Pet's Plates
L’Artista
1, Triq Il-Gandoffli,
Buġibba
+356 9995 4947
Food: 9/10
Service: 8/10
Ambience: 5/10
Value: 7/10
Overall: 8/10
As this festive season draws slowly to an end, I will presume that most of you have had your appetites well and truly sated by now. At a time of year when many us have been dining out frequently, I would hope that you have at least reached this state of over-abundance by indulging in good food and good wine.
While not enjoying the best of successes when dining out over the Christmas period, a group of us decided to try L’Artista. This is a fairly new, family-run restaurant serving Mediterranean and Sardinian food, tucked away in one of Buġibba’s back streets. From the outside, it all looked fairly unassuming – but lately, a real hype has built up about this little place, so I was eager to see what it had to offer.
Once seated inside the restaurant you realise that you are essentially sitting in a glorified garage with a tawdry Buġibba bar bang next door. But the atmosphere inside was immediately inviting and cosy, and the grilled Maltese bread and plentiful sheets of Carasau – that crisp, traditional Sardinian flat bread – brought to our table almost instantly served as a warm welcome in itself.
The affable Sardinian chef patron unpretentiously wove himself through the packed groups of tables, greeting patrons and clarifying the Sardinian/Mediterranean menu, which is up on a framed chalk board and reprinted on individual menu cards.
He explained that the varied menu changes regularly, offering a wide range of meat, fish and pasta dishes. His cardinal rule is to serve honest food cooked without any excessive tweaking or hint of ostentation, using only fresh and seasonal produce. With that in mind, the eager-to-please chef enthusiastically prattled on, to say that he would do his best to cook whatever we happened to have a hankering for – always keeping the cardinal rule in mind of course.
He dived back into the bustling kitchen. With his relaxed manner I think he could put even the fussiest of diners at ease. The farmer’s menu looked very appealing; the venison, rack of lamb and the ox tail had all caught my eye. But, in the end, the freshly-caught array of fish and shellfish in the glass cabinet at the restaurant’s entrance was far too tempting a sight to overlook.
This restaurant boasts an affordable wine list and we chose a light Sardinian Vermentino to wash down our fish-based choices. The promising meal opened with a surprise amuse bouche of succulent salmon carpaccio. Had we known this, we would, perhaps, not have ordered an antipasto that included even more carpaccio!
But, in this instance, too much of a good thing turned out to be a great thing. Our antipasto order quickly followed. The first dish – a generous portion of prawn carpaccio topped with sliced strawberries, sprigs of dill and tiny edible, purple flowers – was laid out beautifully. The plate was a delight to behold before I had even taken a first bite.
The chef is passionate and talented and brings the best out of beautiful, high-quality ingredients
A second, equally exquisite-tasting and delightfully presented antipasto was a dish of fine tuna carpaccio, dotted with tiny porcini mushrooms and snips of rosemary heads. It all tasted fantastic. It was evident from the start of the meal that, despite the slightly tacky ambience and the unattractive location, it is nonetheless fine food that is being served at L’ Artista.
Apart from the carpaccio, our group had opted to share a few more assaggi. We left it up to the chef to surprise us and what he came up with was a selection of mouth-watering dishes – perfectly steamed, succulent mussels, tender stewed octopus and yellow fin tuna in onions and cherry tomatoes. All were equally delicious. The dishes were passed round the table a second and third time in order to redress any grievances.
There was only one thing on my mind, more. And more came soon enough in the guise of our first course. Mine consisted of a plate piled high with homemade linguini and the freshest of seafood. Two giant clams and three meaty prawns were lightly doused (thankfully, not drowning) in a prawn bisque and garnished with small pieces of tomato flesh and bursts of fresh mint. It was a joy to savour.
I stole a bite of a similar pasta consisting solely of prawns and it was equally as delicious. After wolfing down the pasta, we were already feeling quite full, but a second course of fresh fish was still to come. The grilled sargu (sea bream) was wonderfully uncomplicated and simply cooked, which is all an excellent fish like this really requires. It was accompanied by side dishes of grilled marrows, aubergines and rosemary roasted potatoes. To complement the delicate, white fish, little shallow bowls of oil accompanied the dish – a mixture of three oils that the chef composes himself.
And, at length, the dessert. After the high standard of food served, it was quite unthinkable to leave without tasting a dessert. I had the chocolate fondant, choosing the dark chocolate one over the white chocolate option. It was heavenly and everything that the perfect fondant should be. I also tasted a glorious semi-freddo sandwiched between two crisp layers of meringue, accompanied by fresh strawberries and cream. What a treat to end a good meal with some good dessert, sadly a shortcoming in many a Maltese restaurant, with the exception of but a few.
At L’Artista the staff is as efficient and as friendly as the chef. As is the case with many family-run restaurants, the atmosphere is laidback and homely. When we were quite stuffed to the gills and had asked for the bill, a selection of liqueur bottles and glasses with ice were brought over, inviting us to linger and digest slowly for as long as we liked, one complimentary shot glass after another.
We took them up on their offer and didn’t leave the place till about 5pm. We must have turned into quite a bawdy bunch by then and would probably have been better suited to the karaoke crowd next door. The bill was very much what I expected to pay.
At L’Artista, prices are not the cheapest but they are more than fair when taking into consideration the elevated Mediterranean cuisine that is prepared here and the amount of food we consumed that day.
After such an outstanding meal I am determined to return to try the meat dishes. The chef is passionate and talented and brings the best out of beautiful, high-quality ingredients. His excellent food effortlessly muted garish Buġibba just beyond the restaurant doors. There was not an attractive sea view in sight, but who cared? Undoubtedly, not one diner in there.
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