General Review Details:

• Reviewed Restaurant: Fusion 4
• Review Date: Wednesday 11th February 2009
• Current Weather: Rainy Evening (10 Degrees)

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Piccante Restaurants Web Awards:

The Piccante Ratings:

Restaurant Ratings:

Restaurant Ambience: 9/10

Restaurant Hygiene & Layout: 8/10

Restrooms Hygiene & Layout: 9/10

Overall Service: 8/10

Value For Money: 9/10

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Food Ratings:

Timing & Followup: 8/10

Presentation: 8/10

Food Taste: 10/10

Menu Variety: 6/10

Wine List Variety: 9/10

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Overall Piccante Rating

9/10

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In-Depth Review:

Getting There:

Fusion4 is not one of the easiest restaurants to spot or simply to just bump into however it is definitely one of the restaurants on the Maltese islands that is worth every effort for finding its location. The restaurant is situated just a short walk from the back of the Central Bank. Take a look at our Piccante Tracker on Restaurant’s Detail Page and you will surely be able to find the spot! A lot of Parking Space is also available both near the Central Bank and in front of Fusion 4 itself.

This restaurant lies underground, and therefore is totally free from the street noise. It is good to notice that although the restaurant is one storey down, it has facilities to enable disabled people go down using a chair lift.

(The Entrance To Fusion 4)
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(The Stairs Equipped With Electrical Chair Lift)

(Going Down To Fusion 4)

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The Restaurant:

Once inside the restaurant, you could feel that you went through some time travel and went back to 450 years ago. The style of this restaurant, which lies literally inside the Valletta Bastions, is that of medieval times. The authentic walls and arched ceiling gives the impression that you are still in the Knights era. In a room which is apart from the rest of the restaurant, one could find the bar, where one could stay there and chat without being heard from the restaurant area. The bar has a wood wreck, where bottles of wine, spirits and liqueurs are stacked and also some tables where one could stay and eat also.

In the restaurant area, the tables are comfortable and well spaced. The light in this restaurant is not very intense, which makes you feel more comfortable and relaxed. The background music is an added asset to the harmony of this place. On a more romantic and traditional note, candles can be found on every table. Although we went on a very cold night, the temperature inside was warm, making our stay more comfortable.

Once inside the restaurant we were told that they hold an exhibition. Obviously, we went to see what this consisted of. All we can say is that it is astonishing. Here one could see different figures which the Maltese community consisted about 100 years ago. One could find figures such as the Shoe Polisher, a priest, a notary, a blacksmith and much more. These figures are of real life scale and also mechanized, you can actually see the figures moving, singing, and other noises that represent the various characters.

We only have one disappointment, which is we could not eat in the beautiful terrace due to bad weather. We went in the terrace to watch it, and it is perfect. The terrace is encapsulated within the bastions, but one could also enjoy a view of the surrounding area. Trees planted in the terrace complete this very harmonic area.

WiFi Connection: Not Available.

(Inside The Restaurant)
.(Inside The Restaurant)
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(Art Exhibition)
.(Inside The Bar Area)
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The Service:

At Fusion4 no Silver Service is available but still as soon as we stepped inside the restaurant we were greeted by the owner of the place (Edgar) who was very friendly and welcoming! After a little chat with him, we also met Chef Martin, who spoke to us about his passion to create different food. Then, we were given a table and the menu. We ordered and the drinks and wine were served immediately. Serving time is very good, with no excess waiting between dishes (and in the case that the restaurant is filled up, the art exhibition available will surely make the wait worthwhile). Overall, the service is welcoming, with very friendly staff always serving you with a smile.

(Our Selected Table)
.(Our Selected Table With No Camera Flash)
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The Food:

Menu: The menu of Fusion 4 at the very first glimpse is a simple one, consisting of around a small amount of 5 Starters and 5 Main Course Dishes, however when you start to take a more active role in reading through the menu you will start to appriciate the complexity that accompanies these so seemed simple dishes.

Each dish available on the menu is very well describe with extensive information highlighting almost each and every ingredient included. Apart from that another unique characteristic of Fusion 4 is the fact that, every dish served is special in its own ways, having both the recipe and preparation method used by the Chef to be special and unique.

On the Menu of Fusion 4 one should not expect to find dishes such as any kind of Pasta whatsoever, however in the limited selection available one will find almost full range of meats varying Beef Fillet, Seafood Items such as Crayfish & Lobsters, Organic Chicken and Rabbit. We were also informed that a Fenkata Night is held every Thursday at Fusion 4, where one can find a range of dishes consisting of Rabbit, cooked and prepared in the Traditional Maltese way.  On Weekends, seafood such as Crayfish, Fresh Shrimps, and Lobsters are served as a main specialty.

It is also good to mention that every dish available on Fusion 4′s Menu is flexible, in the sense that if you would like to exclude/include some ingredients or prefer that your dish is to be cooked in a special manner to suit your tastes, the Chef will have no problems to cater for such requests.

Finally there is also a small yet interesting selection Desserts to choose from and a Fixed Menu is available at an astonishing price of just 26.50 Euros Per Person.

Wine List: Very well varied wine list is available at this restaurant. Wines on the wine list come from all over the world, Maltese, Italian, French, Spanish, Chilean, Argentinean, South African, Australian, New Zealand, North American, Moroccan, Lebanese and Mexican. Obviously, the wines available come from different types such as Red, White, Rose, Sparkling and Champagne. If one is searching for a typical region, he could find it in this wine list, because, wines from the major regions such as Burgundy, Bordeaux, Piemonte and many others are all present in this list. The prices are very reasonable, obviously varying with the quality of wine you choose. Our choice was Santa Digna, a Shiraz from Chile, year 2005 .

Our Selection: At Fusion 4 for Starters we opted for Fresh Smoked Salmon With An Avocado, Tomatoes And Onion Salsa, And With A Lemon Basil And Chive Dressing together with Pan Fried Rabbit Liver With Caramelized Onions In A Rich Crème fraîche, Pan Juice And Wholegrain Mustard Sauce, Served With Garlic Crostini And Salad Garnish . The Fresh Smoked Salmon is a very common dish however the way it is prepared at Fusion 4, gives a personal touch to its taste. First of all David was surprised with the amount of Salmon Pieces served on dish, which amounted to 5 Pieces. The taste was really good and the Avocado portions served on every piece really complimented the Salmon’s taste. An abundant portion of Fresh Salad was also served with a gentle touch of olive oil. The dishes ordered by Neil which is The rabbit liver, was delicious. It could be noticed that the liver was very fresh, because it was very tender. The liver was immersed in a warm and creamy sauce. The sauce was extremely good, and accompanies very well the richness of the rabbit liver. Some pieces of crunchy bread along with fresh vegetables were served with this dish.

Just after the excellent starters, we decided to pay a visit to the Art Exhibition, while waiting for our Main Course dishes which were served around 15 Minutes later. As for Main Course we decided to go for the Organic Boneless Chicken Thighs Served With A Red Thai Currey, Sweet Chili And Mango Churns Sauce and the Prime Beef Fillet Steak Wrapped In Parma Ham Served With A Rich, Creamy, Mascarpone And Whole Grain Mustard Sauce. Starting with the Organic Boneless Chicken, this dish is surely another delicacy which Chef Martin has well prepared. To start with the served chicken itself is an Organic Chicken (follow the link for more information about Organic Chickens), which is surely not the same as the common Chickens that we find in typical dishes. Next the set of ingredients which were chosen for this dish combined very well to bring out a very good taste. You could taste very well the Thai curry but at the same time on the background one could taste the sweetness of the honey. The ordered Prime Beef Fillet Steak was also excellent in taste, preparation and requested degree of cooking (Ordered Medium Rare: Click Here To See Possible Degrees Of Cooking Of Beef Fillet). The Parma Ham wrapped around the Beef Fillet gives it an excellent differing taste at every bite while the rich and creamy Mascarpone sauce (which the whole dish was immersed with) was once again perfect in every aspect, providing this dish once more with the right personal touch which Chef Martin provides at Fusion 4.

To complement both these dishes, two plates of roast potatoes and vegetables with Cheese Sauce Toppings were served.

Almost completely filled up with the so far excellent dishes provided we moved on to order some of the recommended desserts by Edgar which included Home Made Banofee Pie Topped With Fresh Bananas And Fresh Cream and Creamy White Chocolate And Crunchy Honey Comb Mousse, Topped With Milk Chocolate Honeycomb Shaving. The white chocolate dessert surely kept up the excellent standard of all the food served throughout the dinner. The soft white chocolate served with a topping of milk chocolate and honeycomb shaving……… was a new dessert to Neil, but he will surely remember it as one of the best desserts ever had. If you are a fan of chocolate, you must have this dessert any time soon! The Home Made Banofee Pie stood up to the competition from the White Chocolate Dessert. As soon as the very first piece of the Banofee Biscuit, topped Fresh Bananas sliced under a layer of Fresh Cream with sprinkled cocoa powder, reached David’s tastebuds he realized what an exquisite dessert he had standing in front of him.

Our Food Experience: Overall the food served to us was exceptionally good, very well presented and prepared. Apart from the dishes mentioned above, we also got the chance of taste some appetizers which included the home made rabbit ravioli and sweet and sour pork balls which although we did not dedicated a write-up for, they are equally good an once more unique in taste as all the dishes at Fusion 4. What is sure is that when you try the food served at this restaurant you will surely be looking forward for your next visit.

(Fresh Smoked Salmon)
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(Fresh Smoked Salmon)
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(Pan Fried Rabbit Liver)
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(Pan Fried Rabbit Liver)
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(Prime Fillet Beef)
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(Prime Fillet Beef)
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(Organic Boneless Chicken)
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(Organic Boneless Chicken)
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(Crayfish Ordered By Edgar Himself)
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(Banofee Pie Topped With Fresh Bananas And Fresh Cream)
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(Creamy White Chocolate And Crunchy Honey Comb Mousse)
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The Bill:

Total: 70.80 Euros (Two Persons)

The prices on the Menu are at an average of 15 Euros Per Dish and the classification of Fusion 4 as regards to pricing is a High-Low one. However considering this classification and taking into account the provided Service, Ambience, Art Exhibition, Location, and Excellent Unique Dishes, it will still prove that this restaurant is excellent when it comes to look at it in the terms of Value For Money.  The prices of the food is comparatively low when considering the richness of the dishes and a Lobster at an amazing price of approximately 28 Euros confirms this statement right away.

Our Overall Opinion:

Overall, our dinner at Fusion 4 was a fantastic experience. The place which is antique, the exhibition present at the restaurant, the friendly and helpful staff, the great food served, the wines available and the setting of the restaurant all add up to a perfect dinner at surprising low prices at this very special place in the heart of the capital city Valletta. If you want to go back in time and experience the old days (whether thanks to the ambience of the restaurant itself or the art exhibition available) and at the same time enjoy a beautiful and tasteful dinner, Fusion 4 should definitly be on the top of your list.

View The Full Restaurant Gallery:

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Fusion 4 Traditions And Crafts Exhibition:


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