Smugglers' Cave — Restaurant in Żebbuġ

We were 7, and we arrived without a booking. A table inside the air conditioned restaurant was found for us, giving us welcome respite from the outside heat. The restaurant is homely and traditional and full of locals, who seem to flock to this restaurant over others nearby. Anna was our waitress. She was friendly and very professional and efficient. Admittedly we are a demanding and fussy bunch, however, Anna professionally and kindly accommodated us throughout the evening. The orders were taken and relayed back to us to ensure that all was understood. Drinks were brought quickly without mistakes. The food when it arrived was absolutely delicious. Again we are a critical and fussy bunch ! My octopus stew was cooked to perfection. The octopus was tender, the sauce was rich with fresh herbs coming through. All other guests were equally impressed with their meals. The dining experience was a perfect ending to our wonderful day in Marsalforn Gozo. This was the first restaurant that we have eaten in Malta and Gozo during our holiday where all the stars seemed to align, and what makes it so wonderful is that we hadn’t even booked ! Well done and thank you ! I cannot recommend this restaurant...

A lovely place for friendly service and good food at a great price.

On a quiet Monday night in November we were looking for decent food at a reasonable price so walked past the main restaurants on the front and looked towards the establishments set back a little.

Although at first slightly apprehensive of the signs promoting cheap Stella and Heineken, we were attracted by the menu and felt we should give Smugglers a go. We were very pleased we did.

We ordered two pizzas and a bottle of the local red wine, the waitress quizzed us whether we wouldn’t rather opt of a litre carafe for a Euro more which we foolishly declined (on our return two nights later we made the right choice and opted for the carafe). The pizzas were heavily laden with delicious toppings and the wine was fruity and very drinkable, there was almost too much for the two of us to finish.

Of all the places we have eaten in Marsalforn over the week, this is the most welcoming and enjoyable, I would recommend...

In previous years, their terrace was always packed as it gets the last of the sun, but this year it was virtually empty, when they could be bothered to open at all. We visited this time in October and Smuggler's seemed to open only erratically. When they were, you weren't made to feel very welcome. One evening we went for a drink after dinner, around 10pm, and the waiter/owner (couldn't tell which but we'd seen him pushing a pram around the terrace a few days earlier so possibly the latter) was quite reluctant to seat us. So we had one quick drink and left. There are far better and more welcoming places to choose so we didn't...