I didn’t grow up in a typical Maltese household. My mother is English, which meant family dinners were devoured in front of the latest episode of Eastenders, and Sunday roasts were the weekly event to look forward to (Yorkshire puddings and all!) I hadn't tasted kusksu – Malta’s traditional broad bean soup – until I was 25; and had never realised bragioli – otherwise known as beef olives – could be stuffed with egg, ham and mushrooms (wait, what?) Yes, I was secondary school level – if that – in my Maltese food educational career. 

That all changed when I met my husband, who introduced me to the glories of traditional Maltese cuisine. Today, ne’er a week goes by that he doesn’t rustle up some of that broad bean soup, or a calamari stew, replete with the flavours of the Mediterranean. So, I was well prepped to try out Gozitan Restaurant in Paceville, which promises specialities from our little sister isle and which features many tastes and tones characterising the cuisine from this end of the world.

On an evening of a public holiday, my husband and I headed to Paceville – a place we don't head to often – and parked at one of the town’s myriad underground dens, just a two-minute walk from the eatery. Past tiny, fashionable watering holes and the ubiquitous Sicilian dolceria, Gozitan Restaurant sticks out because it is unashamedly local and unabashedly rustic. This is not a diner lined with chrome and plush benches, draped in the latest interior design fashions like a teenager desperate to impress her peers. Rather, this eatery has a firm sense of its identity. It doesn’t try to pretend. It doesn’t preen its feathers. But it does know what it does best: homespun fare in an unaffected setting.

As we sit down, we’re introduced to the chef, Mark Izzo, an Englishman who has been working in the restaurant business for decades. ‘An Englishman cooking Gozitan food?’ we hear you say. But yes, Mark has graced Maltese kitchens all over the island, working his culinary magic using locally-sourced ingredients and provisions traced to the grass-roots. His is a talent which understands that the provenance of standout cuisine comes from the heart as well as the hands. 

We’re given an à la carte and a set menu, both containing a feast of choice, but with some similarities. Both offer a host of local specialties, such as slow roasted suckling pig served with a crispy skin; calamari stew cooked in a tomato sauce with olives, capers and fresh herbs; and octopus in garlic. We’re hungry so we go for the full whack – the set menu – priced at a deeply affordable 30 euros per person, excluding drinks. The spread of food promised seems a lot – but maybe the portions are smaller, we thought.

Well, they weren’t. As soon as we ordered, a round of antipasti made their way to our table: bigilla (broad bean dip), sundried tomatoes, peppered goat’s cheese, and an aioli dip were served with Gozitan water biscuits and consumed quicker than you could say ‘could you pass me the bread, please?’. This was swiftly followed by probably the best deep fried Gozitan cheeselets I’ve ever had – and I’ve actually had many over the course of the past few years (probably more than is advisable). Served with a rosemary and orange sauce, these are a treat you won’t forget in a hurry. Next came homemade ravioli stuffed with goat’s cheese – two deep fried and two boiled parcels of stuffed pasta. Finally, a heaped plate of spaghetti with rabbit sauce positioned itself neatly between myself and my husband but, reader, we did not re-enact the scene from Lady and the Tramp. No, we were too focused on polishing it off. 

And those were just the starters! Believe it or not, we still had space for more, which was just as well, for the stewed pork cheeks I had ordered were nothing short of a tender delight, and my husband’s dish of boneless quails, marinated in honey and balsamic sauce, was a showstopper. We barely had room for dessert – and were about to refuse it – but Mark convinced us to give it a whirl: crispy imqaret (deep fried, diamond shaped pastries filled with dates), ice cream and helwa tat-tork left a sweet taste on our lips. 

Later, as we stumbled - fully satiated - out of Gozitan Restaurant, we congratulated ourselves on the discovery of this eatery. Here, the good, the dependable and the substantial had all found a place to call home.

The Gozitan Restaurant, Paceville Str, St Julian's. Tel: +356 2786 4626. Open everyday from 12pm - midnight. Free parking available at the Vivaldi Car Park.