Before traveling to Malta in March 2024 I looked up what their local food specialties were. One that got me excited was horse. I did some research and found a restaurant that appeared to be the best option: Nenu the Artisan Baker, not too far from our hotel. Here are some sample menu items that caught my attention: local snails in Nenu's special sauce, fried rabbit liver, Maltese-grown pork belly, spaghettis with octopus sauce, blistered octopus, Nenu braised horse meat and traditional Maltese rabbit fried in garlic. I made reservations for us our second evening in Malta.
I ordered the braised horse meat in red wine thyme gravy, as did my brother-in-law Stan. It came with some grilled vegetables and some small potatoes. I ate part of the horse meat, but I was very disappointed in it and didn't finish it. It did not have the typical sweetness of horse I've eaten before and was quite ordinary, like a very ordinary beef dish. The vegetables and potatoes were better, but still not great. Nenu seemed like a great restaurant choice, but I was disappointed as was Judy, who'd tried to get me to go somewhere else.
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I've had horse a number of times: in Japan, in China, in Kazakhstan and in Iceland at two different restaurants, here and here. Each time it has been very good. The Maltese horse dish was decidedly inferior.
Bummer. It's hard when reality and expectation clash.
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