Ed Eats

Il Gambero
Triq il-Port
Marsalforn, Gozo
Tel: 7940 6543

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

Holidays are meant to be great escapes and even greater escapades. To me, and to many, they’re a break with routine and an immersion into a wonderful culture, with all the food and wine that brings with it. For a few days, I’m that annoying foreigner who asks directions to a landmark that’s behind him and who sticks his camera into other people’s photos.

Somehow, the tourist’s prerogative is to get away with being slightly annoying. It’s like we know we’ll be paying the annoyance forward next time we go abroad so we put up with the little quirks of anyone who’s ‘getting away from it all’ or ‘doing the South of France’. I find that term a little disturbing in quite a few ways yet it seems to be a perfectly ordinary thing to do.

Since I don’t go to Gozo as often as most, I’m somehow an annoying tourist when I do wind up on our gloriously green sister Island. I pack my tourist behaviour handbook in my backpack, head to the ferry, and transform as soon as I land in Mġarr. For starters, I instantly panic about lunch or dinner. The certainty of a meal in my immediate future allows me to actually enjoy what’s going on.

I don’t think I’m an exception here. Many Maltese people I meet in Gozo are acting like tourists. And this is probably why I don’t visit more often. If I want a little escape, then I want to be far away from the people I’m used to, especially if the same people I’ve fled are now in annoying tourist mode.

But this time of year is glorious. The tourist count is down but enough of them remain to keep business going and the heat has subsided so we can all actually enjoy the sights and sounds of Gozo. I dashed over for the day a couple of weekends ago with an itinerary that included meeting people for lunch in Marsalforn. I kind of hoped there would be a plan but there wasn’t so I headed down towards one of the little clusters of restaurants at the end of the bay and spotted one I hadn’t seen before. They even have a little terrace that’s perched on top of the bay so you have to make sure you hold on to your cutlery. It is simply named ‘Il Gambero’ and looked mostly harmless so I asked if they had a table for four.

We were welcomed like we were royalty by the man who was running the place and he moved things around to make sure we were seated comfortably. When it was evident that the sun was about to roast us, he cranked an awning open and all was finally good with the world. There was a breeze, some shade, and the promise of food.

The menu is a relatively simple and quite comprehensive one. It covers starters, pasta and main courses, with enough meat and fish options to have most patrons covered. There’s a very half-hearted effort at a wine menu and there’s a good reason. They serve a house wine in pitchers that must be pretty decent because a number of tables had ordered the liquid and were slowly and steadily consuming it.

Il Gambero helps keep the cost of a little escape to Gozo entirely affordable

I had my eyes on a pepata di cozze for starters, especially since they came recommended by our man, mentioning them in particular as a fresh catch. The fresh fish included spnott, awrat and paġell, and he said the first two were farmed, citing honesty as a principle as he did so. He then described their crown jewel, a platter of aquatic fauna that included squid and shellfish and prawns and was ideal for two to share.

Seeing the others hadn’t sat with starters in mind, I quickly ditched the idea of a starter and a fish and agreed to share their littoral feast with the better half. We were the only ones inspired by the proximity to the sea, and the others ordered the pasta with garlic, oil and chilli and the rabbit. No one was drinking wine so we ordered a half bottle for good measure.

Our dish was served with chips and salad according to our host but I spied some lovely looking roast potatoes at an adjacent table. Some time had passed since we’d placed our orders but I attracted the attention of the main man and asked if we could swap if they hadn’t already prepared our sides. He was happy to do so and said he’d throw in their lovely roasted vegetables as well.

We had a fair waiting time, and were served galletti and bigilla and some really fresh bread while we sat and took in the view of the quiet bay. When our food was served, it was evident from the size of the dish that there would be no way it would fit at our table. The guys at Il Gambero have thought of this and provide a tiny table that fit onto the end of ours, hosting the large plate quite perfectly.

I started with the end of dish that faced me, digging into the octopus first. It was tender, had been lightly seasoned, and was roasted so it tasted exactly the way it should, allowing the mollusc’s delicate flavour to speak for itself. Possibly more enjoyable was the squid, with just a little white wine and olive oil to dress the artfully cooked flesh. I then turned to the roast potatoes and they were devilishly good, possibly bested by the roast veg.

I hadn’t expected this level of cooking at this price and turned to the clams and the razor clams, ever so hopeful. They’d been overcooked, so much that I couldn’t take more than a couple of each before turning to the prawns. These, too, had been overcooked so that the flesh stuck to the shell as I attempted to extract it. I took one of my allocation and graciously left the rest for the better half, knowing she’s less picky with prawns.

Luckily I’d left the mussels to the end and they were great. They had been fresh, as promised, and cooked in their own foil wrap so the flesh remained plump and juicy. The broth they were in was the kind you’d be a fool not to dunk fresh bread in so, not wanting to act the fool, I did. And it was really quite rewarding.

The rabbit was being consumed quite steadily by one the best rabbit cooks I know and she nodded appreciatively, saying she couldn’t fault it. Just as enthusiastic about his pasta was the gourmand who’d picked the aglio, olio, e pepperoncino.

By the time we gave up on finishing all the food at table, we were all quite pleased with our meals and decided we’d no room left for dessert. Our host was having none of this and brought us some fresh and chilled melon to help refresh our palates after the meal.

We paid a total of €70 for the meal and at just over €16 each this represents pretty decent value. I usually stick to the couple of usuals when I’m in Marsalforn and it didn’t take much pondering to add Il Gambero to the list. It’s smoothly run, the service is incredibly helpful and friendly... it helps keep the cost of a little escape to Gozo entirely affordable.

You can send e-mails about this column to petsplates@gmail.com.