Ed eats

Mint
30/39, Stella Maris Street,
Sliema

Food: 8/10
Service: 7/10
Ambience: 9/10
Value: 7/10
Overall: 8/10

There’s an invocation that’s been called an ancient Chinese curse, even if there seems to be no evidence of the curse in Chinese. It simply goes, ‘May you live in interesting times’. It implies that eventful times are worse than boredom, probably on the statistical chance that doing stuff could actually lead to danger while relative boredom should keep one safe.

The assumption here is that safety is always desirable. Well, in terms of absolute self-preservation, I suppose it is, but if one were to avoid risk completely, then how can one ever learn anything worth knowing? We eventually settle for a stance that is a hybrid between the two, so while we don’t want to be plagued by eternally interesting times, we still occasionally stray from what has been decided is safe for us.

To me, the curse would be a blessing. May I live in interesting times, especially where food is concerned. May I be free from the boredom of sticking to what I am familiar with, because there is so much food left for me to experience and such little time in which to do so. May my life’s forays continue to be heavily influenced by the underlying desire for food that will cause delight.

Lunch is troubling in this respect. I don’t always allow myself the time to dwell over this most important of meals and this means I eat the same thing pretty much every day. I can hear a couple of you screaming that I should cook the night before and take my own food with me if I want to stave boredom. I tried this many times and I inevitably return to what I’ve cooked two hours after dinner, consuming everything I’d left for the next day. There are only so many times I can have supper twice in a single week.

What I do instead is make sure I get to venture out of our office’s neighbourhood a couple of times a week to keep lunch from becoming an unbearably familiar affair. This doesn’t provide as much variety as you’d expect. Lunchtime food is largely homogenous unless you’re in the mood for spending quite a bit on it.

This week I struck gold. I was in Sliema with a very like-minded man, particularly where food is concerned, so he put up with my driving aimlessly in the hope that something will inspire me. He’s been on such trips that have meant 20 minutes of undecided roaming and he puts up with it. He knows this torture is likely to lead to food we’ll enjoy.

Spotting Mint quite early into the drive had us on an immediate hunt for a parking spot. We knew Mint would most likely do the trick and had both been there before, even if quite a while back.

Mint’s terrace has a lovely view of the open sea but we weren’t too happy to sit outside where the wind threatened to cool our food down prematurely. We were lucky with a table inside the restaurant and this is one of those places where I almost always prefer sitting inside. The atmosphere is great. There is a sense of happy bustling of staff and customers within a charming décor and, as we walked in, even Neil Young playing in the background. The food on the menu board covers their more standard fare that is largely based on salads and entirely made with fresh ingredients. Even more enticing options are inside a large display just next to the counter. We stood at the counter and wanted to eat everything. After much negotiation, I whittled the selection down to four items and, with a final push, down to just three between the two of us.

The seasonal display is practically a guarantee that one will have many an interesting lunchtime

We picked a lemon and thyme chicken wrap, moussaka and Thai fishcakes. Making it to the finals were the Falafel and their one-shot breakfast while even a vegan lasagna made it to the semis. Much angst was spent on the elimination process and we felt quite exhausted by the time we’d added two drinks to our order and paid €20 for the lot at the counter.

We headed back to our table, neglecting to take our table number with us and even changing to a table that had just been vacated. The staff at Mint took our negligence in stride and cheerfully brought us a table number and our drinks.

Around us people were enjoying gorgeous salads, tapping away at MacBooks, sipping coffee, and making their mouths a better place via one of the many sweets that are hosted in yet another large display of treats. Not all at once, of course.

Our food was all delivered to our table at once and quite quickly, too. This is an essential factor at lunchtime. Not only does it send us back to the office within a reasonable timeframe, it also makes sure that precious tables are made use of several times during a lunch service.

Lemon drizzle cake and homemade granola with natural yoghurt.

Greek moussaka.

Every dish was served with a sizeable side salad, smartly dressed with a house vinaigrette. I’d have preferred a more generous splash because I eat salad mostly as a vehicle for the dressing. I started with the moussaka and it was quite lovely. The aubergine had been spared the moussaka sin of being overcooked and added a lovely layer of texture to the creamy, meaty goodness of the other layers. We finished half our dishes with perfect timing so by the time I’d finished my last bite, the plate-swap was already in motion.

I tucked into half of the wrap and was disappointed to see that there was only one piece of chicken in it. I asked what the other half was like and it was the same. Other than that, the wrap tasted lovely, thanks to a very fresh salad and a very restrained dressing.

Wraps are all too often drenched in cheap mayonnaise to make up for shortcomings. Here every ingredient is laid bare and this takes total, and much appreciated, honesty.

The fish cakes were easy to share because a portion consists of both, also served with a side salad, and the addition of a little bowl of sweet chilli sauce. These were excellent, fragrant with coriander and lemongrass, bearing their little snap of green chilli with admirable pride. We considered ordering another portion of these as dessert.

Mint clearly shows that interesting, healthy, and tasty food need not come at an unreasonable price or at a sacrifice of flavour or enjoyment. Most of what is served here is much closer to what’s expected of a Mediterranean diet than the one we call our own. Light dishes, salads with simple ingredients and dishes made with seasonal vegetables are offered as an alternative to the ubiquitous ftira, pizza and pastizzi. And the seasonal display is practically a guarantee that one will have many an interesting lunchtime.

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