had been grilled, bodies rolled and tentacles separate, so that there was easily enough for two of us. The squid was a little tough but it had been very delicately seasoned and I was happy to see that restraint had been applied, to allow the squid’s delicate flavour to do most of the work.

There was also the bizarre addition of deep-fried, battered rings of squid. I ate one to find out what mystery they might contain but there was no surprise in store.

The lamb fillet was also very generous but had been cooked beyond rare as we’d requested. First I asked for an opinion and I received a very enthusiastic thumbs up.

I tried a bite and it was slightly overcooked, tasting great but with too tough a texture. The sides consisted of a fresh salad, some steamed veg that were cut so perfectly they might as well have been dug out of a freezer, and some of the best roast potatoes I’ve had in a long while.

When I requested the bill, I was asked about the food because I’d left quite a bit of the squid. The young man showed genuine concern and I assured him that I wasn’t man enough for the portion size. He offered liqueurs and just wouldn’t take no for an answer.

We paid €40 each for huge portions of food, a bottle of wine, and a generous dose of heartfelt hospitality. In the end, what I feared was an uninhabited town, turned out to host this little gem that had treated us like royalty and fed us much more than we deserved.

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