Winston Churchill, Britain’s former Prime Minister, is still held in high regard in Malta from what I can tell. This sculpture of Churchill is located in Upper Barrakka Gardens and was sculpted by Vincent Apap, a Maltese artist. It was paid for by the people of Malta and Gozo and I think that it looks rather dignified and elegant.
This is a copy of the statue that was once held here, but which is now in the National Museum of Fine Arts. The original was displayed in Rome and Paris before coming to Malta in 1907. It’s by Antonio Sciortino and shows three poor street children.
A lot of restaurants and cafes in Valletta often have quite old-fashioned frontages, but Cheeky Monkey looks and feels modern. It’s well presented and their web-site is up-to-date, something which numerous restaurants in Malta don’t seem to concern themselves about.
I visited on a rainy late afternoon in February, so it wasn’t a surprise that it wasn’t that busy. There was a friendly welcome from a staff member, not just a “hello”, but something that actually seemed authentic and personable. So, my first impressions were rather positive.
Having craft beer is obviously a huge bonus for my enjoyment of a location, and although I’ve had this beer a few times, I like having it as an option. It’s the Fungus Rock dry stout from Lord Chambray Brewery on Gozo, one of the few local breweries. It doesn’t have the depth of flavour and afternotes that I’d ideally like, but it’s entirely acceptable. It transpired later on that I visited during happy hour, but the pub didn’t tell me that, which might have made my visit longer……
The fish and chips, which was neatly presented and everything was at the appropriate temperature. Far too often restaurants put peas on with fish and they’re dry and tasteless, but these were excellent and despite being green, they had a depth of taste. The breading of the fish was even throughout and had a decent flavour, although the portion size was only adequate. The fish itself was again fine, although slightly uninteresting. The chips were though excellent again, crispy on the exterior and flurry on the interior, with the tartare sauce adding some extra flavour.
It was all very acceptable and the prices weren’t unreasonable given the city centre location of Valletta. The service was above average throughout, always being attentive and polite. A staff member was going around with a tablet asking customers for feedback, something which I’m not sure works or not. I very much like the concept of it for picking up any issues, but they don’t seem to be doing anything directly with the data that they get. So if a customer isn’t entirely happy, I’m not sure if the pub is contacting them either immediately or after the event. If it isn’t (and they didn’t contact me), I’m not sure it’s a great idea, but the concept of immediate feedback is an interesting one which is very rarely done in this manner.
But, everything was clean and organised, and I’d certainly go again, particularly as the staff were so friendly.
The sun setting over Valletta, very peaceful…..
The wording on this statue apparently means “help me become a Priest” and there has been an art project based on this. I’m sure that these used to be more common, although this is the only one that I’ve seen in a long time.
Photos of Valletta taken from Sliema, which is a strip of land just to the north of the country’s capital. Sliema is where the Ottomans attacked the Knights of St. John from, and is where Dragut was killed. It was a fishing village for some centuries, although there was a military garrison located here until the British left in 1979.
These photos would have looked rather better if it hadn’t been raining for most of the morning…..
There aren’t a large number of bars in the centre of Valletta, it’s mostly cafes and restaurants rather than what might be called pubs. So, it’s not difficult for this location to just be called “The Pub” and still maintain its own identity.
The pub is small inside, with just four tables and it’d be a push to get more than around twenty people in. Fortunately, there was one table free when I went in and although there were none of those craft beers that I like, there was Guinness, and that’s just fine.
There are numerous photos and references to Oliver Reed, as he died in this pub. It’s perhaps not the best claim to fame to have, but the pub does rather play on it and even sells t-shirts relating to the event. For those who want to know Reed’s final alcohol consumption on the night in question, he had drunk 8 pints of lager, 12 double rums and 14 whiskeys.
But the pub does have a lot of atmosphere, it’s welcoming, quirky and very traditional. It picks up negative reviews from not being clean or modern enough, but I quite like the slightly rickety nature of the interior.
This was a popular haunt when British sailors were stationed on Malta, and there are numerous photos of ships as well as the badges on the walls.
The service in the pub was entirely acceptable, it was efficient, sufficiently polite and made the location not feel unwelcoming. The prices are reasonable as well, with a pint of Guinness costing just under £4. Certainly a unique location….
Now closed off, this is an original part of Valletta’s defences, as constructed by the Knights of the Order of St. John. It’s not particularly interesting in itself, but in its unrepaired state it feels like a little bit of a connection with the Valletta of the sixteenth century. Well, I say sixteenth century, it might be slightly later, but I don’t want to ruin the magical idea that I had given myself that it was sixteenth century….
This is the ‘Flame Which Never Dies’ sculpture which looks over the city of Valletta which was unveiled on 7 July 2017. It was designed to mark the country’s Presidency of the European Council and was designed by Valerio Schembri.
The sculpture is designed to “reflect the enthusiasm and continuous work of the Maltese to decide their own future while improving their standard of living”, so a recognition of those who contributed to ensure that Malta could determine its own future.
Just working through the photos that I didn’t upload during the week, here are some of the city defences. This is also the main entrance point into Valletta, the Knights of St. John certainly made their capital city look imposing.
