Level Nine Tasting Experience

The entire journey of making your way up to Gozo from Malta, as a Maltese person specifically, is all about ritual. I know friends who swear by the irkotta or is it ġbejna pastizzi on an early morning trip, others who religiously visit the same locations because they are unchangeably the most iconic in their Gozo experience. 

What’s my point, and what’s it got to do with our critique of the night; Level Nine.

I love Gozo. I spent the bulk of my summers there from pre-teen till I was old enough to stay home and have the house to myself (read: a stampede of teens eager to take opportunity of my family home’s proximity to the clubs). In this short, yet memory-laden-time, Gozo became a big part of my life, we ate fresh produce from Lunzjata Valley, we got fresh rabbits, quails and ġbejniet from our neighbours and watched herds of sheep graze on the thyme of Sannap Cliffs. It was all ‘normal’. 

But sometimes, our ‘normal’, no matter how idyllic it may be, needs to be shaken – if, at least, only to experience more variety. On this trip to Gozo the highlight of the expedition was summited by Chef George Attard; who is the Head Chef of Level Nine at The Grand Hotel in Mgarr, and also happens to be the Michelin Malta Young Chef Award winner for 2026. 

We spent the afternoon with Chef Attard, sampling Gozo’s insatiable appetite to impress; not by showing off, but by showing up; Gozo’s quality is some. thing. else. Deny this if you will, but hand on heart, I think that everything tastes better in Gozo. It must be something in the air (or the soil). We’d had such a damn good afternoon, as I thanked Chef for such a wonderful time, he replied; “il-kbir għadu ġej” — oh snap; the day’s not even started yet… we were here, on this paradise rock, to see what Chef Attard has built in his one year (exactly to date) at Level Nine. 

The full moon derailing our eyes for just one moment, we made it to The Grand Hotel. A few corridors later, we were transported from a 80s maze to a panoramic dining area that highlighted the beauty of the Maltese islands: the Gozo Ferry shuttling past Comino to the island I’d soon be making my way back home to; but for now… focus on Gozo, my favourite of the three. 

First up, the amuse bouche. Four bite-sized morsels, curated visually and gastronomically. A blue shell mussel, its shell edible, its meat plump, sweet and saline, was my first taste of Level Nine. Texture is so big in my books, and my first impression of your food Chef… texturally fun and engaging… as for the flavour; yes. I understood your palate right away, and confirmed it all night long. If I had to give you one adjective, it would be balanced. Which I think is a very good adjective, to be clear. 

The three other snacks included a nori cracker with smoked mackerel, horseradish mayo and spring onion, a ‘chicken wing’ which screamed Asian aromatics and carried a delicate texture as well as a cheddar puff, which I think was timed incorrectly – we may have taken too long to eat it, so I’ll hold my comments there. The four snackeroos were accompanied by Prosecco Lunetta. 

We started out well, but things only got better from here on. Our first course, that damn dippy egg. Do you remember how excited you used to get when your nanna made you eggs and soldiers? A simple egg and bread made my morning and this not-so-simple egg made my evening. This was paired with a Marsovin 1919 Rosé, 2024. 

Bacon, avocado, Gozo egg yolk; manipulated in so many ways that I hardly want to explain further. I just want you to try it for yourself. Flavour is an understatement, texture is almost overwhelming, the tactile element made me tear up a little. The concept is not revolutionary, but the execution was uniquely Attard’s. That sweet and sour bacon nailed it. Again… balance. 

Let’s take it up a notch, one more time with the next course, The Burrata served with a Talo Verdeca San Marzano. I’ll up and say this straight away; this course was my tax-xewk moment during this dining experience. This is a simple dish. It’s a cold dish. It’s a… you guessed it… balance dish; and most importantly it’s a light dish. 

A great way to make me happy is with tomato water. So random, I know, but have you ever really focused on how delicious tomato water is? Tomato is like nature’s MSG, packed with umami and the reason for my existence; so extracting all that flavour into a clarified little dressing thing is everything I live for. I think you may have caught on that this dish featured tomato water; served tableside into a hollowed out pool within the creamy and delicate burrata. 

At the base of this pool, a mosaic of smoked eel caviar, teeny tiny pops; and heaps of them, to pop in your mouth, melding so smoothly with the tomato water, herb oil and star of the dish, the burrata. Gems of yellow and red grape tomatoes surrounded the periphery of the cream, adding sweetness and acidity to this smokey and super refreshing dish. 

But where’s the texture? In the Parmigiano tuile of course – not just there to look pretty, but to pack more umami, a bit of nuttiness and of course a wee snap on the plate. 

Speaking of snap. The next dish, featured a garnish of potato crisps that snapped, crackled and popped from the moment it made its way to our table until I finished the dish; in my signature slow, meticulous fashion. My newest fixation, and quite frankly… a few other Chef’s new technique-du-season: chawanmushi. It’s basically a savoury egg custard. I first tried it at a Four Hands here in Malta in 2023, and I’m selfishly pretty glad it’s still hanging about on our menus, it’s a great vessel to show off some creativity. 

Chef Attard’s chawanmushi was mushroom based and came with a buttery brioche, encouraging you to play with your food. Think of this dish as your best version of a mushroom soup going through all the feels when it comes to texture. A duxelle at the base, the custardy part in the centre and a delicate foam on top. Potato crisps, snapping away, pickled beech mushrooms or similar and aptly chosen parsley sat on top of the textural layers of mushroom. This dish was a showdown featuring bite vs flavour vs texture, in every possible combination that for the first time in the night, grew more interesting with the wine pairing. In this case, a Gozo Cottage Chardonnay that carried warm notes, slight banana accent, an aroma of brie and vanilla. 

OK, here’s my sour point of the night; and Chef we’ve already discussed it. The wine pairing was not awesome, quite far from it really. I think that locally this is a weak point; and my biggest suggestion is give us soft pairings. But I’ll get into that on a separate occasion some day soon.

The thorns are out, but I can’t tame them just yet… because the next course was the pasta course. And mostly due to my biggest pet peeve; texture… I have a few comments; thickness is so important folks.

When your pasta is too thick we cannot see the hard work you put into your fillings; and this filling was good, a Roscoff onion filling to be precise.

Considering this is one of the best onions in the world, and it’s already being hidden inside a folded pasta, it should pop and dominate. 

But let’s look at the positives of this dish. The filling, as I said, was delicious, I just wanted more. The green sauce carried the three envelopes so proudly, with a light and refreshing palate further enhanced by sweet pickled onions, a hazelnut texture and a whole lotta butter. 

The next course brought a prime Gozo ingredient whose season only started March 3rd, lucky us, and an under appreciated fish that was cooked masterfully. Finished by blowtorch or grill, the red mullet on this dish sat in a tableside poured brown butter sauce, bleeding slightly into the left ground of the plate where a textural trove of clam, jalapeño, love and my favourite vegetable; the Gozo asparagus. A solo stalk. Isn’t she pretty? 

The sauce here was delicious, but it could have been slightly thicker. And a starch Chef? Why did you leave that out? Hey… it was delicious and I’m really picking at details here, but it just seems a bit unfinished. Hey… (again)... some of the greatest artists have ‘unfinished’ works, but they were cool with that; take Gustav Klimt for example. Same comment for the next dish. 

The next starch-less main consisted of a deliciously tender pork belly, no crisp top, but I’m not angry at that, at all, it was so tender. The bitterness of the greens, the apple sauce; its texture and sweetness contrasted against the pepper sauce; its slight spice, each playing with the pork blissfully. There was texture, there was bite, there was saltiness and a delicate touch to a usually bolder protein. There was also a stuffed radish. 

Chef George’s savoury portion of the menu was completed and thus his signature dish was about to hit our table. Milk, honey, olive oil, sea salt. All sourced from Gozo; all iconically Gozitan. The olive oil cake, the espuma that tasted like a guilty-childhood-pleasure: Angle Delight, the ice-cream and the tuile — texturally accurate, light to end and slightly savoury. This is why I do my job, for these pleasures. I can see why it’s a signature dish.  

‘Normally’ I would not go to a big hotel for dinner. But that normal has been shattered and been broken into a thousand pieces; with some of my favourite restaurants and their Chefs currently housed within hotels, boutique, new or Grand. Level Nine is a restaurant that is now on my radar; and I will point out specifically because of what I think Chef Attard can achieve. Breaking away from ‘normal’ can be entirely rewarding.

At the tender age of 31, Chef George is already making his mark. He may one day leap into something that may blow our minds. Rest assured Chef, bajtra is going to be following your story.