With warmer temperatures and longer days, al fresco dining season is upon us.

Dining al fresco means just eating well in a wonderful outdoor setting with a full menu and professional waiters who bring good silverware and wine glasses that chime to the touch.

Fortunately, restaurateurs in Malta offer al fresco dining for as many evenings as possible during the year and now the Westin Dragonara Resort has just introduced a new concept for an outdoor culinary fantasy this summer.

At the Terrace Grill one can enjoy daily themed buffet delicacies, which are grilled to perfection to delight one’s taste buds. The Terrace Grill features numerous live cooking stations which enable guest to have their food freshly grilled, just the way they like it.

On Fridays one can feast on some of the finest seafood prepared by executive chef James Mifsud. You may begin with a refreshing selection of combined salads and antipasti. Then there are grilled calamari in lemon and dill olive oil, local fish in a coriander marinade, freshly-caught grouper al cartoccio and superb Mediterranean prawns. For those who dislike fish, grilled chicken escalopes are served with a yoghurt and honey drizzle.

The Terrace Grill also serves the kind of sophisticated new ranch cuisine on Saturdays, where one can feast on sumptuous food typified by dishes like Texan spicy grilled sausages, Kentucky fried chicken wings, charcoal-grilled rib-eye steaks, smokey glazed pork ribs, jacket potatoes, corn on the cob, tortillas, nachos and onion rings. The menu varies on a daily basis, ranging from Italian selections on Monday, Maltese cuisine on Tuesday, Asian delicacies on Wednesday and Arabian dishes on Thursday.

To end the meal, a selection of desserts that look and smell wonderful are served on a daily basis, accompanied by summer fruits, ice creams and sorbets.

A buffet is an invitation to overeat they say, so it can be a very dangerous place for people trying to lose weight.

However, Sundays are dedicated to wellness with healthier options being served.

There’s an entire section dedicated to raw salad. Fill your plate with a modest amount of cucumbers, lettuce, tomatoes, beetroot, red cabbage etc. You can’t go wrong with them. Always opt for fat-free dressing. And to reduce the risk of excessive calorie-intake, you can go for the marinated maple turkey escalopes or pan-seared grouper fillet from the grill and herb-crusted roasted carved salmon or grilled and carved lamb from the special corner. When it comes to dessert, avoid making multiple trips for them… choose only one item.

• More information may be obtained by phone on 2138 1000 or online: www.terracerestaurantmalta.com