With big flavours and an excellent location, Rendez-Vous challenges the idea that restaurants in lovely locations don’t serve great food.
RendezVous is now Permanently Closed.
Rendez-Vous is a relatively new restaurant, situated right in front of the main square of Xewkija, Gozo, and directly facing their impressive local Parish Church.
We were lucky to get the best table on the terrace, right in the centre with a full view of the church. It was a Sunday afternoon, and the place was buzzing. In these challenging times, a reminder of past normalities was very welcome.
Gozo is a small island with its fair share of excellent food places. It wasn’t our first time dining in an excellent Gozitan restaurant (check out our previous experience here).
The staff are very well trained and treated us like royalty upon arrival. Soon after settling at our table, we were brought two Proseccos on the house, and soon after, a basket with two types of homemade bread; wholegrain and baguette, accompanied by two types of butter, pink salt and olives.
We recommend wholegrain bread with a dash of some excellent olive butter. Far too many restaurants overlook this detail, preferring to serve their guests tasteless, often stale bread. For us, fresh homemade bread is always a plus at restaurants. It shows the people at the place mean business.
We were in awe of the first starter we were presented with at Rendez-Vous. The torched ‘lampuki’ with cucumber tartare, lemon and thyme gel, gin mare, and cherry tomatoes was as delicious as it gets. The fish was firm but very tender, more than you would normally expect from the characteristic ‘lampuki’ meat texture.
No need for a knife here. Each bite also left a lovely char-grilled aftertaste. The cucumber tartare on which each fillet was served had a tangy taste, balancing the lampuki perfectly. Thanks to the gel and gin mare, the dish had a rosemary scent, basil, and thyme. This was honestly the perfect starter to have. It ticked all the boxes.
The second starter was a dish that usually polarises people. You either love or hate beef tartare. Finely chopped pieces of raw meat are not for everyone. Ours had a generous amount of beef tartare, the classic egg yolk accompaniment, and pickled carrots over a herbed crouton.
The crouton was a bit too oily for our liking, but the beef was slightly, and deliciously, spicy, which helped to bring out the meaty taste.
The duck breast was a pleasant main course, and the meat was served at a perfect medium, as requested. The skin was very tasty but not as crispy as we would have liked. The meat was perfectly seasoned and tender. The croquettes served with it were tasty, while the vegetables were nicely caramelised and very pleasant.
Our second main was sirloin with asparagus, mashed potatoes, wild mushrooms and truffle jus. Unfortunately, we had requested that the meat would be served medium-rare, and instead, was served overcooked. Having pointed this out to the staff, the waitress offered to change it immediately, which we noted and appreciated.
However, waiting for another steak was not in our intentions and we opted to go for it instead of waiting for another piece of meat. If you are not into medium rare and prefer something slightly more cooked, this was a perfectly good piece of tasty meat. Having a well-done steak instead of medium rare did not ruin what was otherwise a perfectly enjoyable experience.
For dessert, we had Mango parfait with chocolate. We liked the chocolate biscuits and their prominent cocoa taste. An intended caramelisation gave the chocolate biscuits a slightly bitter taste which further brought out the sweetness of the mango parfait, which was light and enjoyable. The presentation was lovely, and the dessert was not heavy. Overall a very satisfying way to finish off our dinner.
Rendez-Vous restaurant is a great place to take that special someone for a delicious meal without fearing disappointment. If you do go, please take our recommendation and include the lampuki on your ordered dishes list.
It was truly the highlight of the entire meal. So go ahead and book a table, make your way to Xewkija Gozo, and enjoy the experience.
Comments