La Reggia
Marsaxlokk

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

I was happy to be here. Deliriously happy.

The confidently named Reggia restaurant in Marsaxlokk serves up dishes that delight, amaze and captivate the senses. Reggia’s kitchen offers delicious and innovative versions of classic Mediterranean dishes, revisited and elegantly revamped. We enthused over the carefully considered menu and were instantly intrigued.

Already, I was ecstatic. There were some colourful flavour combinations to be savoured. Whoever had put this together clearly knew his food. I dearly hoped the food would live up to my very high expectations, and it did.

Our lunch was purely decadent; an exercise in indulgence. Fresh and clean tasting, the beautifully marinated slivers of swordfish carpaccio topped with pickled lemon were delicate and semi-sweet. Gorgeous, edible fuchsia flowers added a pop of colour.

I had ordered the home made fresh lobster agnolotti; a stuffed pasta typical of Piemonte. Each rectangularly-shaped agnolotto dumpling had been made with love, pinched and moulded into shape, and generously packed with a sumptuous filling of rich, sweet lobster. The creamy sauce of truffle and peas doused over the agnolotti pockets paired beautifully with the tender lobster.

This exceptionally good plate of pasta achieved a perfect balance of flavours. Musky and mysterious, pungent smelling truffle is not for the faint-hearted. Often deployed as a flavour enhancer in rich, bland dishes, it must be handled with care. With its distinctive, intense flavour and scent, this subterranean fungus can easily overwhelm all other ingredients if used indiscriminately; spoiling, as opposed to transforming, a dish.

Our lunch was purely decadent; an exercise in indulgence

The chefs at La Reggia artfully ensured that there were no such power struggles on the palate. Furthermore, the sweetness of the peas worked to cut through all the richness.

And now we move on to another pasta dish – the tagliatelle with cuttlefish and meaty mussels, bound together with the yoke of sea urchin and crowned with a finishing touch of finely-grated, golden shavings of bottarga. This gastronomic gem, hailed as the truffle of the sea, is an obsession of mine.

A centuries old, ancient Mediterranean speciality, bottarga refers to the salted, pressed, dried and aged roe of certain marine fish, namely tuna and grey mullet. The finished product is a rather unattractive, oblong-shaped amber to dark-brown block, that is hard and waxy in texture. Bottarga was born out of the need to preserve every part of the fish in pre-refrigeration days. It is nowadays regarded as a refined delicacy, as prized today as it was by the Ancient Egyptians.

In a similar manner to truffle, bottarga is commonly grated over other dishes; it seasons them and lends its unique oceanic aroma to everything from pasta and risotto to scrambled eggs and salads. Bottarga sliced into paper-thin slivers and served on olive-oiled bruschetta makes for a tempting appetiser.

Bottarga slivers are equally wonderful simply dressed with olive oil and lemon juice. Celebrated as the caviar of the Mediterranean, this preserved roe is strong, salty and savoury and utterly delicious.

Unmistakeably fishy, it can, as with the truffle, easily overwhelm a dish. Not in this case. Once more, the polished cookery at La Reggia achieved greatness, creating a dish that was a sensational sensory triumph. Intensely savoury and full of umami, the sea urchin and the granular-textured bottarga practically melted into the steaming pasta and worked together to enhance the more delicate flavours of the shellfish. The touch of bottarga was overwhelming only in its delectableness. The entire dish was indeed show-stopping.

Our shared main course was as fantastic as the starters had been. The La Reggia assiette consisted of a bowlful of the freshest shellfish, all cooked to perfection. Composed of sweet langoustines, local red prawns, mussels and all manner of meaty clams, it was at once all the colour and flavour of the sea.

And then came the pièce de résistance – the wild-caught skorfna (scorpion fish). Whole roasted to perfection, the fine quality scorpion fish we were served was moist and full of flavour. The exquisite, firm, white flesh possessed a unique, mild flavour; comparable to cooked lobster meat. Even the salad garnish was delicious. The roast potatoes, on the other hand, could have benefitted from some seasoning.

We ended our meal graciously. The divine chocolate and hazelnut pave with milk ice cream was sinfully good. Crunchy and sumptuously creamy, a perfect harmony of smooth and hard textures and tastes was achieved with every bite. In contrast, the chocolate and orange cream with Cointreau, topped with granola, seemed somehow to be incomplete.

The classic flavour combination of chocolate and orange worked beautifully, but this gorgeous, velvety-smooth chocolate cream dessert lacked contrasting texture. The flourish of granola was not strong enough as the sole crunch component on the plate. The dessert could have done with more structure.

The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is that little bit extra. And at La Reggia I can confidently say that the entire establishment goes the extra mile.

The meal had been very close to perfection and quite flawless. Bold and inventive, inspired and imaginative, the revisited Mediterranean cuisine offered at Reggia is a resounding success. The chefs’ stunning, refined dishes showcase their brilliance and culinary flair.

Our dining experience went further than the food itself. The agreeable ambience was elegant and comfortable and the delightful waiting staff aimed only to please. We left in high spirits and with a gratifying lingering after-taste.

I’ll be back. Reggia, you’ve got me hooked.