Tal-Familja Restaurant — Restaurant in Marsascala

If you're staying in Marsaskala and you're looking for a quintessential maltese dining experience, then this place is for you.

Needless to say, you don't need to embark on a comprehensive internet search to discover that Tal-Familja comes highly regarded by both locals and tourists alike. The categorical rave about this small, family-run restaurant instilled within me an undeniable temptation to answer the age old question for the hungry traveller .... 'is it really worth the hype?'.

I was delighted to discover, and can confidently confirm, that Tal-Familja genuinely is all its cracked up to be.

My partner and I visited Tal-Familja for dinner on a Tuesday evening. Despite a full house, we were able to secure a booking at the last minute, perhaps considering it was a weekday. After walking into what felt like a 'home away from home' (in itself a strange feeling considering I am Australian), we were greeted by a team of incredibly friendly and welcoming staff. To say that we were well looked after by this team throughout our entire stay would be an understatement!

We ordered the Capasanta alla Griglia (grilled scallops) and the Ravjul Malti (ravioli with ricotta) for starters, and the Fenek Moqli u I-forn (rabbit) and the Ħaruf il-Forn (sliced roast lamb) for mains with a few glasses of white/red wine.

After placing our orders, we were introduced to an unexpected spread of delicious warm bread rolls with garlic butter, beans, crisps and dip. Now, diners beware, this surprise extra may be a slippery slope into the inevitable bloating that one experiences when the food is so good, you choose to prematurely indulge before catching a glimpse of your starters. I am unsure how I was oblivious to this customary accompaniment, regardless, it was delightful to nibble whilst sipping wine and waiting for our meals.

I'm going to say straight up that I'm no food connoisseur, however, I know damn well when something tastes good, and when something tastes bad. Every single element to the dishes we received were spectacular. You know that telltale 'noooo way' head shake one does when one's tastebuds can't fathom how good something tastes? Well, that was us... the whole way through. Absolutely delicious meals, generous sizes and served with another added extra of roast potatoes, vegetables and onion rings.

My partner and I ate until our abdominal circumferences could not expand any further. The real deal, shallow breathing, loosening of the belt ....the whole shabang.

Unpretentious, welcoming and exciting, this restaurant is perfect for tourists visiting the area, and of course, if you're a local and have not yet had the pleasure of dining here, you...

So we went to this restaurant in order to have something original Maltese. First of all, the Tal Familja has a webpage, which not only exists for what it is, but is indeed very well done and you can look through the menu upfront. The restaurant has an inside and "half-outside" area to sit in - both are great and well decorated. The interior of the restaurant is very classic and reminds of the 70s, although everything is clean and nicely done. The background music is mainly out of the 1920s and 1930s, which adds to the "classic feel" and is a great choice - makes you enjoy your food even more :-) . They have a very well structured menu, that is not overloaded - but it's really hard to decide for a dish, as it all sounds very tasty. The prices are not cheap, but not expensive either - they are actually very good compared to what you get for it. Portions are not huge, but quite big - after having starters, main dish and dessert you won't be hungry anymore, I can guarantee that. In the end, we chose the Maltese menu (22€ pP), which starts with a shared anitpasti plate, followed by a starter of your choice (we had Aljotta (maltese fish soup) and fried goat cheese). The main course was fresh filet from the seabream and sliced leg of lamb with mashed potatos. The dessert was super tasty fried date filo parcels with fig ice-cream + Coffee. All of which was accompanied by a bottle of Caravaggio wine. The service around all evening was great - the waiter/waitress were super friendly, never got annoying and asked right on time wether we needed a refill. Everything we ordere arrived quite fast, so the antipasti would birdge the time until the starters arrive and so on. Note, that this is not a fast food restaurant - everything they cook is fresh and hence takes a bit - but not too long. Therefore, you really have the greatest food. I rarely have bee so excited about food than here. Also notable: The Tal Familja is in a side road off the main strip in Masaskala, where it is much more quiet as you don't have noisy cars rushing up&down the street 2 meters in front of you every second. That's huge plus.

We went there a second time, but as we weren't too hungry, we just had starters (goat cheese again, + rabbit liver + calamares and crispy fried beef) - again, really well done, well served, great atmosphere, great service.

If you wanna eat somewhat more exclusive and original maltese (not the usual pizza/pasta/burger offer that you get everywhere else), this is where you should go - it without a doubt is the best...

My family and I went to this restaurant for mother's day, which was strictly a set menu and could not order from the usual a la carte menu. This review will be divided into 3 parts: Ambiance, Service and Food.

Lets start with the ambiance. Since the day was mother's day the restaurant was full of clients and therefore a certain level of noise from the people talking was expected. However on top of that the restaurant had 2 different speakers playing different music which when mixed together where annoying and were triggering a headache. Another issue was the owner switched on the aircondition too high and my mother was freezing.

The service was the most horrendous part of this ordeal. The issue were not the waiters who had so much clients to wait on, they were extremely busy but the owners and people in charge who a) did not organize the waiters to wait equally on each table and b) were waiting and helping only a few tables and clients. This resulted in waiting for more than an hour between each plate and having the eaten dirty plates infront of us for a long time. Another issue of this long wait was that food that was in the menu started to finish and this prompted the waiters to ask us to change our orders mid way the wait. The entire family was tired and uneasy throughout the entire meal.

The food was ok, nothing to rave about compared to other restaurants in the island. The meat that I order was supposed to be medium rare but was given to me well well done. The portions were barely enough. The desserts were a long list of things, which was recited from memory by the waitress so fast, that we barely heard the entire thing.

Overall this was one of the worst restaurant going experiences ever. Do not go to...