Hi Alan, so glad you had a great time mate, glad you enjoyed Il-Merill it truly is how a restaurant should be and the owners are very welcoming and friendly too, I was talking to Vince the other day he mentioned that someone had been in and eaten all the qarnita, bragiolis and fenek and supped all the hoppy, was that you Alan ?.

Prosit
Sliema2

hi there sliema2 don't worry there's plenty leftlots of rabbits up on the roof.
in just love fish soup and the best i had was at la dolce vita. i have put on so much weight as i ate out every night but i had lots of walks took over 600 photos tried the 1565 was very good i might swap my alliegence from hopleaf.

alan

hope you tried the hopleaf extra ??

Hello Alan, last new year when I was in Malta I had a pint of 1565 in a bar in Bugibba and it must have been off that day as I thought it was a bit naf or the way the barman keeps it.
Anyway you may all like to know that me and Mrs Holidaymaker had a great time this new year in Tenerife, the the weather was much better than it was last year in Malta, some days it was 25deg even got a sun tan this year, but saying that there is not a lot to do or see in Tenerife and cannot wait to get back to Malta in the summer.
Dave

Hi Alan, I love the fish soup (Aljotta) aswell, the one they do in Il-Merill is absolutely divine and I think it is made using freshley grilled fish with good stock, loads of garlic (tewm) herbs, rice and seasoning, it's fabulous as a a starter with crusty hobz yum yum.

Sahha
Sliema2

Hi Dave, glad you enjoyed Tenerife mate, but I know what you mean about not much going on, Mrs Sliema2 and I spent our honeymoon in Gran Canaria and whilst it was lovely and sunny it was a bit lacking in things to do or see, with the exception of Las Palmas City which is a splendid place to visit with lots to see and do including The Casa De Colon which was Colombus's colonial home on the island, the beer was pretty naff too but the local Canarian food was really nice, but there is no where quite like dear old Malta for history, sightseeing, and unique culture, roll on February.

Sahha
Sliema2

fish soup is my favorite toothe best one i had containshell fish as well. i managed to get a tan this christmas visit, only my face as it was a little bit too chilly to expose my body, didn't want to frighten the horses either.
i haven't tried the hopleaf export yet had a 1565 at the airport and it was flat and vinegary the others i tried were great.

inselli ghalik

alan

Welcome back Alan - glad to hear you had a good time.

I've added this hotel to our Malta hotel review site. Would you be the first to add a report for this hotel which will assist future visitors.

Sliema Chalet Hotel Reviews Click Here

Many Thanks

Grazzi Alan inti ukoll , sounds like you did plenty of exploring, out of interest where did you go for all your days out ?.

Prosit
Sliema2

bongu sliema2
where didn't i go and i still didn't do everything i wanted.
i went for lots of country walks
qrendi via il-maqluba-wied iz-zurrieq-the temples-qrendi
ghar dalam-prettybayaround the coast to marsaxlokk
explored birgu thenaround the coast to kalkara-rinnella bay-fort rinella then on to the film studios and back to kalkara
mgarr-gnejna bay-over the battleship to ghajn tuffieha-back to mgarr
explored mellieha pilgrimage to the grotto of our lady. there are some lovely views to the west of mellieha
went to the new development at the velletta waterfront
took the harbour cruise for the first time only because i had a free ticket
walked around mdina and rabat the on to ta' virtu church
visited the aviation museum and the craft villige yet again
i could go on but i will be here all night
i think i'll have to go again in august

inselli ghalik

alan

Ghodwa tajjeb Alan, that sounds just like one of our holidays mate, you must of had a great time, but funnily enough as the notification came through that you had replied I was typing up all the things we have got planned for next month, here is my list of things to do that we will be choosing off for next month.

Sahha
Sliema2

BAHRIJA WALK
BALZAN, LIJA & ATTARD
BIRKIRKARA WEDNESDAY MARKET
COTTONERA WALK
DGHAJSER BOAT RIDE
DINGLI CLIFFS
DWEJRA LINES WALK
FLORIANA WALK
GHAR HASAN
GHAWDEX
GHAWDEX WALKS (DAHLET QORROT & TA GURDAN)
GIRGENTI WALK
GOLDEN BAY
GRAND HARBOUR CRUISE.
HAL FAR AIRFIELD
HAMRUN
HYPOGEUM
KALKARA
MALTA AT WAR MUSEUM IN BIRGU
MARFA RIDGE WALK
MARSASCALA
MARSAXLOKK SUNDAY MARKET
MDINA EVENING WALK
MGARR
MOSTA MONDAY MARKET
MOSTA NAXXAR & GHARGHUR WALK
NAXXAR
PALACE ARMOURY
RABAT CATACOMBS.
RABAT MUSEUM
SAN GWANN
TA QALI CRAFTS VILLAGE OR AVIATION MUSEUM
TARXIEN TEMPLES
VALLETTA SUNDAY MARKET
VARIOUS BUS TRIPS IE, GOLDEN BAY ROUND TRIP
VICTORIA LINES WALK
XAGHRA ????
XEMXIJA WALK TO BURMARAD (SAN PAWL MILQUI).

hi again sliema2

what a great list i would love to walk around bahrija and have some rabbit the victoria lines is another must i have done most of the other things but can always do them again. went to the valletta market on new years day but it was not the full monti have you been to the suq in merchants street they used to have horses hanging in the butchers.
the malta at war museum isn't bad, the shelters are interesting especially if you have read the kappelan of malta

inselli ghalik

alan

Thanks to Alan for your review.

Illum it-tajjeb Alan , yes we always pop in to the suq, we buy loads of dried herbs and spices in the butchers shops there to bring home with us, the butchers shops are quite fascinating, although Mrs Sliema2 doesn't like to see the fenek being prepared, but I love the sausages and various cuts of meat some of which you never see in the uk such as cube roll, Maltese butchers also have beef especially for bragioli slices and I think they use silverside for this cut thinly with a very sharp knife, Maltese butchers are a real throw back to when we had proper shops and are always a joy to visit, my favourite one which I highly reccomend is Rex Butchers Shop, 115 Triq Santa Marija, Sliema just down the hill from The Imperial Hotel if you were heading towards St Vincent Street and the ferries, the guy that runs it is a really nice freindly chap called Alex Vella and his Maltese sausages are some of the best I have ever tasted, he does the cured salami type aswell as the fresh ones, I always bring a parcel of them home to freeze and they are really yummy for breakfast with Maltese hobz which I also bring back with me. oh well only a few weeks to go and we will be able to see all these marvelous places and things again, by the way the Bahrija walk is fabulous it's about 14km in duration and starts at Nigret near Rabat and continues through the Fiddien valley across lovely countryside and dried up river beds, you go through Bharija village and head out to the cliffs you then swing a right as if you were heading towards Mtahleb you go past the old Roman quarries near Tal-Merhla and head back in-land to where you started at Nigret, we first did this particular walk two years ago and it was great.

L-isbah Xewqat
Sliema2

hi there sliema2

i will try the bahrijawalk next time i'm in malta thanks i have just had a look in the mAZe looks good want to try the victoria lines too.
talking about the fenek my brother in law used to breed them and my daughter adopted one when she was about 10 then she discovered it was missing i said we had it for tea last night, she can't face rabbit anymore when she goes to malta she's 25 now. she brought me some hobz and twistees when she went last year, in return i brought her some ciggies this time my children love malta almost as much as i do.

inselli ghalik

alan

What is "Cube Roll"? I have seen it advertised at a butchers as you enter Xemija on the coast road. It was advertised together with "Chicken Thigs"(sic). The sign was on a chalk board and was there for about five years.

According to THIS WEBSITE, it's Scotch fillet of beef.

Pippy

cube roll i think is what we know as rib eye steak, the few times i have tried it i found to be much inferior to what we are used too. it is imported from australia where it is known as scotch fillet which is confusing as it comes from the other end of the animal.

hope this helps

alan

That butcher is called sunny butcher on St Pauls Street in Xemxija that was the first place we ever saw it to, only ever had it once in Hanibals in Buggiba and it was surprisingly nice.

Sahha
Sliema2