Maldonado Bistro Gozo — Restaurant in Victoria

What an experience!

We came to Gozo for a few days to celebrate our wedding anniversary, and my wife booked a cooking session (with market shopping) experience hosted by George, the owner of Maldonado. The experience was fantastic. We cooked four courses, all local cuisine, including a trip to a local farmer and cheese maker where we picked up some freshly made Gbejniet that went into our pastizzi (cheese pastries). The cookery session is set to last around four hours, but can take a little longer depending on how quickly the courses are prepped. This includes a drink break during the cheese shopping. Afterwards, we all sat down together and enjoyed the fruits of our labours with enough surplus to take away with us.

The course itself was great, and the food was delicious. The host though is what made the difference. George is knowledgeable. Vastly so. In both the cuisine he talks you through preparing and cooking (with plenty of tips on how to save a dish from going wrong), he also has many anecdotes of his varied and interesting life to tell as you're cooking along. I would happily book this course again in a heartbeat

Now onto Maldonado. The following evening we booked to eat at the restaurant, and what a pleasure it was. Cocktails to start with some focaccia and olive breads together with dips whilst we were waiting (one of the dips was a bigilla, one of the dishes we'd prepared the day before. It was great to see the restaurant serving examples of what we'd prepared), for starters we had a Gbejniet souffle (so delicately light, it was outstanding) and porcini arancini (far and away my favourite), followed by mains of pumpkin and amaretti ravioli with gorgonzola cream and a chicken supreme, both exquisite. Unfortunately we were too full for dessert. We were fortunate to see George at the restaurant too, in what was his time off. He came over to chatter and say hello, which was very much appreciated, as I can only imagine the last thing he wanted to do was talk "shop". The dining experience was more than we'd hoped for - the food was superb and the experience was exactly what we'd hoped for on our wedding anniversary. The restaurant is tucked away down a side street in Victoria, the capital of Gozo. If you have the opportunity, and are looking for somewhere to eat, seek it out, its more than...

What can I say? Perfect! We looked this restaurant out as it offered one vegetarian option that wasn't pizza or pasta. It's in a bit of a back street but n Victoria, but look it up, it's worth it. The decor is finished to a high standard, whilst retaining the rustic charm of the traditional building. The staff were very friendly and attentive from the first to thd last minute. Complimentary bread to start with garlic butter and a bean and garlic paste. Wine and cocktails were great! Four starters, I can recommend the Turkish beef dumplings, but I understand the burnt onion vegetarian starter was amazing, don't be out off by the name, as was the white bait fish cake. Mains... Okay, the pastas, one mussel linguine apparently amazing and one rabbit and black garlic tortellini, which I understand was also amazing. The aubergine which is what we came for, was fantastic and a welcome change from the usual pizza and pasta options. I had the pork. The pork chop as you'll see it called on the bill. This was like a pork version of a tomahawk steak and was amazing, paired with roast potatoes and salad, it also had leeks and crushed nuts with it and served with a stout and carob syrup. Incredible. We also had a couple of desserts and a couple of coffees. If you're on Gozo this should be on your list of...

The food here was amazing! We came back a second night because it was so good the first night. The pasta had great flavor and was perfectly cooked. The portions were perfect for a multiple course meal or a larger portion was available for the dinner size on the pasta. We had the Moroccan cigars and muhammara to start (expertly seasoned) then we had the rabbit and black garlic cappelletti and it was incredibly tender with great flavor (perfectly cooked pasta) and the Pistachio and pancetta casareece. Well seasoned, well cooked and delicious. The second night we had the Moroccan cigars and rabbit again, since those were both so amazing and also had Gbejna gnudi (again, great flavor and perfectly cooked). We also added the beef tenderloin (medium rare) that was expertly cooked and so tender. We finished off with the 4th course with the strawberry pavlova, which was to die for!! I wish I could have eaten 2 of them. The wine selection from both Italy and Malta was extensive and well curated. The staff gave us the time between to courses to just enjoy conversation and the ambiance of the place. They were very kind, engaged with us over the dishes and the wines we selected. In addition, the prices were more than reasonable. This is a place your can't afford to miss on your...