de Mondion Restaurant wins top overall restaurant award

Lisa Grech, managing editor of the guide, announced that more than 1,300 regular diners took part in the survey - the largest response to-date, voting for their favourite restaurants on the islands. As respondents eat out at least twice a week on average, this is the equivalent of more than 135,200 individual dining experiences.

 The results were revealed on Monday 6 December when the CEO of the Malta Tourism Authority, Josef Formosa Gauci, presented awards produced by Villeroy & Boch at the Guide’s Gala Dinner – which has established itself over the last ten years as the most prestigious food event in Malta and the equivalent of the ‘Oscars for Restaurants’– at the Ballroom Radisson St Julian’s.
 
The Guide, together with the new updated official portal www.restaurantsmalta.com  were launched on the evening. Grech, said “both the Guide and the portal list the 150 most highly rated of Malta’s 1,000-plus dining venues based on food, service and ambience, the number of satisfied customers responding, and their comments. The 2011 edition sees 14 new restaurants entering the Guide”.

“The new portal, designed by Media Consulta, includes 22 search options including restaurants by location, food type and price range as well as numerous other facilities including taking part in the Restaurant Survey and booking your table online. It also allows you to keep up to speed with news, restaurant events and special offers daily.” 

The restaurants that received Restaurant Awards based on food, service, ambience and overall ratings (in order from top rated) were de Mondion, Gazebo, Grill 3301, Patrick’s Tmun, Quadro, The Edge, Taste, Palazzo Parisio & Gardens – the Luna Collection, The Blue Elephant, Oceana, The Arches, Sa Re Ga Ma, Rebekah’s, The Medina, Bottego del Vino, Hibiki, Al Molo, Zeri’s, Villa Brasserie, Terrazza, Tarragon, FraMartino, Nuvo Art & Dine, The Terrace, Zest, Il-Horza, Ta’Frenc, Can Thai, Shiva’s, The Lord Nelson, TemptAsian, L’Ortolan, Maji Wine & Dine, Ta’Cassia Salina, Essence, Parapett, Zeus, Kon Tiki, Giuseppi’s and Phoenix.

Additional awards were made to
 
 ·      Best Maltese Food (sponsored by Ministry for Tourism) - Ta’Marija
 
 ·      Best Value for Money (sponsored by Citadel Insurance plc)- Mamma Mia
 
 ·      Best Business Entertainment (sponsored by Mediterranean Bank plc)- Tarragon
 
 ·      Most Romantic Restaurant (sponsored by Charles Grech & Co Ltd in conjunction with San Pellegrino Fine Dining Society)– The Blue Elephant.
 
 ·      Best Children-Friendly (sponsored by the Malta Baby & Kids Directory) – Mamma Mia.
 
 ·      Most Healthy Menu(sponsored by Good Earth Ltd) – Salini
 
 ·      Best Restrooms(sponsored by Calmic Hygiene Services) – The Blue Elephant.
 
 Patrick’s Tmunwine list was rated for three awards including “The People’s Choice” wine list rated from the survey, best “Presentation & Accessibility” wine list and best “Overall” wine list. Ta’ Frenc wine list was voted best for “fine wines” and Ta’Marija had the best list of Maltese wines. The wine awards were supported by Marsovin.

Two new additional awards were presented this year for:
 
 The Best Ambience Award sponsored by Brands Internationa l– Palazzo Parisio & Gardens – The Luna Collection
 
 The Best Service Award sponsored by Taittinger represented by NM Arrigo Ltd – Grill 3301.