Brunch at Danny’s Kitchen & Deli is our exciting 1st ever review!

Danny’s Kitchen & Deli is a cozy, good looking eatery, high on tasty breakfasts, lunches and of course, brunches!

Located amid showrooms and warehouses, one could be forgiven for thinking the location of ‘Danny’s Kitchen & Deli is not exactly the best. In addition, the place sides on one of the busiest roads I can think of on these islands.

Then again, which road in this country isn’t busy these days? Even though it has recently celebrated its second year of service, you might just have driven past it without giving it a glance, too busy swerving around the variety of cars or vans usually parked in the middle of the road. Anyway, traffic rant over.

“What?! A place with really good food? There?” I skeptically asked Charlene when she told me about it. “Trust me with good brunch places” she said, “it’s good”. As soon as we walk in, I have a nagging feeling she is right (again). It is a Sunday afternoon and the place is buzzing. Good for us we have a reservation for brunch (Charlene, again).

The smell of food coming from the open kitchen is very inviting whilst the yellow and grey interior, with plants all around is pleasant, relaxed and informal. ‘Danny’s Kitchen & Deli’ looks like a combination between a modern trendy eatery, and a bar ‘Ta’ dari’ (from my home). It was formerly a snack bar after all, were you would go for tea or coffee and order a ‘ftira biz-zejt’ (which, by the way, is on the menu at Danny’s).

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Danny’s Kitchen & Deli (@dannys_malta)

We are immediately greeted by one of the staff members who informs us that our table is not yet available for our brunch (in all fairness we did arrive a bit early). In the meantime, she invites us to stay on another (reserved) table and have a look at the menu. The choice of wines and beers (written on a small hanging board) is very basic, but don’t forget, this place focuses mostly on breakfasts and lunches.

The variety of homemade juices is ample. We decide for a homemade apple, pineapple and basil juice, and a wild berry iced tea. Food is flying out of the kitchen and it all looks great. So, turning my attention to food, I skip the selection of wraps, salads and burgers, instead drawing my attention towards ‘Danny’s breakfast plate’, which basically Danny’s version of an English breakfast.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Danny’s Kitchen & Deli (@dannys_malta)

I’m almost ready to order the food for my brunch when I notice a special of the day, gloriously written on the main board and spaced away from the rest as if to emphasize its importance. When I was a kid, coming back from school, I loved that smell of fried ‘Lampuki’ taking over the house. There was something special in the way my father used to flour those fillets, creating that ‘Panura’ around the fish, placing them delicately in hot oil until they became brown and crispy.

With those childhood memories in mind, I immediately end the contest and go for the ‘Lampuki and Caponata’ special. Charlene opts for a Spicy Chicken Burger with fries. We also order some Buffalo Chicken Bites as starter because, why not?

Whilst being directed to our table, I realise space is tight here at Danny’s Kitchen & Deli. Tables and chairs are compact, passages quite narrow. I had to be careful not to hit the gentleman behind me whilst sitting down. Whilst waiting for food, I keep fidgeting with my plastic-looking straw.

Couldn’t I get a paper straw like Charlene? Suddenly, the waitress comes up, courteously pointing out how Charlene’s pink-coloured paper straw was chosen because it matched well with the colour of the iced tea. “Um, ok” I say, thinking this is either excellent customer service, or else even the waitress was fed up of my fidgeting. “Is my straw made of plastic?” I add. “It’s biodegradable plastic”. Great! Two thumbs up.

Buffalo Chicken Bites at Danny’s Kitchen & Deli

The Buffalo Chicken Bites come up, and it is a good start. Drenched in spicy red sauce, these boneless chicken bites are tender inside, yet delightfully keep their crusting. The sauce is thick, oily and spicy. The chopped spring onions which gave it an extra bite.

Together, all ingredients work a charm. Having finished the chicken, we are left with quite a bit of sauce and I admit the ‘Malti’ in me was missing that couple of slices of (preferably toasted) bread, which would allow us to dip into such goodness.

Lampuki Special at Danny’s Kitchen & Deli

Next came the ‘Lampuka’. Resting on a bed of caponata, the fish was fresh and tender, but admittedly I would have preferred a crispy skin (no doubt still influenced by a dose of childhood nostalgia). The caponata was nice but lacked that knockout punch. Without saying a word, I ask Charlene what she thinks about both. “I don’t know” she said, “they’re both nice, just a bit bland”.

We both agree that overall the dish is good but just doesn’t come through, leaving us with a sense of what might have been. No complaints about the hand cut fries though, perfectly salted and crunchy, they were a delight.

Spicy Chicken Burger at Danny’s Kitchen & Deli

Meantime, Charlene has tucked in her Spicy Chicken Burger. She looks satisfied but clearly struggling to handle the whole burger. “The sauce is too runny” she says, offering me a taste. Inside this soft homemade golden-brown bun with a black and white sesame seed topping was a chicken burger so tender, with a crust so good, it instantly gave it an edge over any chicken burgers I ate in recent years.

Pity though the spicy mayo was not spicy at all and was so runny it just cascaded down on the plate. In addition, this just made the lower part of the bun soggy, meaning there was no way you could grab this burger without necessitating several napkins afterwards.

Homemade honeycomb ice cream and date brownie and strawberry coconut almond ball at Danny’s Kitchen & Deli

For dessert, homemade honeycomb ice cream sounds too good to turn down, so we decide to share, along with a date brownie and a strawberry coconut almond ball. Both sounded nicer than they tasted, with the brownie being just too chewy, and the coconut ball having too much, well, coconut.

The ice cream made up for this though and allowed us to finish the meal on a high. It was light and perfectly complemented by the crunchy honeycomb bits which melted in my mouth, leaving just enough of a bitter-sweet aftertaste.

In the end, we left ‘Danny’s Kitchen & Deli’ with a full belly and a sense of satisfaction. This is an eatery which had retained its ‘snack-bar soul’, whilst adapting to millennial needs. Most importantly, the food is genuine, and the service is very good. If its breakfast or lunch you are after, I suggest you give Danny’s Kitchen & Deli a try. I know I will, again.

OMGFoodMalta Rating: 7/10