Pet’s plates
Giulia
Mattia Preti Square,
Valletta
+356 9979 8292
Food: 8/10
Service: 9/10
Ambience: 6/10
Value: 6/10
Overall: 7/10
Of late, I have not been eating well – at all. Dining out has become something of a nightmare, akin to traipsing through a minefield of unexpected, nasty surprises. Sadly, mediocrity seems to be the order of the day in the case of many restaurants, so after a series of sorry meals I was left feeling rather cheated and demoralised.
Rob was desperate for some honest, good food and I certainly was not in the mood to entertain yet another unsatisfactory meal. On a weeknight we headed to the capital, which has slowly succumbed to a stealthy invasion at the hands of the Italians with the opening of various restaurants and coffee shops.
As long as they offer a good product, I’m delighted of course, although I’d dread things to reach a state were one feels overrun in one’s own capital city.
In the southern part of Valletta, overlooking Marsamxett Harbour, lies the infamous Mandraggio area. In the mid-16th century, the Knights initially decreed that this zone would be developed to form an inner harbour in which to shelter the Order’s galleys. Quarrying for this harbour would simultaneously provide stone for building works in Valletta. This abandoned project regressed and the site degenerated into a notorious slum area that housed many of Valletta’s workforce and numerous destitute families.
In the 1950s the squalor was bulldozed over and the entire area was rebuilt with rows of government housing apartments.
Just off Mattia Preti Square there is a restaurant called Giulia that has only been open for the past six months. It is a small place with an increasingly big reputation, priding itself in fresh, simple cooking.
The tininess of the place is no exaggeration. Dining is entirely outdoors, with just eight tables covered by umbrellas set up on the piazza. The fresh, crisp white interior of the restaurant holds only enough room to contain the kitchen and bathrooms. I felt chilly despite the comfort of my woollen shrug and wondered what would happen in winter.
I had tried booking a table earlier in the week and had been told that the restaurant was shut due to the rain. An exceedingly charming, smartly dressed waiter emerged from the kitchen with water and yesterday’s bread and informed us that a marquee would shortly be set up on the piazza.
Giulia has certainly helped bring Mandraggio’s main square to life
Giulia has two chefs, one from Palermo and the other from Venice. Despite the geographic extremities of the chefs’ place of origin, the two still cook the same – classic Mediterranean style menu with, at times, the slightest of regional variations.
The menu, up on a single chalk board, changes frequently. The speciality of the house is seafood but they do offer the odd meat dish.
Since we were practically the only people that night, the Venetian chef approached us to cheerfully explain the menu. It all sounded extremely enticing.
As first course I chose the mussels alla Veneziana and was served a large bowl piled high with the most perfectly steamed, meaty mussels swimming in a broth of cherry tomatoes, garlic and finely chopped parsley and with chunks of crusty Maltese bread to soak up all the juicy goodness. Hoorah! Real food at last. I was ecstatic.
Rob had ordered a plate of the same mussels with pasta. A large portion emerged from the kitchen with some grated parmesan and pan gratato on either side of the plate, ready to be mixed in with the pasta to absorb all the flavours. It was exquisite and Rob smiled all the way through, only allowing me two forkfuls.
For seconds I had the Lampuka al Esilio – a homage of sorts to an exiled Napoleon. Well aware of the way the Maltese typically coat and shallow fry lampuki or pack it into pies, the chef assured me that this was lampuka cooked in a particular and, most importantly, delicious way.
And it was just that. Cooked using the acqua pazza method, the fish was beautifully poached. The flesh was moist and luscious and covered with a richly herbed sauce of cherry tomatoes and good extra virgin olive oil. A sprinkling of pine nuts provided a nice crunch.
Rob enjoyed his generous tagliata of swordfish. Although being good, we agreed that the lampuka was the better dish of the two. I expected tastier side dishes. The grilled potatoes and marrows were weak.
They did not seem to have a vast wine selection and so we chose a bottle of Gavi.
We couldn’t leave without trying a dessert and so we shared a torta gelato topped with fresh cream and almond shavings that was spooned away all too quickly. It was heavenly, with layers of biscuit and chocolate and just the right sweetness to it.
Having served up a feast, the chef at Giulia had surpassed all expectations. The service was also impeccable, never invasive and consisting of small attentions.
Since we had ordered without ever glancing at the chalk board menu, we paid closer attention than usual to the bill. At €16 the pasta with mussels was extremely overpriced. My plate had contained significantly more mussels and cost less. As regards the second course, I did not expect to spend €23 for an albeit well-cooked lampuka in autumn, the peak season for lampuki fishing when this migratory fish assembles in abundance in our waters.
Things would have been different had I perhaps eaten in a smarter location but we were, after all, sitting outside in a piazza on nice plastic chairs. Although the swordfish had been the least exciting dish of the night, paying the same price for it as the lampuka was far more understandable.
By and large, Giulia had provided an excellent food experience and some of the best Italian food I’ve eaten in Valletta. This lower end of Valletta is a far cry from the beauty and elegance of the streets above, adorned with stately palaces, churches and auberges, but it was nonetheless very pleasant to sit and eat there, looking out onto the expertly lit Manoel Island and Sliema beyond.
The Mandraggio does possess a certain, distinct charm of its own and Giulia has certainly helped bring its main square to life.
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