Fine-dining restaurant De Mondion was rated top overall restaurant for 2024 at The Definitive(ly) Good Guide to Restaurants awards ceremony held on December 4 at The Grand Hotel Excelsior.
The awards celebrated the achievements of Malta and Gozo’s top survey rated restaurants as voted by diners out who participated in the Malta & Gozo Restaurant Survey online at www.restaurantsmalta.com in September. Based on diner voting, only 150 restaurants make it to be included free in the The Definitive(ly) Good Guide to Restaurants in Malta & Gozo and on its official portal.
The results were revealed by Lisa Grech, managing director of the Definitive(ly) Good Guide Co. and presented by Carina Dimech for the Malta Tourism Authority, Adrian Cachia from Global Payments, Anton Refalo, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Animal Rights, Alicia Bugeja Said, Parliamentary Secretary for Fisheries, Aquaculture and Animal Rights, and Mark Ciantar of Continental Purchasing on behalf of Schonwald, Germany, who supplied the commemorative award plates for the occasion.
This year’s Malta & Gozo Restaurant Survey returned a high number of responses, with 4,143 participants who dined out on average one to two times a week, equivalent to a total of 323,154 dining experiences in a year.
Forty-five new restaurants are included in the latest edition of The Definitive(ly) Good Guide to Restaurants in Malta & Gozo, which was launched during the evening. The information in the guide is also included on its portal www.restaurantsmalta.com.
The top 40 award-winning restaurants were taken from the highest rated restaurants taking into account their overall rating, the number of people rating, comments and other data from the survey. The top 40 restaurants winning award plates in order from most highly rated were: de Mondion, The Phoenix, Level Nine by Oliver Glowig, La Mer, Sole by Tarragon, Dinner in the Sky, The BoatHouse Gozo, Scala, One80 Valletta, Don Royale, Step 15, Azar, Caviar & Bull, The Aft Galley, Ta’ Rożi, Rebekah’s, Bastion Bar & Restaurant, Beppe’s, Fernando’s, Bacchus, L’Orangerie, Onda Blu, Venus, MUŻA, UnderGrain, Ventuno, Ta’ Tona, Da Luigi, Acqua Blu, Noni, Il-Bitħa, Barbajean, TemptAsian, Galea’s Kitchen, The Rooftop at the Embassy, Root 81, Palazzo Preca, Maggie’s, Grotto Tavern and Lovage.
Additional awards in different categories were made:
• Best food (sponsored by American Express: The Phoenix;
• Best ambience (sponsored by Cesca’s): de Mondion;
• Best service (sponsored by Spiteri Catering): de Mondion;
• Restaurant most dedicated to supporting local, best local fish restaurant and best local wine list (sponsored by The Ministry for Agriculture, Fisheries and Animal Rights & Parliamentary Secretariat for Fisheries, Aquaculture and Animal Rights): Il-Kartell, La Mer and Al Sale respectively;
45 new restaurants are included in the latest edition of the guide
• Best restaurant in Gozo (sponsored by The Ministry for Gozo): Level Nine by Oliver Glowig;
• The best chef award (sponsored by Pentole Agnelli represented exclusively by The Catering Centre): Marvin Gauci;
• Best newcomer (sponsored by Bookia): Level Nine by Oliver Glowig;
• Most children-friendly Restaurant (sponsored by the Malta Baby & Kids Directory): Don Royale;
• Best Maltese restaurant (sponsored by Malta Tourism Authority): Diar il-Bniet;
• Most romantic restaurant: Caviar & Bull;
• Best value for money restaurant: The Aft Galley;
• Favourite café (sponsored by Buondi represented by Nestle Malta): Busy Bee;
• Restaurant with liveliest atmosphere: Aki.
The Definitive(ly) Good Guide to Restaurants in association with Abraham’s Supplies Co. Ltd wine awards were as follows:
• The people’s choice wine list (taken from the results of the surveys): Caviar & Bull;
• Best overall wine list: Fernando’s;
• Best presented and designed wine list: Hammett’s Monastik;
• Best wine by the glass selection: Fernando’s;
• Best champagne wine list: Gracy’s;
• Best Italian selection wine list: de Mondion;
• Best port wine list: Country Terrace.
All the results of the restaurant survey can be found in the 2024 edition of The Definitive(ly) Good Guide to Restaurants in Malta and Gozo which is now available to purchase online at www.restaurantsmalta.com. It is also available at leading stationers and bookshops in Malta & Gozo.
The awards ceremony was sponsored by the Malta Tourism Authority, Global Payments and The Ministry for Agriculture, Fisheries and Animal Rights with the Parliamentary Secretariat for Fisheries, Aquaculture and Animal Rights.