Dan & my Maltese vacation last summer began with a dinner a Restaurante Peperoncino in St. Julians, Malta, after a very long night of traveling from New Jersey to London, layover, then London to Malta on Malta Air. Since we had had such a day, I booked us an early dinner at Restaurante Peperoncino, which was about a 10 minute walk from our hotel and receives good reviews online. We arrived right on time, and I think we were the first people there! Like most of Southern Europe, the Maltese eat late! The owner greeted us and he remembered me from making my reservation! He sat us at the cutest table outside!
Dan at Restauarnte Peperoncino.
Some more people showed up as the night went on, and Peperoncino was packed by the time we left! The crowd was a mixture of tourists and locals. To start our meal, the owner brought out crackers with butter and a sun dried tomato dip, which is given to every table (but we felt special since we were the only ones!). We also took a look at the extensive wine list and ordered a 2016 Grand Vin de Bordeaux from Saint Emilion (where we visited in 2016!). Both the complimentary started and wine were delicious!
First starter!
Our St. Emilion wine!
After looking at the menu, we decided to order a proper starter, the deep fried prawns. This was more of an Asian-fusion dish than Maltese, but it was quite good! The filo wrap on the prawns was excellently friend and the dips were quite good. While not Maltese, certainly a good start to our dinner.
Since we went non-Maltese for our starter, we decided to go full Maltese for our dinner! Dan ordered the slow cooked piglet with its own gravy and crackling. This dish was really good, but only meat and gravy! I guess he should have ordered a side dish? The portion was large and could have been shared amongst two people.
Dan’s suckling pig.
I went full carbo load and ordered Peperoncino’s specialty for my main dish – the Rosette. The Rosette is always on Peperoncino’s menu and its rolled fresh pasta filled with cooked ham, emmental cheese, and bechamel sauce baked in a white wine sauce. And, it was AMAZING. I definitely shared some of this with Dan. While it doesn’t look huge, this dish is ________ and is more than enough for 1 person! I really enjoyed this and was glad I got to try it! Highly recommended!
Peperoncino’s special, the Rosette.
For dessert, we ordered a freshly made fig and orange tart. Figs are very popular in Malta, as are oranges, and I love figs! I tried to have as much fig and orange in Malta as possible. This particular dessert was just made according to our server and was served with Halva ice cream and powdered sugar. Really decadent. Very good!
Fig and orange tarte.
Malta is super close to Italy and a lot of their food customs mirror that of Italy (or maybe its vice versa!), including ending a meal with a tasty espresso, which is exactly what we did at Peperoncino. Plus we needed it after our long day!
Espresso.
Our entire meal, without tip, was 92 euro. After dinner, we swung by an Irish pub down the street for a €4.25 Guinness!
My €4.25 Guinness!
STEAL OUR TRIP
Peperoncino: 8 Triq Il- Bajja, San Ġiljan, Malta. Open Monday – Sunday 18:30 – 22:00, in addition to 12:00 – 14:00 on Sunday.
The Dubliner: Triq Borg Gorg Olivier, San Giljan, Malta. Open 10:00 – 0:00 daily (later if its hopping). The fun Irish pub we visited. Mostly tourists, but still a good time! Good prices on Guinness!