{"id":15000,"date":"2013-08-23T17:03:44","date_gmt":"2013-08-23T15:03:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tasteaway.pl\/en\/?p=15000"},"modified":"2018-06-06T10:21:40","modified_gmt":"2018-06-06T08:21:40","slug":"family-run-tal-furnar-gozo-kind-restaurants-like","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tasteaway.pl\/en\/2013\/08\/23\/family-run-tal-furnar-gozo-kind-restaurants-like\/","title":{"rendered":"Family run Tal-Furnar on Gozo \u2013 the kind of restaurants we like!"},"content":{"rendered":"

You all know that we love eating \ud83d\ude42 We eat everyday stuff and some more festive food. Usually out \u2013 on the one hand we like it, and on the other we don\u2019t have too much time to cook something delicious at home in this fast-moving world. Where do we like to eat? I guess there are plenty of places we like going to: in Warsaw, Poland, Spain and also in Italy, Hungary, Bruges, Europe and in the world in general.<\/p>\n

We have our favourite spots that we come back to, but we also have specific preferences when it comes to choosing new places to visit.<\/b> You can say that we like extremes. On the one hand we love \u201cgood restaurants\u201d (elegant, with delicious food and a chef that\u2019s more an artist than a cook)\u2026 but let\u2019s be honest, if you tell me that you never wanted to eat in such a place I won\u2019t believe you \ud83d\ude42 As a popular advert stated: \u201ceveryone likes to give themselves a bit of luxury\u201d\u2026 At least from time to time! \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

But we also like different kind of places.. small restaurants, joints and bars that are charming, simple and offer delicious local, home-made-like food. The local element is usually strong in such places and sometimes you can feel like at home there. <\/b>I guess these places work best if they\u2019re run by a family and you can feel it in every meal. We enduringly seek for such places on our every trip. And what\u2019s important \u2013 we usually find them.<\/p>\n

Why do we like them?<\/b><\/p>\n

– the food<\/b> \u2013 simple and delicious, with no unnecessarily weird and artistic looking meals<\/p>\n

– the service<\/b> \u2013 usually it\u2019s less efficient than in \u201cthe good restaurants\u201d, but most of the time it\u2019s friendly and nice<\/p>\n

– the owners<\/b> \u2013 who often ask how we like the food, join us for the meal or want to have a glass of wine with their customers..<\/p>\n

– unpretentiousness<\/b> \u2013 in such places we\u2019re not afraid of Maks running around, laughing too loud, playing, etc. as such behaviour is acceptable\u2026<\/p>\n

– flexibility<\/b> \u2013 such places are usually very flexible and happy to answer unusual demands \u2013 there\u2019s no chef to shout at them for it!<\/p>\n

While we were on Gozo<\/b>, we found a place called\u00a0Tal-Furnar Bar & Restaurant\u00a0<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0in\u00a0Xaghra <\/b>that may serve as a perfect example of an above-mentioned place. If you want to feel the atmosphere we just wrote about, check it if you ever end up anywhere near.<\/p>\n

The restaurant specialises in Maltese cuisine and \u2026Gozitan? :). Tal Furnar is a bakery that\u2019s been established more than 100 years ago! And it has been run by the same family ever since\u2026 It\u2019s known for its wood-fired oven which is used to prepare the delicacies served there. They bake bread and Gozitan ftira <\/i>which is a kind of flat bread stuffed with some spicy filling (sausage, vegetables) or with something sweet (fruits). Unfortunately we didn\u2019t try those, but you can see how they make it\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The restaurant, which was established only a few years ago is located near the bakery and looks quite modest. A few tables on the pavement, just by the street\u2026 I was a bit afraid to go and have a dinner at Tal-Furnar Bar & Restaurant<\/b> as I imagined myself not eating but chasing Maks and saving him from the imminent death under the passing cars. But the crowd \u00a0in this \u201cshabby\u201d restaurant every day was a clear sign that we have to go there. So we went there, and then again. We would have gone there even more if it wasn\u2019t for the flight back to Warsaw\u2026<\/p>\n

In the restaurant you will surely meet Tony, an old guy and the owner of the place, who starts sitting next to people and talking to his wife and daughter after 11 pm. They all bring the food together, look after the guests and make sure that everything tastes good\u2026 but they have some time for themselves as well, when the guests start to leave, they sit at one table and have dinner on the spot. Credibility and trust \u2013 two more things we like this kind of places for!<\/p>\n

Tal-Furmar<\/b> sometimes hosts special events such as pig roast in their famous oven, which you need to book a table for in advance. Unfortunately we were already on our way to Warsaw when this even was taking place.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\"Tal<\/a><\/dt>\n
a couple of tables, quiet street \u2014 a perfect evening<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\"Tal<\/a><\/dt>\n
a 100-years-old wood-fired oven<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\"Tal<\/a><\/dt>\n
11.30 pm \u2014 we’ve already finished but the owners are still eating; on the table: house wine and “Kinnie”, which is famous on Malta<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\"Tal<\/a><\/dt>\n
simple interior<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n

What is there to eat in Tal Furnar?<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll start with simple garlic bread served with sundried tomato salsa<\/b> which me and Maks reaaally liked. Nothing special, the bread was a bit burnt, but it tasted heavenly! Maks knows what\u2019s good as he devoured the meal vigorously!<\/p>\n

Another must eat is called furnaretti. <\/b>These are large dumplings stuffed with rabbit and served with caramelised onion. You can treat it as a starter or a main course. You\u2019ll surely remember the dumplings as they are quite unique yet delicious. We still talk about them with our friends that we spent time with on Gozo. You can see them in the top of the entry. They deserve this honourable place!<\/p>\n

Fish soup and seafood fans should try a light and delicate aljotta<\/b>, a Gozitan fish soup with seafood and rice.<\/p>\n

Maks recommends penne (or spaghetti) with rabbit<\/b> for children. A \u201cstarter\u201d meal is so big that it was enough for me and Maks (even after we ate that garlic bread!:)), and for a take away lunch for Maks on the next day. Spicy spaghetti with Maltese sausage and tomatoes<\/b> it\u2019s also very tasty, not so original though. The menu also includes ravioli with Gozitan cheese.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\"Tal-Furnar,<\/a><\/dt>\n
garlic bread and delicious sun-dried tomatoes salsa<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\"aljotta,<\/a><\/dt>\n
Maltese “aljotta”<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\"Tal<\/a><\/dt>\n
penne with rabbit sauce<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\"Tal<\/a><\/dt>\n
spaghetti with tomatoes, garlic, chilli and Maltese sausage<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n

For main course<\/b> at Tal-Furnar<\/b> you can have both delicious meats (pork, lamb) or typically Maltese bragioli beef chops<\/b>. The chops at Tal-Furnar are delicate, the bits of meat thin and stuffed with meat and olives. \u0141ukasz’s mouth still waters when he is thinking of them.<\/p>\n

I fell in love with the fish meal: fish with delicious tomato sauce with olives, calamari and shrimps. Unfortunately it\u2019s impossible to eat a whole meal yourself. It was absolutely delicious even though it looked like a pile of fish on the plate \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\"Tal<\/a><\/dt>\n
Maltese\u00a0bragioli<\/em><\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\"Tal<\/a><\/dt>\n
pork with figs and Porto sauce<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\"Tal<\/a><\/dt>\n
fresh fish mix:\u00a0<\/em>freshly caught fish with tomato and capers sauce, shrimps and\u00a0grilled calamari<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n

Big meals and delicious house wine at Tal-Furnar made us quite full and partly unable to eat anything more. But we managed to try banoffee pie<\/b> for dessert. An English dessert as Malta and England where linked in the past \ud83d\ude09 and there\u2019s still lots of English people there. Banoffee<\/b> consists of bananas, toffee and cream (as the name says: banana + toffee). \u0141ukasz said it tasted \u201chomespun yet nice\u201d (I was too full to try + I don\u2019t like bananas!) \u2013 just like Tal-Furnar<\/b>!<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\"Tal<\/a><\/dt>\n
sweets<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n

Tal-Furnar seems like our kind of place on Gozo<\/b>. If we ever get back there, we will definitely have lunch or dinner there. It\u2019s also very cheap. A pasta-starter costs 5-6 Euro! It\u2019s the same pasta that I ate with Maks together and took home for the next day! \ud83d\ude42 Remember about the place while visiting Malta\/Gozo.<\/p>\n

Practical info:<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

Tal-Furnar Bar&Restaurant<\/b><\/p>\n

136 Gnien Xibla Str<\/p>\n

XRA 2401 Ix-Xaghra, Malta<\/p>\n

tal-furnar-restaurant@gozoliving.com<\/p>\n

open daily 9 am-11 pm \u2013 remember about siesta!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

You all know that we love eating \ud83d\ude42 We eat everyday stuff and some more festive food. Usually out \u2013 on the one hand we like it, and on the other we don\u2019t have too much time to cook something delicious at home in this fast-moving world. Where do we like to eat? I guess […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15741,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2982,2984,3009,3003,2981],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nFamily run Tal-Furnar on Gozo \u2013 the kind of restaurants we like!<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Tal-Furnar restaurant in Gozo. One of the best places we've seen on our trip to Malta.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow\" \/>\n<meta name=\"googlebot\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta name=\"bingbot\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tasteaway.pl\/en\/2013\/08\/23\/family-run-tal-furnar-gozo-kind-restaurants-like\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Family run Tal-Furnar on Gozo \u2013 the kind of restaurants we like!\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Tal-Furnar restaurant in Gozo. One of the best places we've seen on our trip to Malta.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.tasteaway.pl\/en\/2013\/08\/23\/family-run-tal-furnar-gozo-kind-restaurants-like\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Tasteaway\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-08-23T15:03:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-06-06T08:21:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.tasteaway.pl\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2013\/08\/New__DSC35191.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"640\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"425\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.tasteaway.pl\/en\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.tasteaway.pl\/en\/\",\"name\":\"Tasteaway\",\"description\":\"The most popular food&travel blog in Poland\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":\"https:\/\/www.tasteaway.pl\/en\/?s={search_term_string}\",\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.tasteaway.pl\/en\/2013\/08\/23\/family-run-tal-furnar-gozo-kind-restaurants-like\/#primaryimage\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.tasteaway.pl\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2013\/08\/New__DSC35191.jpg\",\"width\":640,\"height\":425},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.tasteaway.pl\/en\/2013\/08\/23\/family-run-tal-furnar-gozo-kind-restaurants-like\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.tasteaway.pl\/en\/2013\/08\/23\/family-run-tal-furnar-gozo-kind-restaurants-like\/\",\"name\":\"Family run Tal-Furnar on Gozo \\u2013 the kind of restaurants we like!\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.tasteaway.pl\/en\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.tasteaway.pl\/en\/2013\/08\/23\/family-run-tal-furnar-gozo-kind-restaurants-like\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2013-08-23T15:03:44+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-06-06T08:21:40+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.tasteaway.pl\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/dc868655589e8a642903872504924ca8\"},\"description\":\"Tal-Furnar restaurant in Gozo. One of the best places we've seen on our trip to Malta.\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.tasteaway.pl\/en\/2013\/08\/23\/family-run-tal-furnar-gozo-kind-restaurants-like\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.tasteaway.pl\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/dc868655589e8a642903872504924ca8\",\"name\":\"Natalia\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.tasteaway.pl\/en\/#personlogo\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5203418a5f7f6d86ea2d6b1f95c16db9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Natalia\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tasteaway.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15000"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tasteaway.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tasteaway.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tasteaway.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tasteaway.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15000"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.tasteaway.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15000\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16358,"href":"https:\/\/www.tasteaway.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15000\/revisions\/16358"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tasteaway.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15741"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tasteaway.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15000"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tasteaway.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15000"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tasteaway.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15000"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}