While I had booked a table at Roots in Marsaxlokk, being just the beginning of spring, I didn't think to book outside. So when we got there and I expressed the wish to sit outside, the head waiter made a special effort to accommodate us, despite the restaurant being fully booked. This immediately went a long way, and instantly, I was grateful and hopeful.

It was a Saturday and Marsaxlokk was a lovely balance of busy and cheerful yet not overcrowded, as it can sometimes be on Sundays. We happily considered the menu amongst a sun-warmed chipper outside crowd of patrons.

It's a good menu. It's varied, yet doesn't reach too far, and it's interesting, yet doesn't try too hard. It's divided into starters, pasta & grains, fish and meat and poultry. There are the standard starters, such as aljotta (fish soup), fresh oysters or mussels, and then the more creative ones, such as the black tempura of local fish or grilled Scamorza cheese with cherry tomato chutney and basil pesto. Th mains are slightly more mainstream, with dishes like braised octopus, slow cooked pork cheeks, or the seafood platter cooked in four ways.

There's also a wide variety of fresh fish available, as well as a black board boasting specials. During our visit, linguine rizzi (local sea urchins), spaghetti beef and mushroom, parmesan linguine with fresh truffles bianchetti, sea bream and sea bass were on offer.

The wine list is laid back, offering a lot of mid-ranged commercial wines that are particularly easy to drink with seafood, while there are some more serious reds to suit whichever way dish-choosing goes.

To say that we might have over-ordered would be coy, so I'll say that we were most definitely excessive, with four starters and two pasta dishes to share between two of us.

To begin with, we ordered octopus carpaccio with green asparagus, caper berries and brown nut butter, as well as the black tempura of local fish with crushed peas, saffron and garlic aioli. We also went for the deep fried calamari, and a grilled asparagus salad with pickled vegetables and Parmesan shavings.

The cut of the carpaccio and the steamed octopus were what we were hoping for, but the brown nut butter brought an enormously interesting dimension to the dish, giving it flavour, yet taking it away from the usual garlic and lemon flavour that cold octopus is usually given. The gorgeous large caper berries brought a highly desirable astringency to the dish.

The black tempura of local fish was my least favourite dish of the meal, but was also the most creative. The saffron and garlic aioli was a shot of flavour and perfect texture, but the taste of the fish was slightly too fishy for my liking, which was probably on account of the type of fish used, which we weren't told, but suspect was sardines. On the other hand, my dining companion loved it and couldn't taste the same overbearing fish flavour that I did.

The deep fried calamari was crisp and couldn't have been cooked any better, while the tartare sauce was excellent in its own right.

The green asparagus salad with pickled vegetables was an interesting surprise meanwhile, with its gorgeously green and chunky asparagus and dressing, which I suspect was oyster sauce based.

In retrospect, the four starters were more than enough with their fair portion sizes, but we had already committed to two more pasta dishes.

I ordered the special from the board, Parmesan linguine with fresh truffles bianchetti. The white truffle sauce was slightly insipid, but again, it's not entirely fair to fully judge this in the same way as I would have had I been even remotely hungry. I was too full and the portion was large, so anything subtle was unfortunately deemed bland at this stage.

On the other hand, my dining companion ordered the artichoke and pistachios pesto with local shrimps from the menu, which was outstanding. You couldn't hope for more from the pesto's optimal flavour.

The service was friendly and helpful throughout, although it did take some time for our starters to come out. Still, in the restaurant's defence, we did order four at the same time!

One of our servers informed me that the family-run restaurant has been open for three years. It's only a shame that I didn't know about the quality of food and service beforehand. This will definitely become one of my Marsaxlokk staples.

Verdict

Food: 5/5
Service: 4/5
Ambiance: 4/5
Value: 4/5