Ta‘ Rosina on Gozo

Taxi driver George goes into raptures when we tell him our destination. Rosina in the small village of Sannat on Gozo has the best rabbit on the island. According to George, her fish pie with lampuki, the national fish of the Maltese Islands, is also to die for. The small restaurant in the center of the village on Pjazza Xelina only has a few tables. Spirits are piled up behind the bar and photos of their guests hang close together on the walls.

Rosina Tabone with guests at the counter of her restaurant. The room has only a few tables and is popular with villagers and guests from Malta for the traditionally cooked national dishes fenek (rabbit) and lampuki (dolphinfish) / © Photo: Georg Berg
Rosina Tabone with guests at the counter of her restaurant. The room has only a few tables and is popular with villagers and guests from Malta for the traditionally cooked national dishes fenek (rabbit) and lampuki (dolphinfish) / © Photo: Georg Berg

Eat what’s on the table!

There is no menu at Rosina Tabone. You eat what she prepares in her small kitchen. This depends not only on her cooking mood, but often also on the weather, she tells us. If it’s too windy and the waves are too high, the fishermen can’t go out. No dolphinfish in the net means no lampuki pie at Rosina’s. Instead, there might be the traditional rabbit stew Fenek made according to her mother’s recipe or a Beef Olive, a roulade of minced beef with olives and lots of sauce. Only those who reserve at least one day in advance can make requests.

Maltese national dish Fenek at Ta' Rosina. On the wall hangs a signed photo of Angelina Jolie, who was a guest here during filming in Gozo / © Photo: Georg Berg
Maltese national dish fenek at Ta’ Rosina. On the wall hangs a signed photo of Angelina Jolie, who was a guest here during filming in Gozo / © Photo: Georg Berg

Secret tip and neighborhood meeting place

Ta’ Rosina is more than just a restaurant serving local cuisine. It is also a newsroom. This is mainly where the locals meet. To ease Rosina’s workload, the guest at the next table puts a bottle of wine and a few glasses on the table himself. One by one, his fellow regulars join him. A Maltese couple and their English friend sit opposite. We strike up a conversation and they show us a small signed black and white photograph on the wall with all the hidden object pictures. It shows a ballet dancer: Tanya Bayona, an internationally renowned dancer and ballet trainer who now lives in Gozo and Australia. Tanya and Rosina have known each other forever, and the dancer loves Rosina’s traditional cuisine. There are also lots of photos on the wall behind me. A signed photo of Angelina Jolie looks over my shoulder as I eat. In 2014, Jolie produced the film By The Sea in Gozo, starring her and Brad Pitt. Word of Rosina Tabone’s good cooking had also spread to the film set. Rosina, who has spent her whole life in the house on Pjazza Xelina, enjoys being a focal point for so many different people. “I don’t have to go away, the world comes to me,” she says proudly as she says goodbye and stands in the doorway of her restaurant. Above her is the room with the balcony where she was born in 1948, just like her mother before her.

Rosina Tabone in front of her restaurant Ta' Rosina in the village of Sannat on Gozo / © Photo: Georg Berg
Rosina Tabone in front of her restaurant Ta’ Rosina in the village of Sannat on Gozo / © Photo: Georg Berg

Restaurant Ta’ Rosina is open daily from 11am to 1pm and in the evening from 6pm 
Address: 32, Pjazza Xelina, Sannat, Gozo
Phone for reservations +356 79551598

Travel tips Malta and Gozo

Maltese cuisine is characterized by the islands’ eventful history. Malta and Gozo are strategically located on important trade routes in the Mediterranean. Today’s cuisine is characterized by the tastes and preferences of different occupying powers as well as traditional Maltese dishes. In addition to sea salt, capers, olive oil and sun-dried tomatoes are among the Mediterranean delicacies. You should also definitely try the pastizzi pastries baked in fat, the ftira stuffed farmer’s bread and the small round sheep’s milk cheese gbejna. For some years now, the Merill Rural Network has been working on the islands to preserve and promote traditional crafts and bring them closer to tourists, such as the salt harvest of the Cini family on Gozo.

Christmas in Malta and Gozo

In the run-up to Christmas, many streets and squares in Malta and Gozo sparkle. In every village, angels, stars and often the three kings are brought into position. Magnificent fairy lights are strung across the streets and fountains and squares are decorated with figures. Santa Claus is rarely seen. Snowmen are a little more popular, even if the wish for a white Christmas will probably never come true in Malta. Click here for the picture gallery Lametta in Valletta and the report on the Live nativity scene in Għajnsielem on Gozo.

The research trip was supported by VisitMalta and VisitGozo

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