L’Artist offers an interesting mix of dishes.L’Artist offers an interesting mix of dishes.

Ed eats

L’Artist
6, Tigné Street,
Sliema
Tel 2720 0870

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

Speaking about technology and how it has changed the way we live has become so annoying because it is so evident to everyone in the Western world. It is a bit like talking about the weather. All I heard today is about how warm the weather is. These were words spoken by people in the fourth decade of their lives, people who should be used to the seasons by now. Why they act surprised about warm weather in spring has me mystified. We’re such a wonderfully mad species.

Sometimes I think that self-awareness was a cruel twist, a nasty bifurcation in evolution. We could probably have avoided it by being monkeys for another couple of millennia and our only concern would be what tree to swing from.

We surely wouldn’t talk about the weather and even more certainly would not mention how technology keeps changing things.

But blessed is the geek, for she has truly inherited the world and we’re all stuck with the advances that shape the life we live in. Without them, we would be sending letters to each other, giving ourselves the time to respond to each other’s communication at leisure, possibly with a week in between letters. We’d be waiting until we’re home to call each other. We’d be living at a very sensible pace. We’d find out about restaurants via word of mouth, mouths that we know and trust. As things stand, we trust random strangers on TripAdvisor.

Trusting TripAdvisor is another weird evolutionary glitch. Food is very important, and good food is doubly so. If a rational animal were to trust the advice of another about good food, then the rational animal would want to make sure that the advice being meted out is delivered by someone we know and trust. Ideally, one would even know what the advisor’s palate is like. Yet this caution is thrown to whichever wind happens to be blowing thanks to the interwebs.

Strangely enough, as the credibility of internet-based content decreases, we see a rise in credulity. We’re more likely to believe the massively democratic (a word I’m using as an insult here) opinion of the masses than honest advice passed on by someone we know. Does this mean the internet is inherently broken?

Well, it obviously isn’t. The bit I hate about it is what makes it so useful. The wholesale approach to advice achieved by a structure like TripAdvisor means that opinions are placed there, largely, by the lowest common denominator. So the advice will be slightly useful to a huge number of people rather than very useful to a few gourmands.

I decided to put this to the test. I was going to be in Sliema one afternoon so I did what I have never done before. I checked out the top-rated restaurant in Sliema according to TripAdvisor and planned to have dinner there. I knew this would be a risky pursuit but I had to put the whole issue to the test.

The top-rated restaurant is called L’Artist and I’d never heard of it. I found it on the map and it looked like it was located on the site of the erstwhile Union Club. It turned out to be just a couple of doors up the road. I popped by early in the evening and the man who was busy setting up the restaurant asked us to turn up at 8pm. He had a whole lot of people who had booked for 7.30pm and it would be more sensible for us to visit half an hour later. His advice was sensible. I wouldn’t like my order to reach the kitchen just when that of a large group of people does. This sends a small kitchen into disarray and delays my food at best.

We turned up around 15 minutes after we’d promised we’d arrive and our host pointed us in the direction of a table for four with a ‘reserved’ sign on it. He had thoughtfully kept a large table for us knowing we’d be more comfortable. He accompanied us to the table, helped move things around a little to give us more room, and returned with menus.

The restaurant might not be my top choice in Sliema, but at least I know that those who turn up based on the rating will walk out being treated well

I initially thought he was brusque but this turned out to be his way of managing a packed house, zipping around the place and putting in a friendly word at every table. We were the only locals in the house. Around us we heard French, Italian, German and Spanish. The restaurant’s online rating seems to be working miracles.

The menus start with a little story about how the restaurant was named after a family member known for his good looks and affectionately known as “L’Artist”. Well, that eliminates the guesswork. The menu also claims ‘fine dining’ but we can take that with a pinch of salt. The décor is simple and homely. The menu doesn’t quite read like fine dining either. Perhaps they mean that dining here will be fine and I hoped this claim would be at least half prophetic.

The food is an interesting mix of dishes we’re used to and others that show someone a little more whimsical in the kitchen, perhaps with experience in a pastry kitchen. A ġbejna en croute isn’t on every other menu that claims to serve local cuisine. There was one entry that had me horrified. The first item was a mushroom soup with strawberry syrup.

The very thought had me turn the page quite quickly and I was happy I did so. There I spotted a roasted foie gras with a tempura king prawn and lemon sorbet. For the very reasonable price of €11. I prepared for the worst and ordered it.

The better half was set on the ‘mixed seafood fury’, mainly because the word ‘fury’ doesn’t make it to quite as many menus as one would think. Our host, whose name turned out to be Gino, recommended that she does away with a starter.

The furious dish is also quite generous and wasting food is a pity. I appreciated his approach and we decided to share the starter. I picked a rib-eye steak and the only bottle of wine that had run out of stock. Gino recommended a Nero d’Avola, priced a little below my original pick. I happily agreed with him.

He served bread but forgot the oil. This didn’t really matter – our shared starter took all of 10 minutes. I was very surprised to see that the duck liver was not a pâté but a slice of foie gras, roasted on the outside and still pink inside. The tempura prawn was nothing special but I had no problems ignoring it. The liver was lovely, even if not everyone’s cup of tea.

If you are squeamish or worry about the way the duck is fed, well, you’re missing out on a delicacy. The sorbet worked perfectly with the foie gras. If the chef ditches the prawn and replaces the toasted Maltese bread with a brioche, he has winner.

Our main course was also served within a reasonable time. My steak was nicely charred and simply salted so that the strip loin side was reasonable and the tenderloin third quite enjoyable.

I like meat to be better aged but when selling meat by weight this becomes uneconomical, particularly when priced competitively to keep the TripAdvisor crowd happy.

The seafood dish was huge. Mussels, clams, rings of squid, shrimps and king prawns were piled high on the dish and everything was smothered in a sauce of white wine, garlic, plenty of cream and fresh herbs.

The sauce was yummy but the seafood wasn’t the freshest. I suppose the dish wins on sheer size and the intensity of its broth. At €19, one can’t expect the day’s catch in such abundance.

At €75 for the lot, I think we paid what was due. We were treated kindly and by the end of the evening had all but made friends with Gino.

The restaurant might not be my top choice in Sliema, but at least I know that those who turn up based on the rating will walk out being treated well.

Now I know that a single visit to a top-rated restaurant by locality is nowhere near the numbers one would need to demonstrate my TripAdvisor theory statistically, but one must start somewhere.

I might, if I’m feeling brave, try my experiment out at different localities. As things stand I now know where to eat a lovely foie gras without having to sell my car to pay for it.

And that is as surprising and pleasant an outcome as I could possibly have wished for.

You can send e-mails about this column to ed.eatson@gmail.com or follow @edeats on Twitter.

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