Kantina Cafe, Malta 06-2012

Wandering through the lovely town of Valletta in Malta, I had my usual list of places to try. Because it was an early evening, they were all closed. Searching for somewhere to eat, we came across many places in great locations all which looked too touristy to be decent. Eventually we settled upon Kantina Cafe located beneath a pretty cathedral (turns out to be St. John's) and a spot to watch people walk by and relax.

Exhausted we stopped here as the menu was nicely written on a chalkboard, the food looked good and it had a outdoor seating to enjoy the weather.

Since Malta has quality seafood given its island location, we naturally selected the dishes which highlighted these ingredients.

Ravioli (crab & lobster with prawn bisque) had a beautiful combination of flavours of all the wonders you'd expect from shellfish. Crab & lobster meat wrapped in delicate ravioli skins and soaked in a rich prawn sauce. Pasta is rarely this good.

Mixed Seafood Platter (mussels, vongole, king prawns, octopus, langoustines) served with a big bowl of fries was fantastic also. Butter, garlic and chives dressed the delicate ingredients and had me savouring every bite and licking my fingers at the end.

A great place to stumble upon. If you're in the mood, there is a cheap cocktail menu to help time pass peacefully.

Next time I would order the same two dishes. Rabbit is another popular ingredient in Malta, but I don't think it can ever beat good seafood.