ION Harbor by Simon Rogan

Capped off our last night in Malta with a last minute reservation at the only two star on the island. We sat inside (turns out Mel Gibson reserved the entire patio for his party, we saw him come in during our dinner). But the view from our table was still sensational.

My wife and I dined at Belcanto ~2 years ago, the only other 2* we’ve been to in Europe and enjoyed the meal but were a little apprehensive that some of the dishes might be a little too out there for us. We couldn’t have been more wrong.

Each dish was immensely satisfying, the sauces perfectly executed, and the wine pairing was ASTOUNDINGLY good. I opted for the select and while I’ve had individual wines at a higher quality, the way each wine paired with the dishes was honestly bordering on transcendent. I also absolutely loved how the somm explained the layered pairing with the dish and how the wine was produced to yield the flavor combinations.

Simon Rogan’s famous truffle pudding was our second course and after that I knew the meal was going to be special. Smoked eel and caviar was also excellent and the fermented potato focaccia was impossibly light and airy. Our favorite dishes were the Rossi prawn and rabbit – incredibly tender and moist and the sauce was legitimately insane. We opted for the caviar supplement on the seam bream which honestly probably didn’t need it but why the hell not, YOLO. The black garlic sauce on the seam bream was so intense and savory it almost reminded me of a Mexican mole. Outstanding.

The service was attentive and I was actually impressed by how our meal barely was impacted by the fact that the restaurant had a table of ~15 VIPs where understandably so, most of the staffs attention was focused.

Highly recommend this restaurant for anyone spending any time in Malta. I would opt for sitting outside if you’re able to make the reservation ahead of time (ours was made the same day).