The top 38 survey rated restaurants, voted from the 2004 Definitive(ly) Good Guide to Restaurants survey, were rewarded for the service they offer.
Award restaurants are chosen from the highest rated eating places, 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.
Mange Tout scored highest for food; The Arches, The Blue Elephant, Qui-Si-Sana and The Terrace rated joint top for service; The Blue Elephant rated top for ambience; joint overall winners were The Blue Elephant, Mange Tout and The Terrace.
Awards were given to the following restaurants:
Malta - The Blue Elephant - Hilton; Mange Tout; The Terrace - The Westin; Oceana - Hilton; The Medina; The Arches; Bottego del Vino - Hilton; Pembroke - ITS; Christopher's; Nostalgia; Phoenix - Le Méridien Phoenicia; Qui-Si-Sana - Fortina Spa Resort; Zest - Hotel Juliani; The Lord Nelson; The Carriage; Corinthia Room - Corinthia Palace; Ta' Marija; Ambrosia; Fra Martina - Corinthia San Gorg; Frejgatina - Corinthia San Gorg; Zen; Barracuda; Rickshaw - Corinthia Palace; Bufallo Bill's; Kon Tiki - Radisson SAS; Bayview - Corinthia Marina; Mezé - Hotel Juliani; La Sibylle - Dolmen Resort Hotel; Le Bistro - Radisson SAS; Da Pippo; Bouzouki 11; De Mondion - Xara Palace, Relais & Chateaux; Eastern Breeze - InterContinental, and The Avenue.
Gozo - Il Carrubo - Hotel Ta' Cenc; It-Tmun 11- Victoria; Ta' Frenc and l-Imgarr Hotel Restaurant.
Additional awards were also given to the Best Maltese Food Restaurant - Ta' Marija, sponsored by the Ministry for Tourism and Culture; the top rated Business Entertainment restaurant - The Carriage, sponsored by Michael Attard Ltd; Most Romantic restaurant - The Blue Elephant, sponsored by the Definitive(ly) Good Guide Co; the Best Value for Money - The Avenue, sponsored by Medairco; Most Children Friendly restaurant - The Avenue, sponsored by the Definitive(ly) Good Guide Co and the Best Restaurant Restroom Award - The Blue Elephant, sponsored by Josie's Bathroom & Tile Centre.
For the first year, The Definitive(ly) Good Guide Co. in association with Emmanuel Delicata Winemakers presented five wine awards to highlight the best wine lists in Malta and Gozo.
The top rated restaurants were invited to enter their wine lists for consideration for five wine awards and 54 restaurants submitted their wine lists which were judged according to different criteria.
The Restaurant Wine Awards presented included The People's Choice award - the top rated survey restaurant wine list, which was presented to The Arches; the Best Overall Wine List - It-Tmun 11, Victoria; the Fine Wine List - It-Tmun 11, Victoria; the Largest Wine list - The Arches and the Wine List Presentation and Accessibility - Zest, Hotel Juliani.
The awards were presented by Justin Zammit Tabona, president of the Malta Hotels and Restaurant Association at the Definitive(ly) Good Guide Co.'s annual gala dinner held at the Radisson SAS Bay Point Resort on Monday when the latest edition of the Definitive(ly) Good Guide to Restaurants in Malta and Gozo was launched.
The 5th edition of the guide includes the results of the 2004 restaurant survey received from over 600 regular restaurant enthusiasts who eat out on average twice a week - equivalent to 60,000 dining experiences.
Among the 54 changes in the list of 150 included restaurants (out of over 1,000 found in the Maltese Islands), there are 28 new restaurants. Twenty-six are no longer in the guide. This, the publishers said, follows the normal pattern of roughly 20 per cent of restaurants exiting the guide and being replaced by new restaurants.