Il-Baldakkin Bistro at Kempinski is the place for a great evening finished off by a unique Maltese-inspired dessert.
Kempinski is probably the number 1 choice for hotels for stays in Gozo. Situated in the beautiful and quiet village of San Lawrenz, Kempinski has all the comfort and amenities to make your stay perfect.
Since 1897, Kempinski has provided a luxury experience at its five-star hotel. A lesser-known fact is that Kempinski is actually part of Europe’s oldest luxury hotel group. We have often stayed at Kempinski and have enjoyed the experience, during winter and also during the summer months.
On our winter visits, we made great use of the Spa facilities (hot stone massage, anyone?) and the indoor pool. We always opt for room service for one of the nights whilst overlooking the gorgeous pools and scenic landscape. Our summer visits are spent by the pools and dining out at the in-house Restaurants.
If you’re visiting during Autumn or Spring, we would highly recommend enjoying a lovely afternoon tea at the Il-Baldakkin Lounge. For 23.50 euros, each person will be provided with an ample selection of teas and coffees, juices, sandwiches, scones and desserts. Although the menu is great value for money, there are plenty of options to upgrade.
We were invited for dinner at Kempinski Hotel to enjoy their new summer menu. Whilst we waited for our dinner reservation, we took a walk around the premises to enjoy the scenery. We found our way to the Chef’s garden. Kempinski managed to be eco-certified by having their own garden on-site, known as the Chef’s Garden, where they grow vegetables, fruits and herbs which are used in their scrumptious dishes.
When you eat a nice meal at the restaurant, you eat fresh produce from the garden. The hotel has allocated a space for the staff to plant their own plants. We love this initiative. Let us pause for a second and congratulate Kempinski for being the first eco-certified hotel in Gozo.
We were seated in the centre of Il-Baldakkin Bistro at Kempinski with a beautiful view of the pools. If you are visiting for dinner, we would definitely suggest you go there around 1 hour before sunset for the true experience. As soon as we entered, the service was on point and so friendly. We felt very well looked after.
The first dish we tried was the Paccheri and Bluefin Tuna. Paccheri is a traditional pasta from Napoli, with an appearance somewhat similar to macaroni. This dish includes cherry tomatoes, taggiasca olives, caper berries and basil. The pasta was al dente whilst the tuna gave the dish a very summery taste.
The addition of the caper berries (which were larger than usual) gave the dish an exquisite saltiness. Tiny citrus bursts came in through each bite, giving the whole a very refreshing feel. A very Mediterranean dish.
Our second starter at Il-Baldakkin Bistro was Smoked Trout and Chicory. This dish was complemented by apples, walnuts, honey mustard dressing, dill and radishes. This dish was another winner in our books. The trout was very smoky, and we loved it. Light and pleasant overall.
We decided to opt for a vegan dish for our second starter and chose the Vegan Dauphinoise dish. This dish had layers of potatoes, sweet potatoes, zucchini, celeriac, black truffle, cauliflower and vegan mozzarella. Combining the lot was melted vegan cheese. You will hardly notice that this is a vegan dish.
Although pleasant, we did not feel that the dish stood out and felt more like a fancy, albeit substantial side dish. Two thumbs up to Kempinski for adding vegan options on the menu though.
For our first main course, we opted for the Escalopes of Beef Fillet. The meat slices were thin but perfectly cooked to medium rare. This was well-seasoned and salty enough. The lemon zest gave it a nice touch. The rucola with parmesan shavings was quite pleasant as well. It is definitely a dish we will order again and definitely our favourite of the two main courses.
Now comes our favourite part; the dessert. For dessert, we opted for the “gbejna”. This had cinnamon crumble on the bottom and the gbejna on top served with brioche bread on the side.
Drizzled on top of the gbejna was a lemon oil with fresh pistachio, instead of the typical olive oil and pepper we usually drizzle on a savoury gbejna. The “gbejna” does look like a typical gbejna, but is in fact made of cream cheese. Also, it is filled with pear jam.
This was one of the best and most creative desserts we have had in a long time. We loved the Maltese twist. The Gbejna dessert is not too sweet so should be a favourite with people who are looking for something which is not too sweet. It was amazing. It sort of resembled a cheesecake but even better.
Compliments to the chef at Il-Baldakkin Bistro and the team behind this creative dessert. Definitely do not miss out on trying this dessert.
As we watched the sunset from our table, we discussed how our dinner at Il-Baldakkin Bistro at Kempinski was very enjoyable. The service was impeccable. The view was gorgeous. And the food was fresh and delicious.
We have had some amazing dinners in Gozo, and this one at Il-Baldakkin is with them. You will not regret it.
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