Pet’s Plates

Nargile Triq tal-Gardiel,
Marsascala.
Tel: 2163 6734

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

When you’re craving a thousand flavours at once and can’t pin it down to one particular food, how do you go about choosing the restaurant that will satisfy all cravings? We decided to pay a visit to Nargile in Marsascala. We weren’t planning on having a small meal – we wanted a feast.

I had been once before, years ago, and couldn’t remember being displeased with the outcome. This family-run establishment has now been open for 10 years and prides itself in serving Indian, Arabic and Mediterranean dishes. Lying just off the centre of the bay of Marsa-scala and sandwiched between two seedy-looking clubs, this restaurant is not to be found in the prettiest of locations.

However, once you’ve made your way through the restaurant’s doors, the tranquil, warm atmosphere within takes over. The attractive, carpeted interior is cosy, colourful and comfortable. You can choose to dine indoors or outside, in an area that’s heated throughout the winter months and which is surprisingly snug, with seating covered in Berber fabric.

The restaurant is named after the hookah, the tobacco pipe synonymous with the Arab and Indian world. It is, thus, fitting that hookahs have been used to embellish the restaurant’s entrance with their resplendent, coloured glass.

Nargile’s extensive, varied menu appeared from the outset to be decidedly ambitious. The proprietors have attempted to offer Arabian food (which in itself constitutes the bringing together of regional cuisines spanning the entire Arab world, from Greece, North Africa and the Levant) and Indian cuisine (which, apart from reflecting a history spanning 5,000 years, represents a country so vast that its different regional cuisines offer ample diversity in themselves) as well as a selection of Mediterranean dishes for those unfamiliar with or unwilling to try anything more exotic.

Ambitious, to say the least. At any rate, they do as a minimum constitute food cultures that endorse the concepts of conviviality and generous hospitality as regards cooking and eating and encourage meal sharing. The menu is, at least, well-defined and sectioned into what exactly the Arab, Indian and Mediterranean starter and main course dishes are.

Overall, it was a positive experience helped in no small part by the friendly, attentive staff, the fast service and a very well-priced menu

When a Beef Tagine is followed by traditional Maltese Braġjoli on the menu, things can begin to look somewhat puzzling, especially for anyone unfamiliar with Arab or local cuisine. Pulling off this extensive menu would be quite a feat and, as we ordered, I wondered if they could succeed in managing to cook everything well. Could they deliver?

The menu and the waiting staff encouraged us to have a typical mix and match, share and share alike sort of meal. And that is precisely what we did. We started off sharing straight away by ordering a mixture of mainly Arabic starters – baba ghanoush, hummus, koftahs and dolmahs and Indian samosas.

All members of staff were extremely friendly and polite and very knowledgeable about the menu. The majority were foreign, but spoke perfect English, so there was no risk of confusion with the order. There was, however, some slight confusion in the kitchen. The hummus had been reduced to the blandest of purees, so much so that you could hardly make out what dip it actually was. The baba ghanoush, on the other hand, was far better. The accompanying naan bread had been made in-house and was lovely. The vegetarian samosa should have constituted a baked, triangular delight containing potatoes, peas and onions, but was nothing special and lacked flavour.

Our meat dolmah were packed with a tasty rice, minced beef, herb and onion stuffing but the cabbage leaves had been overcooked and as a result they were leathery and stringy. The little koftah balls of grilled, marinated meat mince were spiced up with onion, cumin and parsley and proved to be very flavoursome morsels – they were definitely the best of all the starters!

We were eager to get on with the main course which, again, consisted of a mix of Arabic and Indian dishes. When you speak of tandoori chicken you think of chicken that has been marinating for hours in spices and yoghurt and then roasted at high temperatures in a traditional earthen oven or tandoor. The result is an Indian/Pakistani delicacy of chicken of the tenderest quality and with incredible depth of flavour. Ours arrived sizzling hot in a little platter surrounded by grilled vegetables, but it was sadly rather dry and completely short of any spicing. Any sign of marination (if there was any to begin with) had long evaporated.

I was looking forward to trying the Kuskse Bel Bosla. This slow-cooked stew, served on a bed of couscous, had at its heart tender lamb with pieces of lovely meat that just fell apart. But, as with the tandoori chicken, it was hard to find an abundance of spice. The chickpea and onion sauce was heavily under-seasoned and the dish was rather bland.

In contrast, the Beef Madras curry was deliciously fragrant and had just the right kick to it. This Southern Indian curry consisted of succulent beef pieces in a thick, fairly hot, creamy, coconut-based sauce. Accompanied with pilau rice and some cheese-filled naan bread, it was quite delectable. We also tried the Indian classic, Rogan Josh, a Kashmiri dish of Persian origin. This lamb curry was composed of delicious, slow cooked lamb and the sauce was rich and pleasantly piquant.

Nargile is not the biggest of restaurants so it can get crammed if the place fills up. Nonetheless, the atmosphere remained extremely pleasant and we were happy to linger and enjoy some dessert. We ended the meal with some Arabic tea and were served a blend of green tea infused with fresh mint leaves and topped with crunchy pine nuts. It was refreshing and soothing and would have been particularly welcome after a strongly spiced and herbed meal. Only, the meal in its entirety hadn’t been all that spiced or all that herbed.

The selection of Arabic sweets varied in taste and quality. Dessert in the Arab world is a notoriously sweet affair. At Nargile the baklava was delicious, while the rest of the sweets (typified by the use of pastry sweetened with honey and the use of pistachios and almonds) were average.

I left with mixed feelings. Some things were good, others were disappointing. The unique flavour that Arab cuisine possesses was very much lacking, whereas the Indian fare was definitely better. Overall, it was a positive experience helped in no small part by the friendly, attentive staff, the fast service and a very well-priced menu.

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