Pet’s Plates

Wejla
Smart City,
Kalkara
Tel: 2180 6104

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

In the past I’ve written of my dislike for Smart City, the city built by smart people, for all things smart. The place simply does not appeal to me. In the stifling midday heat it attracts few people and feels very much like a deserted and rather austere gallery of office blocks.

But there is an oasis in this desert and I have found it! Its name is Wejla, a Maltese word with a pretty ring to it that refers to a traditional rowing boat, similar in appearance to our iconic luzzu, that now belongs to a bygone era. Having run the highly successful restaurant, Tartarun, in Marsaxlokk for a number of years, the proprietors opened a second restaurant at Smart City.

As we were seated at a beautifully laid table with wonderful plush chairs, I took in the surroundings. The decor is smart and tasteful, the design is chic and modern. A muted colour palate with strong black accents creates a serene atmosphere. And thus, while managing to retain the homely environment of family-run Tartarun, the ambience at Wejla felt somehow more exclusive and sophisticated.

The impressive menu was a delight to behold. The Wejla kitchen presents a seasonal menu with daily specials. The resulting menu is thus a constantly evolving entity with Mediterranean flavour at its core and a special focus on local produce, meat and fish. It is always a plus point when food travels the least amount of food miles as is possible in order to pass from producer to consumer.

If you wanted to impress someone, this is where you would bring them

An assortment of warm bread rolls made in-house, along with some salted butter were served soon after the staff had taken our order. And we immediately knew that we were at the start of something good. The artisanal butter melting on top of my poppy seed bun was already a savoury delight. We couldn’t resist trying the pasta at Wejla. The paccheri with grouper and chorizo, a flavourful Spanish pork sausage, provided a colourful contrast between fruits of the sea and of the land.

The generous chunks of mild tasting grouper, fired up with the crisp, fried chorizo cubes and tossed through the pasta was a feast for all the senses. The plate was visually appealing and the taste was a sublime balance of flavours; the chorizo pieces packing every mouthful with a spicy crunch, the melted pork fat and the chilli and paprika of the sausage further flavouring the pasta.

The secret to the original carbonara pasta sauce is absolute minimalism when it comes to the ingredients used; namely guanciale (pork cheek), eggs, Pecorino Romano cheese and an abundance of pepper. Without disrespecting this classic Roman favourite, a seafood version of the Carbonara also exists and is popular in Italy.

The seafood carbonara at Wejla was pure heavenly creaminess, the linguine coated in the delicious whisked egg and cheese sauce. As with the grouper pasta, the seafood carbonara was packed with shrimps and prawns - these made for a fantastic combination when mixed in with the salty guanciale strips that just melted on the tongue. It was deeply satisfying.

As appealing as the main course dishes sounded, with the likes of grass-fed sirloin and cote de veau with lardo and horseradish gremolata, it was the catch of the day that piqued our interest. Our main course thus consisted of a selection of Mediterranean fish - merluzz, bazuga and sargu, all accompanied by roast potatoes and a fresh green salad.

The merluzz (hake) was delicate and delicious, its forte being the tight texture of its white meat. The bazuga (bronze bream) was lovely and mild tasting, sprinkled with thyme. Although all the fish was prepared and cooked beautifully, in my opinion, the sargu (white bream) was the superior fish. With its succulent, white flesh it was definitely the finest and most flavoursome of the three. A spicy tomato salsa was served alongside the fish as an optional condiment but it was so overpowering that I preferred to enjoy the full flavour of each fish.

Wejla’s dessert menu was certainly attention-grabbing, with items that sounded far too tempting to resist. Unfortunately, my baked passion fruit cheesecake was not the best baked cheesecake I’ve ever eaten, mainly due to the fact that the crust was soggy. The sour yogurt ice cream accompanying the cheesecake was lovely though and set off the tartness of the passion fruit wonderfully.

The pistachio, lemon cream and cherry dessert was far better, composed of different layers and incorporating a variety of textures. This layered dessert was colourful, consisting of a lemon posset and a rich pistachio ice cream topped with a crumbly pistachio cake, sweet cherry syrup and preserved cherries. I couldn’t get enough of it!

After our espressos we were offered liqueurs on the house, which is always a nice touch and is possibly the best way to conclude an agreeable meal. A digestif does after all, in theory, serve the medicinal purpose of aiding digestion...

The cooking at Wejla had been clean, refined and sharp. There was an elegance to every dish, a precision and an attention to detail. Even my little side bowl of salad contained various beautifully crisp pickings of leafy greens.

Wejla is a fine dining restaurant and so, along with the cooking, the service was also excellent. It is evident that the wait staff have been highly trained. Smartly dressed waiters pulled out our chairs, laid napkins on our laps and ensured that our wine and water glasses were refilled the moment they emptied.

The staff were also extremely knowledgeable as regards the entire menu in addition to food and wine pairings. If you wanted to impress someone, this is where you would bring them. Wejla is of course a pricey restaurant, but I will always expect to pay for quality, and I do so readily.

And after all that, emerging from this restaurant after the meal I had just had, I actually liked Smart City better.

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

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