Yes! Yes!! Garmanvsfood fam, how we doing? Everyone okay? Good stuff. We celebrating at Garmanvsfood HQ, Neal turned 21 (again) and we had lunch din dins at De Mondion! I was hoping we could celebrate this year as last year was shyte! With lockdown restrictions on the Island, didn’t think we would but the food gods came through! Non-essential shops and other(s) are open till 5pm and this time could be extended to midnight, so, roll on food adventures 😋, (slight anxiety and all), please and thanks 😀.
With lockdown restrictions easing, instead of cancelling our booking, the good folk at De Mondion were happy to accommodate us for lunch and what a lunch it was! De Mondion is located within the fortified city of Mdina, on the rooftop of a 15th century palazzo surrounded by gorgeous views. We arrived twenty minutes before our reservation (yes, we were eager), listen, Malta traffic is a THING! besides, it’s a Brit thing, showing up late is a no no ha! Nevertheless, we were well recieved and welcomed into the restaurant despite it not being officially open for service. We even got to pick our preferred choice of table – one with a bit more shade because don’t nobody be trying to compete with the sun rays today… 24 degrees boi! Plus the views could not be missed!
The menu at De Mondion is both à la carte and a tasting menu. I don’t need to tell you what our choice was now do I? Interestingly the tasting menu (5 course) comes with 2 wine selections – wines of Malta or wines of the world. We went with the wines of the world because the Maltese wines we have had so far🤔, has left us wanting. Having said that, we are not averse to exploring the wine scene here and finding out what our palate likes, it just means more wine drinking ha!
We started with a glass of bubbly. It is never too early for bubbly right? The chef’s intro were scrumptious canapé bites of salmon and cheese that set the tone of what turned out to be a fantastic birthday meal.
The first course was cured fish of the day, sea bass, served with soy, tapioca and fermented carrot. Oh the details of this dish! Details people, DETAILS! always, Always Matter. The colours of this dish was 🥰 and it came covered, as if to say, this is a delicate dish with melt-in-your-mouth feels and it was spot on!
The fermented carrot formed the base, with the fish, caviar, soy and salad layered so prettily.
Whilst still ogling at how pretty it was, then came the tapioca served alongside it. First off tapioca? It essentially is the starch extract from a cassava which is a root vegetable similar to yams. When I read this on the menu, it didn’t initially register. I assumed it would be a sauce or an ingredient for the cured fish. I was wrong on both counts ha! It was a tapioca cracker! Think prawn cracker in black colour? Exactly! You are probably reading this and going huh? Come again? Yep! That was us.. I mean do you see this cracker?
I know I bang on about how a taster menu is literally the chef and team showing out, but it IS! How else do I explain the second course? Chef Kevin just showed out with it! We had a soufflé and you are probably thinking, yeah? And? I don’t know about you lot, but soufflé generally tends to be a dessert (sweet and / or savory). Well, here at De Mondion, they be like nope! not doing that, you are getting soufflé with mushroom comte and fennel seed as a main 😮. Even the plating up of this dish was not in a ramekin (the glazed porcelain bowl synonymous with soufflé] but rather a deep-set centre plate holding the soufflé in place with the mushroom, comete and fennel seed poured over!
I mean come on now! the soufflé was light and puffy and the mushroom comte and fennel seed sauce added a layer of depth that made it so very wholesome. Paired with glass of Clisson 2014 Domaine De La Grenaudiere it was an absolute delight on the palate. The richness of the wine lent a kind of ‘gracefulness’ to the dish! See, I am using very serious words because man like Chef Kevin did not come to play!
Our risotto had king crab, peas and mint. Crab, (any crustacean) generally tend to be ‘salty’, all that sea water and what not. However in this dish, it was all about balance! The risotto formed a creamy base, the richness of the peas and mint added a burst of green on the plate, visuals folks!
and the taste? Yummy! It was a balanced perfection especially after having a sip of the Kendall – Jackson chardonnay; a light, soft slightly acidic white wine. It was superb, like so yummy I asked for bread to mop up the juices; talk about finger licking good ha!
I know I said the tasting menu was 5 courses, and it was. However, I spied with my eye, foie gras terrine as a dish on the à la carte section and I asked for this. Yes, we extra AF!!! what can I say we love us some foie gras 😋. Typically, I am a pan-seared foie gras kinda girl, but, Chef Kevin out here doing the MOST and served not one but two kinds of foie gras. My man gone and presented us with both the pan-seared and terrine foie gras 😮. The terrine foie gras (which is a foie gras cooked in a mold in a water bath) had cannolo (a tube shaped pastry with a creamy filling). The pan-seared foie gras was laid on a bed of nuts, pear, simple and yet so good. The terrine foie gras though tasted like a creamy burst of richness, it was fantastic. The texture from the nuts and sweetness from the pear nulled the slightly bitter after taste (I find) in pan-seared foie gras. The sauternes wine made of muscat grape was the sweetner that brought all of this sweet, savoury, rich foie gras dish together.
This might just be my favourite foie gras yet, Petrus still remains a fave too. Ahh De mondion this must be your signature dish because OMG! It is the ONE!!!
Sucking pig with piccalilli, kale and mustard was course number four. I don’t need to state how state how Neal was feeling by this point do I? ha! He was soo ready for it and he was not disappointed. It was reasonably sized portion (que in Neal’s smile when he saw this) with kale, beetroot, mustard pickle and gravy which, you guessed right, was poured over!
The Roquette & Cazes 2015 red made from 3 kinds of grapes used to make port was fruity with a lingering finish and spot on for the sucking pig and I mean SPOT ON!!!
As it’s a birthday celebration, I asked if our pudding could have a candle on it, you know as one does. I was pleasantly informed by Valentina that ‘something was planned’ 🤨. Pudding was cheesecake with celeriac, passionfruit and pear. And no, it didn’t come with a candle or sparkles (so this was not the something planned ha!) however, it was scrumptious! Neal and I reckon it was baked cheesecake (I prefer cooled in the fridge), we really should have asked right? No matter, because first off, this cheesecake was pretty you see! sat majestic on its base, surrounded by the celeriac, passion fruit, pear, nuts and ting! It felt almost atrocious taking a bite but do you see these textures?
Yup! You know it tasted too goodt! The Ben Rye Donna Fugata was the perfect muscat for this – DELISH!
What a way to end this food adventure right? but we were not nearly done! The ‘something planned’ promised was the icing on the non-existent-cake. Whilst savouring the lingering taste of the pudding wine, comes a what I can only describe as an egg? Oh but this was no ordinary egg. Tell a lie, it was not an egg, it looked like an egg in shape and colour. It even had with gold leaf toppings and chocolate sauce poured over it.
Neal was instructed to crack it open and when he did, voila! Inside was fruit, currants, caramel and sweet bits? Not entirely sure but it looked yummy!
The birthday boy shared none of it with me, like zilch, nada, not a morsel or bite! Like bruv???? Bless him though, he is a sweet tooth and I was quite happy for him to have it all for himself, I was already stuffed! More significantly, this was all down to chef Kevin and his team. I didnt ask for this cake that really was not a cake. I mean, I was happy with candle on our pudding ha! But they went ahead and did this for him, customer service? triple check!
Ahh Chef Kevin, thank you! For the chit chat, autographed menu, outstanding food, impeccable service, ‘something planned’ and your fantastic team. You guys made this birthday something special and he is a happy bunny! A visit to DeMondion is a bucketlist item and your tasting menu is a must, PERIODT!
Cheers
Ndidi
p.s. photo dump of the wines and the new addition to my wall of fame 😎
That food experience sounds delicious. Thank you for sharing
my pleasure, I miss you