Gracy’s
108-114 Archbishop Street,
Valletta

Food: 6/10
Service: 9+/10
Ambience: 9/10
Value: 6/10
Overall: 7/10

Gracy’s is located in one of Valletta’s iconic buildings – the Hostel de Verdelin, a palace built for knight Jean-Jacques de Verdelin.

For those of you born in the 1970s, you may remember it hosting table tennis tournaments and providing a place for youngsters like myself to play table tennis.

A quick trawl through the interweb uncovered a far more colourful history. Built in the 1660s, it is a somewhat curious building fashioned more in the Spanish style than the French and Italian baroque architecture our capital city is renowned for.

Since then it has housed various families of notable repute and even more notable disrepute. It has been home to the Civil Service Club, the Valletta gendarmerie and briefly mentioned as one of the Valletta properties in the Gaffarena scandal in 2015. This was vehemently denied by the then minister Carmelo Abela. Then, in 2017, it was given a comprehensive treatment of botox and fillers and now boasts a fantastically beautiful façade.

But behind this majestic façade, the new owners, of which businessman Timmy Grech is one, have transformed this place into a luxuriously finished club and restaurant. Walking in, you cannot but stop and wonder at the beautiful décor and stunning fabrics that have been meticulously put together. It is surely by design that one is made to feel like they’re walking into the Dover Street Arts Club in London, or some other fashionable private members’ club in the Big Smoke.

The building is set on three levels with a club in the basement and a members’ only club on the top floor for which gentlemen are expected to be clad in blazers. However, it was the ground level that I was after on this particular Wednesday night, keen to try out the latest of Timmy’s endeavours. Having been a fan of his Charles Grech haunt along Republic Street, my expectations were already set extremely high, with an allowance that this place had barely been baptised a week earlier.

It was per chance that we ended up dining at Gracy’s, simply because having called and e-mailed several times we received no reply from them up until an hour before we were due to dine there. We had already given up on receiving a reply and booked one of my favourite restaurants in Lija, when our friends managed to get through and confirmed our booking. The booking was set for 8.30pm and my companion and myself arrived at the venue around 8.45pm after battling the crowds of Christmas shoppers and protesters on Republic Street.

One is made to feel like they’re walking into the Dover Street Arts Club in London, or some other fashionable private members’ club in the Big Smoke

Greeted by a charming hostess, I could tell we were in for a treat just by observing the amount of waiting staff neatly dressed in mint-green double-breasted waistcoats, reminding me of the green coat-clad porters standing outside Harrods.

Our fellow diners were having a drink at the bar to which we were expertly escorted by an entourage of footmen. The cocktail list read like a list of libations fit for a king and queen, and I opted for whisky sour, my go-to cocktail when reviewing a place, since finding the right balance between lime, egg-white and bourbon is no mean feat. The lady making the cocktail seemed experienced enough and I have to say I was served one of the best sours I’ve had this side of the Atlantic. The fine balance was not only achieved, it was surpassed, leaving such a delicate finish that I knew I could be teetering at the edge of a very slippery slope – shame I was there to work rather than play.

Again, we were shown to our table by an extremely professional entourage, who presented us with the menu and wine list. My better half is the wine expert and she selected an unusual Alsatian pinot noir to accompany our food. I’m a big fan of choosing wine first and food later, mainly because of my love for the nectar of the gods. Due to some mix-up an Australian pinot turned up and after consulting with the waiter, the mistake was acknowledged professionally and the right wine turned up.

The menu reads as one from a bistro or brasserie, possibly a hangover from the likes of Vino Veritas. I was sorely tempted by the bangers and mash, but my mood for a juicy slab of the old cow won. My better half felt the same, so we selected the entrecote and our companions chose the chicken schnitzel.

And here is where it began to fall apart… the bread that was brought to the table was unfortunately stale, and even though my appetite had been truly whetted by the whisky sour, I could hardly bring myself to chomp on the dry panina.

The steak, tomato and the saddest looking spinach arrived, all presented on the house crockery – a nice touch in anyone’s book. The steak though cooked to perfection was of a lower standard that I am accustomed to, such that both my partner and I had trouble chewing through and finishing it. The tomato grilled nicely, but the spinach – oh dear! I imagine Popeye himself would rather choose a bruising from Bluto than consume that sort of spinach.

Our companions, one being of Germanic origin, were extremely pleased to find chicken schnitzel on the menu and promptly ordered it. When it turned up, it was very well presented with a perfectly fried egg perched precariously on the chicken. Being picky foodies, they commented that the schnitzel was rather dry and once again it seems that the green beans had seen better days.

We skipped dessert opting for another of the delicious cocktails and were kindly offered a drink on the house.

I admit, I do love this tradition of being offered a post-prandial drink that seems to be much of a Mediterranean tradition. They had a lovely grappa of which I unashamedly guzzled with much gusto!

In summary, I love Gracy’s, it has the civilised feel of a private member’s club and the service and ambience to boot. The cocktails are to-get-drunk-for and I surely will be returning for more of the whisky sours. The food was somewhat disappointing on the night, but I put it down to teething problems and am happy to give the place another go!