Caviar and Bull
St George’s Bay,
St Julian’s
+356 9999 3301

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

Unless you happen to be the most unmaterialistic person in the world, we all desire a bit of luxury from time to time, a desire to treat oneself. And with that in mind, Rob had brought me to Caviar and Bull for some lunchtime indulgence. This restaurant does quite literally throw you into an atmosphere of luxury and the tone for the place is immediately set.

Having entered, you find yourself bang in the middle of the Champagne and Oyster Bar. The ambience is elegant and smart, yet inviting. An attractive seating area with plush, comfortable armchairs invites you to sink back and lounge. The area offers a chance for aperitivi, to sip some champagne or sample a cocktail with a molecular twist, while having a first glimpse of the food menu.

The theme of indulgence flows throughout the menu with an array of gastronomic luxuries and delicacies

The staff is a professional bunch, impressively good at what they do and very obviously well trained. This is still, sadly, something altogether rather alien to Malta, where overall appalling levels of service reign. Providing high quality customer service is simply not given the just import it deserves. Here, we were efficiently escorted to our seats.

The restaurant continues in a similar style to the Champagne and Oyster Bar, elegant and sophisticated, uncluttered and with generous table spacing. There are curtained-off areas, allowing for a more private, intimate dining experience. All tables encircle the kitchen, through which you can see the chefs, so that you are essentially sitting at the heart of every food creation.

Found at the tip of St George’s Bay in St Julian’s, the restaurant’s location is quite stunning. We had been given a window seat and could gaze upon Dragonara point and Sliema beyond.

Caviar and Bull’s menu is exciting and enticing, proffering a Mediterranean cuisine that is both refined and modern. The theme of indulgence flows throughout the menu with an array of gastronomic luxuries and delicacies. First and foremost, you can choose to order from the Oyster and Caviar Bar. Caviar and Bull serves fresh oysters (no indication as to the type or place of origin) and two types of prized sturgeon caviar, Ossetra and Kaluga. As the decadent delight of the Persians and the Tsars, caviar possibly represents food at its finest and most prestigious. Not too far below in rank we find the oyster, a once humble food elevated to elite status.

Long gone are the days when this shellfish was considered poor man’s grub having been cheapened by the Industrial Revolution... sold on London’s streets as fast food to the working class and packed with beef into classic Victorian steak and oyster pies as a meat substitute.

As its name implies, this is a high-end surf and turf sort of restaurant, placing the same dedicated emphasis on produce of the land and on fruits of the sea. You can treat yourself to pan seared foie gras or to freshly killed lobster. Certain dishes stand out from the menu and are creations unique to the Caviar and Bull kitchen. These signature dishes include house-smoked, hand carved salmon accompanied by horseradish foam and Wagyu beef tacos.

There’s also a degustation menu and several set menus to choose from. It all sounded exquisite and this made choosing what to dine on quite a task. After much deliberation we went for the pasta and a meat main course.

The homemade pasta was heavenly. The tortelloni with prawn and scallop were beautifully plated, delicate in flavour and finished with a fish broth velouté. It was a generous starter portion but I could have easily eaten double the amount. The rabbit confit ravioloni were possibly even tastier, with strong flavours brought about by the rich, gamey filling enriched with caramelised onion, spices and an aged balsamic reduction.

These, and what followed, were dishes that called for wine and that call did not go unanswered. We ordered a full-bodied Tuscan red and our efficient waitress was ever present to top up a wine or water glass that had only slightly diminished in volume.

I am such a fan of slow cooking. Whereas fast food holds its obvious advantages in a fast-paced world, slow cooking has become something of (here goes the ‘L’ word again) a luxury. My lamb shoulder (a speciality of the day) had been slow cooked and was thus wonderfully succulent and melted in your mouth. The spicy aubergine mousse complemented it beautifully and was pleasantly piquant. The Barbary duck breast was meant to be cooked to medium, but arrived overdone – a great, ahem, foul in Rob’s eyes and one that hindered full enjoyment of the dish.

An oversweet sauce had been slathered over both the lamb shoulder and the duck. It was something akin to what you’d use for barbecue ribs and was far too overpowering, especially when it came to the more delicate duck meat. The flavour of the duck just couldn’t compete.

The aim of any sauce is to enhance the flavour of the meat and never to mask its flavour. To top it all, apart from the sticky sauce, the duck was also accompanied by a beetroot and balsamic purée and a side of caramelised apples. As a result, the onslaught of sweetness on the tongue was far too strong. Overall, the main course was disappointing. Not even the potato wedges with the skins left on had the slightest of crisp to them.

With regards to dessert our chocolate fondants arrived, sadly, already burst. They were nonetheless served to us and were enjoyable enough with a nice forest fruit ice cream on the side and passion fruit seeds that provided a satisfying crunch. An espresso later and we were ready for a digestive stroll along the water’s edge.

Caviar and Bull is a place of indulgence, or at least, that’s what it’s purporting to be. After reading the menu, we were expecting accomplished, sophisticated dishes but when the meat wasn’t right, the glamour of the place faded and the impressive menu seemed now to be only ornamental and filled with empty promises.

We were hardly dazzled. Having experienced the stellar service, the pleasing ambience and the outstandingly good pasta starter, I wanted to continue loving the place but the main course had let it down. Prices are on the high side, but this is to be expected when you factor in the setting, the service and the fact that this restaurant is located on the grounds of a five-star hotel.

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