San Tomaso Bar & Restaurant — Restaurant in Marsascala

Possibly one of the worst dining experiences we had. We went to the restaurant to celebrate a relative's birthday. Firstly, the place was not clean at all. The floors were really dirty and there were even discarded masks which the staff didn't even bother to pick up and throw away. Secondly, one of the tables designated for the party was invaded with bees, which were eventually attracted to the other tables and made eating difficult. Their happy hour offer, which was advertised to apply between 3-6pm, does not automatically apply to your drinks and you must advise the cashier that you would like to make use of the happy hour. To even enjoy the happy hour, you need to order a minimum of two drinks (ordering just one drink for yourself does not make you eligible for happy hour). The drinks themselves cost €8-9 and barely have any alcohol at all (the mojito I drank was severely watered down and I could only taste the sugar syrup).

We also had a logistics issue, as they forgot to bring out tables and chairs for a number of guests. The agreement between the owner and the party organiser was to give each guest one free drink which could either be water, cola zero, or sprite. Any other soft drink such as kinnie or fanta were not part of this offer and had to be paid separately. We also realised that this establishment charges an extra 20c on bottled drinks instead of the mandated 10c that goes towards the BCRS bottle return scheme.

The food was ok, nothing special. Luckily, they accommodated our dietary requirements. I would advise taking your custom elsewhere if you plan on dining...

The place comes with cellophane on the pillow seats. This was a first clue of what it was about to happen to us. The closeness to the sea is a good point but I am not able to find any other. We ordered a starter and two main dishes. The waiter was pretty bored and the overall atmosphere quite annoying. As the starter arrived, we noticed that the dried tomatoes were something like sparkling, like fermented. The same goes for the olives. The cheese was extremely super salty and basically uneatable. Two small onions were placed on the dish, still don't understand if they were supposed to be edible or not. Quite happy not tried it. As the waiter asked if we wanted to go with the main courses, we asked to stop and pay, she answered that it was cool so, no problem at all. When we went to pay, the old lady at the counter presented the full bill including the two main courses we didn't ordered nor eaten. We had to struggle to let them understand that we were asked to stop or keep on with the rest of the food and we expressly said NO. In few words: avoid this place as the black plague. Bring your food and enjoy the are from...

We had a group dinner, pizza was good but I had the asparagus chicken. The chicken was expensive for 20 euros so expectstions were on the high side but unfortunately it tasted bad so much so I could not stand eating it with such a bad and foul taste.

What is worse is that when I complained, my plate was taken and no response given until after 30 mins, I decided to speak to the restaurant owner. She had an arrogant attitude towards me and tried to make it look like somehow I was abusing the situation. She could never admit and accept the chicken was bad and that at end of the day I was to pay for a rubbish dish. She finally decided to reduce 3 euros from the total bill which was by far not acceptable service and lack of customer care.

On the plus side the waiter was very helpful and accommodating, but be careful the overall prices are overpriced for the quality of food there compared to other places. Check all other options in Marsascala before jumping straight on to...