The Definitive(ly) Good Guide to Restaurants Awards Ceremony sponsored by HSBC and Global Payments held at The Grand Ballroom of The Radisson Blu Resort & Spa, Golden Sands on Monday 3 December celebrated the outstanding achievement of Malta & Gozo's top survey rated restaurants as voted by diners out who participated in the Malta & Gozo Restaurant Survey online at www.restaurantsmalta.com.
Based on popular vote, only 150 restaurants make it to be included in the latest 2019 edition of The Definitive(ly) Good Guide to Restaurants in Malta & Gozo and its official portal www.restaurantsmalta.com.
The results were revealed by Lisa Grech Managing Director of the Definitive(ly) Good Guide Co and presented by Clint Camilleri, Parliamentary Secretary for Agriculture, Fisheries & Animal Rights, Sergio Bellizzi from HSBC, Ray Zammit from Global Payments and Mark Ciantar of Continental Purchasing on behalf of Villeroy & Boch who supplied the beautiful commemorative award plates for the occasion.
This year's Malta & Gozo Restaurant Survey conducted in September 2018 returned an incredibly high number of responses, with 3,153 participants who dined out on average one to two times a week, equivalent to a total of 245, 934 dining experiences in a year! This year sees 26 new restaurants in the The Definitive(ly) Good Guide to Restaurants in Malta & Gozo and its portal www.restaurantsmalta.com which was also launched on the evening.
Award winning restaurants were chosen from the highest rated restaurants, both overall, and in the various price categories for Malta and Gozo, taking into account not only the Overall rating but also individual Food, Service and Ambience ratings, the number of people rating, value for money, comments and other data from the survey.
Restaurants to win award plates in order from most highly rated included:
Dinner in the Sky Malta
The Chef's Table
Caviar & Bull Restaurant
Buddhamann
Tarragon
The Lord Nelson
Root 81
La Buona Trattoria del Nonno
Patakka Restaurant
Ta' Marija Restaurant
Grotto Tavern
Venus Restaurant
Suruchi Indian Restaurant
Noni Restaurant
De Mondion Restaurant
Beppe's Restaurant
Palazzo Preca Restaurant
Trattoria AD 1530
Porticello
SALT Kitchen & Lounge
Castelletti Restaurant
Tosca Restaurant
Madliena Lodge
La Vida
Rickshaw
Miro
Rubino
Country Terrace
Capistrano Restaurant
The Boathouse Restaurant
Lovage Bistro
Ristorante La Vela
Phoenix
Capo Crudo
L'Artiglio Ristorante
Le Bistro
59 Republic
Tal-Familja
The Fork and Cork Restaurant
Bacchus
Additional Awards were made to:
- Best Food (sponsored by Decante represented by Attard & Co Food Ltd) - Root 81
- Best Service (sponsored by C& H Bartoli) - Dinner in the Sky Malta
- Best Ambience (sponsored by Design Hub) - Dinner in the Sky Malta
- Best Maltese Food - Gululu
- Restaurant Most Dedicated to Supporting Local (sponsored by The Parliamentary Secretariat for Agriculture, Fisheries and Animal Rights) - Country Terrace
- The Best Chef Award (sponsored by Pentole Agnelli represented exclusively by The Catering Centre) - Marvin Gauci
- Best Business Entertainment (sponsored by Rummo) - Caviar & Bull
- Most Romantic Restaurant (sponsored by Churchill represented exclusively by The Catering Centre) - Palazzo Preca
- Best Value for Money - iPlace
- Best Restaurant offering Vegetarian options (Jimmy Vella Fruit & Veg. Ltd & Le Breton) - Taro
- Most Children-Friendly (sponsored by the Malta Baby & Kids Directory) - iPlace
- Best Newcomer - The Chef's Table
- Best Restroom - districtfive
- And in memory of Colin Best - co-founder of the Restaurant Guide. - The Colin Best Award for the Most Consistently Outstanding Restaurant in Malta & Gozo for 2017/2018 -The Medina.
The Definitive(ly) Good Guide to Restaurants in association with Riedel, The Wine Glass Company Wine Awards were as follows:
- The People's Choice Wine List (taken from the results of the returned surveys - districtfive.
- The Riedel Wine Experience of the Year - Tarragon
- Wine List of the Year - Ristorante La Vela
- Commended Wine Lists were: Cent'Anni, Country Terrace, one80 Kitchen & Lounge, Miro
- The Best Maltese Wine List (sponsored by The Parliamentary Secretariat for Agriculture, Fisheries and Animal Rights) - Ristorante La Vela
The results of the Restaurant Survey can be found in the 2019 edition of The Definitive(ly) Good Guide to Restaurants in Malta and Gozo and is now available to purchase online for 8 Euros at www.restaurantsmalta.com which will also entitle you to the Guide online and a free hard copy in the post. It is also available at leading stationers and bookshops in Malta & Gozo.