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Condensed Malta Guide
Sections: Restaurants | Cinemas | Casinos | Cafes |Clubs & Club-bars | Theatre | Gay Nightlife | Scuba Diving | Rock Climbing | Birdwatching | Yacht Charter | Golf & Other Sports
Restaurants:
Note: At any of the restaurants listed below, expect to pay around Lm12 (ś17) for a three-course meal for one, minus drinks; Christopher's and The Arches are more expensive than this, while Gesther's is cheaper.
Rubino | 53 Old Bakery Street, Valletta. Tel: 224656. Open: Mon-Fri 12.15-2.30pm, Tue and Fri also from 7.45-10.30pm. If you had to dine at Rubino every week, you're guaranteed to find an unheard-of dish to try. Julian Sammut, the proprietor, is ever unearthing little-known Maltese dishes that have survived in the home and adapting them to the professional kitchen - Rubino's is the best restaurant for Maltese cuisine. Expect a range of soups and pastas (such as fettucini with snails and saffron), meats (boiled gammon with stewed apple mustard, baked potatoes and salad), and bakes (cheese layers with fresh broad beans).
Pulena | Marina Street, Marsalforn, Gozo. Tel 551237. Open: Dec-Feb Sun, Mar-May Fri-Sun, May-Dec daily noon-3pm & 6.30-11.30pm. In one of the best restaurant in Gozo, the owner and chef Michael Meilak takes experimentation seriously: he makes the restaurant's pasta and is ever concocting various types of stuffing for the house-made raviolis, in the process fiddling with the recipes that will be included in the book he's writing about pastas. Here you'll find the standard menu of pizzas, pastas, meats, fish and poultry, although for something more memorable opt for the day's specialities where the chef illustrates his flair; the aubergine stuffed with goat's cheese is excellent, for example.
Misfits | Paceville Avenue, St Julian's. Tel 378016.Open: Daily noon-3pm; 6.30pm till late. One of the best French restaurant in the islands, the tastes deep and mature, the sauces thick; amid the extensive menu, the chef probably does meats and poultry best, particularly the steaks. Funky colours, abstract paintings, New Age murals, and a cosy fireplace in winters complement the explosive flavours.
Barracuda | 195 Main Street, Sliema Tel 331817. Open: Daily 7-10.30pm. A formal restaurant that attracts the business elite, set on virgin white d‚cor and serving a standard fare of Italian dishes. They excel in fish, cooked minimally until it's glistening and flaky; look out for starters such as the marinated fish fillet or mushrooms stuffed with crab and prawns, and main courses such as fillet of fish in cucumber and mint sauce or the excellent Fish of the Day, which is prepared to your taste.
The Arches | Main Street, Mellieha. Tel: 573436. Open: Mon-Sat 6.30-10.30pm. Grand and sumptuous French cooking in a formal milieu of Classical d‚cor. Attention to detail, impeccable service, and the most extensive and qualitative wine list in the islands complement the adventurous menu that is changed seasonally. Typical dishes include roast fennel and aubergine on butter bean mash and black olives and black pepper sauce, and roast guinea fowl with sesame seeds and vegetable strips.
The Carriage | 22/5 Valletta Buildings, South Street, Valletta. Tel 247828. Open: Mon-Fri noon-3.30pm, Fri-Sat 7.30-11.00pm. Elegance, spaciousness, romance - these are the epithets that spring to mind in The Carriage. The d‚cor in set on blue and white, and service is eloquent; it's just the place to go for romantic dinners. The French dishes are typical yet with an emphasis on local ingredients, starters such as roast aubergine and pepper with a goat's cheese gateau, served with an anchovy dressing, and, an excellent main course, is the marinated and char-grilled octopus with olive mayonnaise and lemon.
Grabiel | Mifsud Bonnici Square, Marsascala. Tel: 634194. Open: Tue-Sat noon-2pm, 7-10pm & Mon 7-10pm. If you fancy feasting on seafood, there is no other restaurant like Grabiel - the menu, that changes virtually every day depending on fish catches, is ninety-five percent fish. For a starter you could opt for something that leaves the palate uncluttered, such as spaghetti with clams in fish stock and pesto. Fishes for the main courses are cooked minimally - baked, grilled, boiled, or fried - to bring out their flavour. If you're a group, however, you might enjoy the Fritto Mesto, a favourite dish of seafood platters - octopus, octopus, squid, calamari, king prawns, cuttlefish.
Christopher's | Ta Xbiex Marina, Ta Xbiex. Tel: 337101, 09495583. Open: Tue-Fri 12.30-2pm, 8-10.30pm & Fri-Sat 8pm-12.30am. "Taste, taste, taste," is the essence of Christopher Farrugia's motto. In his posh restaurant set on pastel colours, flooded by natural light amid stout oak tables and chairs, you truly warrant personal attention. The cuisine harks to the French classical style; the presentation is artistic, the tastes are subliminal. On the menu you'll find anything from wild boar to pheasant to Welsh lamb to sea scallops, plus elaborate desserts; also, there are three daily speciality fish dishes.
It-Tmun | 3 Triq Mount Carmel, Xlendi, Gozo. Tel 551571. Open: Nov-Feb Fri-Sun noon-2pm, 6-10pm & Mar-Oct Wed-Mon noon-2pm, 6-10pm. In this cosy place the service is friendly yet professional and the Italian cuisine is bent on local tastes and ingredients. There are the standard pasta, poultry and meat dishes, yet the specialities are the local dishes: starters such as fried aubergines or bruschetta topped by local goat's cheese, and the fried rabbit for main course. The fish of the day is fresh and minimal.
Brookies | 1-2 Triq Wied Sara, Victoria, Gozo. Tel 559524. Open: Wed-Mon 6.30-10.30pm. Amid soft music and amber-hued walls in a converted farmhouse with views of Gozo's castle, the milieu is unconscionably romantic. The menu is inspired by a bit of French, a bit of Italian, and a bit of Maltese; keep an eye out for the salmon-stuffed ravioli for starter and duck in plum and red-currant sauce for main course.
Giuseppi's | Borg Olivier Street, Mellieha. Tel: 574882. Open: Tue-Sat 7.30-10.30pm. Michael Diacono, the self-taught chef and owner, is fond of anomalous tastes. He likes to take popular dishes and gives them a twist; this may be, for example, the liberal use of chocolate in the local rabbit dish. In the excellent linguine with sea urchins he adds fennel and saffron; in another popular dish, quail stuffed with mushroom duxelle and pate de foie, he simmers the quail in brandy and red wine and juniper berries.
Gesther | Triq Tmienja Ta' Settembru, Xaghra, Gozo. Tel 556621. Open: Mon-Sat noon-2.30pm. Gesther's template for success is so simple it's often overlooked: the two sisters who run the place simply created a menu based on the cooking they grew up with at home. They churn out some memorable vernacular soups, such as the marrow soup, followed by large portions of favourite local dishes - a rabbit casserole, or bragioli (beef pockets stuffed with mincemeat, eggs, cheese, parsley, bacon) served with oven-scorched potatoes and blanched vegetables. This restaurant is small, the Formica-themed d‚cor uninspiring, the prices suspiciously low, but the food is hearty and no nonsense.
Nightlife & Entertainment:
Sometimes called `city-state', the mainland Malta has the level of nightlife you would expect in a small city; in Gozo, however, nightlife consists of a few bars and mediocre clubs, and occasional operas or plays in the island's two theatres. In both islands the tourism authorities organise one-off events for tourists and locals - these could be concerts, art exhibitions, cultural walkabouts, historical festivals, flower shows, car shows, and the like. To find out about these events, pick up a quarterly cultural events calendar from the respective tourist offices in Valletta in Malta and Victoria in Gozo. Additionally, the Malta Tourism Authority publish a yearly Calendar of Events that lists anything from the Malta Marathon to the yearly Jazz Festival to the Aviation Show; you can find this booklet at tourist offices in Malta and abroad, or online at www.visitmalta.com. Regular events, such as literary evenings, performances, and rotating exhibitions take place at St James Cavalier for Arts Creativity - the complex has a cinema theatre, a small round theatre, an auditorium for events, and doubles up as Malta's gallery for modern art; for more info, visit the complex at Pope Pius V Street, Valletta, or call 223200.
Cinemas:
There are several strategically-located commercial cinemas showing mostly Hollywood's latest releases. A small cinema in Valletta at St James Cavalier for Arts Creativity airs a handful of art-house films - mostly European productions - every week.
Casinos:
There are two casinos in Malta, and both have the standard repertoire of slot machines and popular table games such as roulette, blackjack, punto banco, and stud poker. Dress code is smart casual and you have to show some sort of identification that proves you're over 18 to be allowed entry. Both casinos are in hotels:
Dragonara Casino, Westin Dragonara Hotel, St Julian's. Tel 381000. Mon-Fri 10am-6am, Sat & Sun open 24hrs; free.
Oracle Casino, New Dolmen Hotel, Dolmen Street, Bugibba. Tel 581510. Daily noon-6am; free.
Cafes:
Labyrinth | 44 Strait Street, Valletta. Mon-Sat 9am-1am, Sun 10am-3pm & 6pm-1am. A large townhouse in Valletta, full of nooks and crannies - hence the name - has been converted into something of an art connoisseurs' hang out. The ground floor holds a caf‚ and antique shop that stocks books up to 200 years old, and the basement is a gallery for temporary art exhibitions. There is also a "supper club" where like-minded people eat on the same table and get acquainted; and a live jazz pianist on Wednesday and Friday evenings.
Fontanella Tea Gardens | 1 Bastion Street, Mdina. Daily May-Oct 10am-11pm; Nov-April 10am-6pm. Set on the ramparts of the fortifications of Mdina, the old capital, this caf‚ spread round the courtyard of a townhouse offers good cakes, a variety of tea and coffees, snacks, and a view that will absorb you for a whole afternoon: here, sitting in one of Malta's highest points, the panorama takes in a third of the island.
Stella's Coffee Shop | Level 3, Plaza Shopping Complex, Tower Road, Sliema. Mon-Sat 9am-7pm. A cosy caf‚ where you can sip a good expresso and browse through the day's newspapers. It's popular with office workers and hectic during lunch, but quiet at other times; it serves snacks such as pies, coffees and teas, cakes and spirits.
Caf‚ Jubilee | Pjazza Indipendenza, Victoria, Gozo. Daily 8am-1am. Gozo's most popular caf‚, its walls brimming with curio prints; the background music ranges from world music to rock. It attracts a crop of regulars comprised of expatriates and middle-class locals for a coffee and a cake in the mornings, or for alcohol imbibing in the evenings, although the mood is genteel all day.
Bellusa | 34 Pjazza Indipendenza, Victoria, Gozo. Daily 7am-10pm. A restored corner caf‚ serving snacks and some cakes and excellent pastizzi - the popular pastries stuffed with ricotta or mashed peas. Seating is outdoors in the atmospheric Independence Square, where you can watch the fish hawkers at work and elder men killing the day watching the goings-on.
Clubs and Club-bars:
Nightlife in Malta is mainly concentrated in the quarter of St Julian's called Paceville - a grid of streets where bars and clubs and restaurants rub shoulders. The nightlife here is seasonal however: it throbs with thousands of revellers every night during the summer, yet it only picks up on weekends in the winter.
The Alley | Wilga Street, St Julian's. Tel 372246. Daily 9pm-4am. No cover charge. Malta's most popular rock bar, playing the popular rock tunes of yesteryear. On weekends, it heaves with revellers and inebriation, and sometimes there is DJ in attendance and occasionally live shows by local rock bands.
El Barrio Latino | 7 Wilga Street, St Julian's t378373. May-Oct daily 8.30pm-4am; Nov-April Wed-Sun 8.30pm-4am. . No cover charge. Every night DJs spin Latin sounds to a crowd who take their twists seriously, fuelled by Tequila. Downstairs, on the ground floor, you can sample great fajitas and cocktails.
BJs Nightclub and Piano Bar | Ball Street, St Julian's. Tel 337642. Daily 9.30pm-4am. No cover charge. The islands' only Jazz club-bar, featuring jazz pianists and bands on some weekend nights. It's patronised by a laid-back crowd: there is a seating area with sofas and a stand-up bar, but no dancefloor.
Misfits | Paceville Avenue, Paceville, St Julian's t378725. Daily 9pm-4am. No cover charge. The only true Club-bar in Malta similar to the incarnations in London. Funky d‚cor, a hip clubby crowd, and different (and creative) music every night; on weekends, there is usually a DJ and seats are cleared to make way for a dance floor, while it's more laid-back on weeknights. An arthouse film is aired every Tuesday at 8.30pm; there's no entry fee.
XS | Aurora Complex, Republic Street, Victoria, Gozo Tel 560113. Oct-May Fri-Sun 9.30pm-4am. No cover charge. One of the largest clubs on the islands dishes out the dance music genres of house and garage to the thousand-strong crowd on weekends. There are occasional raves with line-ups of DJs of international renown.
Theatre:
Theatre in Malta is largely a fringe interest. There are four theatres, two in Valletta and two in Gozo's capital, Victoria, and all of them put up drama and stage classical music events, opera and ballet. Productions fall into types - touring European mainstream producers that showcase their plays, and plays by Maltese companies. Some of the latter are in English; the productions are usually good; and the most popular are the ones that dramatise a satirical effigy on local life and culture. Even better are the operas by local groups: these are professional and Gozo's two theatres are renowned for their occasional, one-off operas. The theatre season runs from October and May, and none of the theatres have regular events. Check the quarterly cultural calendar of events from the tourist information offices in Malta and Gozo respectively for upcoming events or keep an eye out for posters and listings in local newspapers.
Manoel Theatre | Old Theatre Street, Valletta. Tel 246389. This small national theatre that seats an audience of 600 was built by the Knights of Malta in the eighteenth century, making it one of Europe's oldest extant theatres. It's a lovely, intimate theatre, and its acoustics are so perfect you can hear the opera conductors flipping the pages of their score.
Theatre in the Round | St James Cavalier for Arts Creativity, Pope Pius V Street, Valletta. Tel 223200. A small theatre with sixty seats arranged around the central stage: this is the place to find some good productions and plays by fringe theatre groups.
Aurora Opera Theatre | Republic Street, Victoria, Gozo. Tel 562974. A large theatre renowned for excellent operas; it also stages drama and other events.
Astra Theatre | 9 Republic Street, Victoria, Gozo. Tel 556256. The largest Baroque theatre in the islands features anything from operas to drama and ballet, competing with its rival Aurora, situated down the street.
Gay Nightlife:
The gay and lesbian scenes in Malta is vibrant, yet small - there are only a handful of bars and clubs that cater for gays and/or lesbians.
Lady Godiva | Wilga Street, St Julian's. Daily 9pm-4am. No cover charge. A raucous, steamy club-bar that attracts mostly young gays, decidedly camp. There are occasional drag shows, and, on weekends, the music is pumped up and this place becomes an impromptu club. On weeknights, meanwhile, it is possible to have a quiet drink.
City of London | 193 Main Street, St Julian's. Daily 9.30am-1am. A mixed bar that attracts expatriates, young straights, as well as a core group of lesbians who are assertive, loud, in-your-face, and unashamedly flirtatious. Music ranges from rock classics to mainstream techno; it's quiet on weeknights and throbbing on weekends, when it's almost impossible to have a conversation.
Nix Bar | 186 Manwel Dimech Street, St Julian's. Daily 6.30pm-1am. A small, quiet bar tucked into a side-street off the main coast road in St Julian's. This is Malta's only bar dedicated to lesbians, although straights are welcome.
Tom's Bar | 1 Crucifix Street, Floriana. Daily 11.30am-2.30pm & 8.30pm-1.00am. Mixed crowds of gays, although Tom's is maturer than Lady Godiva: the clientele is older and less camp and more genteel. Music policy is all variations of dance on the ground floor bar, while on the first floor you'll find occasional theme parties and other events like art exhibitions by gay artists.
Outddoors and Sports:
Scuba Diving:
Many north European scuba divers consider the Maltese islands to be the top scuba diving destination in the Mediterranean; up to 50,000 scuba divers visit annually. This reputation is not without reason: the excellent underwater visibility extends to forty metres, marine life is rich, and the underwater scenery is stirring by its variety of cliffs, ledges, gullies, plains, chimneys, and caves, all eroded fancifully by the waves in the soft stone. What's more, mild water temperatures (26oC in summers, 14oC in winters) allow diving all year round and there are thirty-three professional diving schools round the islands. Most of the diving schools are affiliated with the major international schools of instruction - PADI, FUAM, CMAS, BSAC and APDS - and diving schools offer all standard courses, including the introductory and advanced open water courses, as well as specialised courses such as night diving and cave diving. If you're qualified to dive, you need to get a permit before getting underwater; any diving school will arrange for this permit by fixing a doctor's appointment to certify fitness and guiding you with the application form (you also need to submit two passport-type photos); applications normally take about two days for approval. Diving schools also rent equipment, and you can choose from taking dives organised by the schools or diving individually.
There are hundreds of charted dives, most of them shore dives, though some only accessible via a boat journey. As a general rule, the more north you go in the Maltese islands the better the diving. Gozo offers better diving than Malta and the best overall cluster of dives can be found in the northwest tip of Gozo, off Dwejra.
Here is a list of the best dive sites in the islands, including wreck diving and night diving:
Northwest Malta: Devil's Reef; M'Tahleb; Migrah Ferha; Rdum L-Ahmar.
Southeast Malta: Filfla Island.
Gozo: Blue Dome; Dawra Tas-Sanap; Fessej Rock; Reqqa Point; Twin Arches; All the following dives are in Dwejra, Gozo's northwestern tip, and they constitute the best overall dive sites - San Dimitri Point, Azure Window, The Blue Hole, Coral Cave, Crocodile Rock, Inland Sea, and Fungus Rock.
Comino: Lighthouse Reef; Santa Marija Cave.
Best Wreck Dives: Tugboat Rozi; Wreck Um El Faroud; Blenheim Bomber.
Best Night Dives: Marfa Point, Northwest Coast; Mgarr Ix-Xini, Gozo; The Blue Hole, Gozo.
Here are some of the best overall diving schools:
Malta
Dive Systems, Qui-Si-Sana, Sliema. Tel 319123.
Maltaqua, Mosta Rd, St Paul's Bay. Tel 571873.
Meldives, Sea Bank Hotel, Triq Il-Marfa, Mellieha. Tel 573116.
Northeast Dive Services, Pebbles Lido, Qui-Si-Sana, Sliema. Tel 340506.
Sub-Way, Ramon Perellos St, St Paul's Bay. Tel 580611.
Gozo
Calypso Aquatic Sports Club, Marina St, Marsalforn. Tel 310743.
St Andrews, 1-2 St Simon St, Xlendi. Tel 551301.
Gozo Aqua Sports, Rabat Rd, Marsalforn. Tel 563037.
Moby Dives, Triq Il-Gostra, Xlendi. Tel 551616.
For more information, the best scuba diving guide is Lawson and Leslie Wood's Dive Sites of Malta, Comino and Gozo (New Holland Publishers, UK, or online from www.amazon.co.uk).
Rock Climbing:
The sheer cliffs that girdle the entire south coast of all the three islands, coupled with multi-layered faces of inland cliffs, make the Maltese islands exciting to rock climbers. There are hundreds of charted routes, and hundreds more waiting to be documented, offering all types of climbs from the easiest to the severest. What makes rock climbing doubly alluring is the fact that none of the climbs are bolted, hence making each climb seem like a new, fresh start; and the small group of local rock climbers are adamant about keeping the cliffs bolt-free. To find out more about rock climbing, contact the local climbing guru Andrew Warrington on tel 226100, or the two sports tour operators that offer climbs: History and Adventure (Victoria Place, High Street, Sliema; t347757; www.h-adventure.com), and Malta Outdoors (Mirob, Triq Il-Hgejjeg, Bugibba; t09425439; www.maltaoutdoors.com).
Birdwatching:
Malta lies on a minor bird migration pathway for Eurasian birds on their way to Africa in autumn and back in Spring; 320 species have been recorded. The most spectacular of migrations is the raptor migration - mostly harriers and buzzards - that can be seen in Buskett Gardens in September and October and throughout the countryside in March and April. For more dedicated birders, the cliffs at Ta Cenc Cliffs are invaded every summer night by a 10,000-strong colony of Cory's Shearwaters that nest in the crevices in the cliffs. Valleys, meanwhile, is where to spot passerines on migration, as well as rare treats such as bitterns and little bitterns. There are also some notable resident species worth pursuing - Cetti's Warblers amid bamboo meadows in valleys, Blue Rock Thrushes that perch on rocky outcrops amid cliffs, and little ringed plovers than nest in Ghadira Wetland Reserve, a wetland managed by Birdlife Malta. For more information, or to join local birders, contact Birdlife Malta at 57/28 Marina Court, Abate Rigard Street, Ta' Xbiex, MSD 12; tel 347646; www.waldonet.net.mt/birdlife.
Yacht Charter:
Chartering a yacht allows you to explore the stunning coastal scenery and some lovely, deserted coves accessible only from the sea (or from the land with difficulty). Yachts, however, do not come cheap: expect to pay around Lm130 (ś200) to rent a yacht that takes up to ten people, plus food, refreshments and skipper. Yachts can be chartered from the following two centres: S & D Yachts Ltd, 57 Gzira Road, Gzira tel 339908; Nautica Ltd, 21 Msida Road, Gzira tel 338253. For more information, including more links to yacht chartering agencies, take a peep at the website of the Malta Yachting Federation at www.digigate.net/myf. A cheaper option might be to rent self-drive boats, particularly speedboats; many hotels that are adjacent to beaches rent out speedboats and other watercraft such as jet skies, small sailing boats, canoes, and kayaks - your hotel should be able to point you in the right direction.
Golf and other sports:
Outdoor sports such as golf, tennis, squash, and other fringe sports such as archery, polo and cricket are all conveniently located in one place - the Marsa Sports Club, about four kilometres south of the capital Valletta in Marsa. This is where Malta's sole golf course is situated, an 18 hole par-68 course; a round costs about Lm8 (ś14) and clubs can be hired for Lm3 (ś5). For tennis, it costs about Lm3.50 (ś5) for an hour; squash costs Lm1.50 (ś2.50) for forty-five minutes. Be sure to book in advance, particularly on weekends. The Marsa Sports Club is open Mon-Fri 9am-9pm, Sat & Sun 9am-5pm, and the telephone number is 233851.
© Victor Paul Borg
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