Rubino Ristorante e Dolceria
53, Old Bakery Street
Valletta
Tel: 2122 4656

Food: 9/10
Service: 8/10
Ambience: 7/10
Value: 8/10
Overall: 8/10

My mother’s family hails from Old Bakery Street in Valletta and much has changed over these past four decades, including our family home, which has been turned into the smart offices of one of these law firms defined only by an eclecticcollection of surnames.

I have two fond memories of eating at my nanna’s house when I was young, the first, more of a chore than the second, involved me going down to Zammit Bakery on St Patrick’s Street to pick up the roast potatoes and the roast meat from an ageing man who I only knew as Lolu.

Later I found out that this man had sired some of Valletta’s greatest water polo players – the Zammits – who went on to have their name deeply etched in the successes of the various swimming and water polo teams they joined over the years.

Anyhow, I digress. The second was to head up the street to Rubino to pick up a Cassatella Siciliana, the undisputed reason why the family gathered at my grandma’s on alternate Sundays. Suffice to say I would get into much trouble for dipping my fingers into the soft ricotta of the cassatella before it made it home. This dastardly deed was much harder to hide than the pinching of a crisp roast potato.

So my return to Rubino, several decades later was not without trepidation. Being in the midst of the Christmas festivities, my four colleagues and I decided to head to Valletta for lunch at Rubino. I arrived rather early, having taken the ferry from Sliema, which I must admit I find infinitely more convenient than any other wheeled transport I have used in my lifetime.

Having totally mistimed the crossing, which lasts less than five minutes, I walked up the steep hill, which helped work up a healthy appetite. So I stopped off at the Queen Victoria City Pub to wait for my colleagues, while nursing a frosty pint of local brew. I was extremely pleased to see they served a fine selection of beers on tap, not least the Lord Chambray ones, which I have come to prefer.

Suddenly all my memories of playing in Valletta’s streets as a child, going to Rubino to pick up the cassatella all came flooding back

Arriving at Rubino was like taking a step back in time, you open the antiporta, still with those ridiculous lacy curtains, take a few steps down and it’s like you’ve been transported to another place. The ‘smells, bells and whistles’ of Old Bakery Street disappear on shutting of the door and we are shown to a round table in the front room. Being the five strapping lads that we were, this was somewhat of a tight squeeze, but who is complaining when the maître d’ appears with gin and tonics.

The menu is chalked up on a blackboard in the restaurant, but being part of the ‘woke’ generation we asked the chef to prepare us one of each, so that we could share and taste each of the equally enticing dishes. Whileterrines are not usually my favourite go-to dish, I have to say that the Galatina took my taste buds by the horns and dragged them through a wonderful journey of different textures, leaving them tingling with a touch of spicy tomato chutney. Thecavatappi were also impressive, with the subtle blending of Maltese sausage and Nduja.

Superb terrine with delicious tomato chutney.

For the main course, I had spotted the gambli ta’ Malta, one of my favourite go-to dishes when I’m back home as I find that our local variety of prawns are much tastier than those I usually find elsewhere. These were served in a simple broth with a touch of garlic, and so plump and fresh that before I knew it 12 carcasses lay strewn across my plate, with body parts scattered over the fine white linens.

My colleague opted for different dishes and one that particularly stood out was the braised lamb shank. A bit too rich for me, especially at lunch, but the flavours and texture were superb. If meat came off the bone so easily, I may have considered a career in surgery!

Another colleague chose the pork belly, and exclaimed, quoting straight from the horse’s mouth, that it was “definitely something to write home about”. We washed down our mains with a couple of Piedmontese wines, relatively light nebbiolos which, together with pinot noir is one of my favourite grapes, when looking for a red that doesn’t induce a fit of narcolepsy.

After the main course, came my most anticipated moment, the dessert. At this point, our host/chef Ed (of Diacono dynasty) left and, had it been appropriate, I would have given him a friendly hug on the way out as the whole experience had been so far very good.

I’m not sure if any of you have watched Disney’s Ratatouille, but in one of the particularly moving scenes, Remy (the rat-turned-chef) serves Anton Ego (the evil restaurant critic) a ratatouille. On his first morsel, Anton Ego is transported to his childhood where he remembers his mum’s cooking fondly.

This is what happened to me on tasting the first forkful of the cassatella. Suddenly all my memories of playing in Valletta’s streets as a child, going to the bakery and to Rubino to pick up the cassatella all came flooding back to an almost emotional state. We had ordered every dessert available, but I’m afraid I cannot comment on the others, though they looked great, as I selfishly stuck to my choice!

I enjoyed Rubino and will undoubtedly return as soon as I have the chance – the ambience, the food and the service were above the standard I have been exposed to in Valletta and would very much expect to see this restaurant included in a future Michelin-recommended guide.

One thing I would definitely recommend is going to the bathroom, either before you get to the restaurant or before you sit down, because if the seating arrangements are cosy, then the bathrooms could best be described as cramped!