Looking for a Fresh Menu to up the Level? Seed is your answer! 👌

As the seasons change, from the scorching heat of Malta’s Summer to the mellow temperatures, heavy rains and even heavier humidity of the Autumn & Winter months, so changes the menu at the Hyatt Regency’s Seed. A warm welcome to the restaurant through Thyme lobby allows you the opportunity to sit back on their comfortable sofas and sip at a smoothly prepared drink of your choosing. But when Chef Noel Azzopardi summons you to your table, you know the good times are about to begin. 👏

Here's what we had coming our way... and boy was it good!

The Menu features 2 past dishes in the Starters section, as well as a signature Seed tart with their star ingredient: the mushroom. The mains present a huge selection of meats, each with their own sides and an interesting vegetarian risotto that peaks in creativity. This selection will be available right through to the Festive Season, so this year we'll have a whole lot more to celebrate! 👨‍🍳

The Starters at Seed Set us Right 

We started off the meal with a selection of starters together with a special that quite frankly brought a beaming light to all our faces! While we completely understand the awe and prestige of a special, it breaks our hearts that we won’t be able to try this beauty again. The special of the evening was a Tuna Belly Carpaccio served on a in-house brioche. 🐟

This special was so so special. We want more!

First things first, if you’ve not been to Seed, you need to know that their brioche is the most stunning contribution to the world of bread. And if you’ve been to Seed and not tried the brioche, be aware that your dining experience could have been 100 times better even with just a teeny weeny brioche crumb added to your plate. So… that plus the smooth, simple, perfectly oiled and seasoned, thinly sliced tuna belly topped with fresh dill shot our appreciation of this great restaurant we call Seed to an entirely new level. But alas, it’s only a special that will remain in our memories for wishful mouthfuls to come. 💌

The rest of the starters were equally on point. We all enjoyed the selection and appreciated the complexity and variety in the menu. Here’s what we were presented with:

Warm wild mushroom tart, goat’s cheese custard, raw and pickled mushroom and hazelnuts

What can we say about this? It’s a classic Seed tart, so you know the vessel is as perfect as it gets, and it features their supreme ingredient too. The way the Seed kitchen handles mushrooms is simply magical. I’ve said it in pretty much every season’s menu review and this dish didn’t disappoint either. The goat’s cheese custard was smooth, luscious and velvety with the right puckery tartness and perfect salt levels. The mushroom textures of raw and pickled components were clean and earthy in flavour with the raw elements on the dish with a contrast of that slight pickling agent that topped the tart. Finished with a nutty hazelnut speckling, this was the perfect way to incorporate their mushroom wizardry and tart fascination. 🍄

This tart is the tartiest of tarts and we're living for it!

Some other starters that graced our table were the Grilled brioche Scottish white crab, almonds, beetroot and lemon aioli - a sweeter dish that leaves the palette entirely clean and ready for the next serving; the brioche was excellence, the crab was delicate, the almonds gave a sense of depth and the beetroot gel that elegantly sat atop the crab complimented the sweetness of the crab with a sweet-yet-earthy tone. The lemon aioli brought a vibrant freshness that was definitely needed in the dish. Not an overall favourite amongst the table, but a clever menu item and an interesting one at that. 🦀

When plating takes over... white crab lives under that beetroot gel!

The Braised pork croquettes, celeriac remoulade and a soft herb emulsion and the Pecorino agnolotti, guanciale and truffle emulsion were two top contenders from the starters' choice. The croquettes were filled with a smooth and rich braised pulled pork with a perfectly crunchy outer shell. The remoulade was the perfect counter balance of freshness that the fried croquette needed and further balanced with the herby cream that we layered atop our beautiful combo. 🐷

Crunchy on the outside and super porky on the inside.

When it comes to guanciale, truffle and any sort of pasta, the FoodBlog crew are always keen to try out an elevated version of their favourite Carbonara dish. We’ve tried these before, the carbonara agnolotti, freshly made in-house with a Pecorino filling that bursts in your mouth with every bite. The cute little specks of guanciale that bob around in the newly added truffle emulsion add a salty pop to the grounding truffle aroma that fills the dish. Needless to say, we loved this one. 😍

Guanciale, oh, oh, oh oh! We're so happy this made a come back!

We moved on to the mains after a couple of shared laughs and a toast to 1 year of FoodBlog’s determination and passion for the food industry in Malta; all while seated at one of our favourite restaurants on the island. We couldn’t have planned this better… and boy were we in for a tasty couple of dishes. 🏆

Seed’s Main Dishes made an Entrance

Our mains came out as though they were timed to a beautiful symphony, carefully placed atop our table with a brief explanation to accompany our presentation. We all looked at each other and smiled, this was the Seed experience we all know and love, the reason we’re so excited to come back and try the menu every season, be it Spring, Summer or Winter! 📅

Our mains were divine, to say the least. With a selection of red meat, poultry, game, fish and a creamy vegetarian option. Each dish, bar the veggie risotto came with a side of mash potatoes which, if you’ve read our previous reviews, know how damn on point it is. The mash is consistent throughout each dish, which of course means that it caters for every main. You might think of this as a kitchen cop out, here are the reasons why it’s an ingenious idea:

1. 🥔 it’s hella good: it’s creamy, it’s light, it’s beautifully presented alongside a main protein and it’s versatile. 🥔
2. 🥔 it carries flavour so well: and by flavour we mean the ample portions of jus, dressing, beurre blanc, emulsion or whatever sauce component the kitchen serves with the protein - so in essence, every mash is different from the rest, it just happens to come from the same pot to start with. 🥔
3. 🥔 it’s not the only side dish served with your main protein, so doesn’t get boring and all you foodies who share your plates will get the full Seed experience when you go halfsies. 🥔

I find that sides are kind of the selling point to any protein main dish. It’s all good and dandy that you like beef, but what if it’s served with lousy sides that simply do not give you life. Would you still get it? Luckily, the Slow cooked fillet of beef comes with a pan seared foie gras, a caramelized onion tart and beef jus that was packed with flavour that bled right into the buttery mash. 🐮

Hi, yes, that's my order - on repeat... keep it coming!

Let’s take a moment to appreciate F.O.I.E. G.R.A.S. It’s luscious, it’s creamy, it’s gamey, it’s smooth, it’s caramelized, it’s beyond words delicious. I could live on foie gras for the rest of my life, embrace the obscene obesity and keep pan searing that damn fine piece of pumped up liver. Seriously, I think I might do this. And the glorious portion at Seed is plentiful and perfectly prepared. From the bottom of my calorie-ridden heart, thank you Chef Noel. ❤️❤️❤️

Other mains included the Pan seared Scottish salmon, brandade beignet, turnip, tomato emulsion and beurre blanc, the Pan seared chicken breast, confit leg and Pecorino croquette, baby carrots and jus as well as the Pan seared duck breast with confit leg, pistachio and chevre baklava, pickled beetroot, creamed potato and jus. 🐔

Salmon and beurre blanc are the OG BFFs.

A lot of pan searing later, our mains were slowly dissected and evaluated. Delicious they all were, technically correct too and interesting of course, also. The salmon was as succulent as they get with a beurre blanc to remind you what life’s all about, the duck was seasoned nicely, the skin could have been a little bit crispier but the baklava was probably the most delicious morsel of food on the entire table. 🦆

Perfectly medium rare - as every duck breast should be.

When it comes to chicken, I never get too excited. Chicken breast is chicken breast and when you’ve made the switch to thighs, there’s no looking back. For a chicken breast dish, this plate was good, great even. The chicken was tender, the Pecorino croquette was a great addition to the dish and the baby carrots were perfectly cooked. We greatly hope however that patrons to restaurants would grow more accustomed to chicken thighs, giving Chefs the opportunity to work with a cut that, by nature, is juicier, much more tender and packed with flavour - BUT remains slightly pink scaring diners off with the woes of ‘undercooked chicken’. It’s not undercooked Karen, it’s a thigh, there’s a texture difference. 🐔

Winner, winner... chicken dinner!

There was a star of the meal that made us all debate its flavour profile:

Caramelized celeriac ‘Acquerello’ risotto, roasted almonds and coffee syrup

This dish is firstly an ode to creativity. Using coffee syrup as a dressing gives the dish an innovative approach that is not often seen in local menus. The build up of the dish is based on rather sweet components: this is mostly seen with the choice of caramelized root vegetables such as celeriac boasting celery-esque vibes and a nutty flavour, further enhanced with the roasted almonds scattered on top. ☕

You stumped us for a second there mister!

Our views on the dish were mixed. The flavour profile was interesting, I do think that you should give it a try if you’re curious at all. The texture of the risotto was creamy and decadent, almost like a rice pudding. It was smooth and subtle all the while round. If I could have added something to the dish, it would have been some sort of umami pop, perhaps a yeasty component, miso paste or even a rich mushroom cream - if we’re sticking to the veggie route. 🤔

There’s Always Room for Dessert at Seed

Luckily, we got to try all the four desserts at Seed and there’s no going wrong with their selection, it all depends on what you fancy and what your meal needs to end on for that night. We got to sample them all and truly felt that the Warm chocolate fondant was the clear winner of the night. Mostly because that ooze is simply to die for but also because the interesting pairing of passion fruit ice-cream gave the heavily popular dessert a new feel. 🍫

Passion fruit and chocolate - 2022 trend prediction, perhaps?

The Apple, caramel, thyme tart with fior di latte ice-cream; perfectly plated in the signature Seed tart mould, this dish was a cold tart that took us by surprise with the savoury element that came with the addition of thyme to the dish. The smooth caramel and the floral fior di latte were the perfect compliment to the cooked apples. 🍎

Savoury elements in dessert always make it more interesting.

The best thing about sharing is that you get to sample the full menu without getting overly stuffed. The last two desserts of the night were the Pistachio financier that boasted flavours of local honey and freeze dried raspberries for a lighter, finer sweet bite to end the night. 😋

This was a sweet and fruity finish. Kudos.

And the Double chocolate mousse, cocoa nib and almond brûlée, marzipan and tangerine ice-cream. Delicious and luxurious with the chocolate, nutty and citrus vibes all melding into one perfect mouthful. 🍊

Citrus and chocolate are always a great combo in the colder months.

An excellently composed a la carte menu that will luckily be available until the end of December! That is, until the kitchen clears their pantry and restocks their fresh supply for a New Years Eve special that will crack in 2022 in undoubtable style, flair and exquisite flavour combos! 🥂

Seed is a gem that we at FoodBlog honestly believe everyone should visit. We chose to celebrate our 1 year anniversary here for Pete’s sake, we can’t shout its praises any louder! For a year of support and a constant mind-boggling display of curious ingredients prepared perfectly for our palettes to enjoy, thank you Seed, Chef Noel and beyond for always sending us away with very satisfied bellies, a light buzz and great memories to share with our food family. Cheers. 🙏

FoodBlog Mission Statement: The above opinions are based on the reviewer’s particular personal experience during the restaurant visit. FoodBlog’s primary aim is to give restaurant owners and chefs an insider-view to their clientele's experience; highlighting their strongest suits and applauding all floor and kitchen staff for a job well done while making them aware of the personal improvements we feel would elevate their restaurant. FoodBlog critiques are intended to improve the Food and Beverage experience for diners and to encourage excellence in culinary and hospitality professionals.