Gululu | Authentic Maltese Restaurant — Restaurant in Saint Julian's

I ate here early Sept 2024. Gululu has an OK setting jammed between other restaurants. Clientele is mainly visitors like myself. And, Gululu have clearly seen how to exploit this; you are cheek by jowl, in small chairs at wonky tables. Service is “speedy” and still shuffling to find the sweet spot on the chair you are pressured to order. I ordered cocktails, water and asked for time to study the menu. None arrived until again asked “ready to order?”. Pointing out that the cocktails were to savour whilst contemplating the menu, I said “not yet, but how’s it going with the cocktails and aperitifs?”. Another waiter/waitress appeared “ready to order?”. The penny dropped! Gululu want to rent you your seat for a very short time and hassle is the name of the game. My order went in and I continued to work my way through the aperitif. Then an amazing thing happened…….. nudged out of the way, in and amongst the cocktails and aperitifs, on a table a wee bit too small, the waiter brought starter and main course, proceeded to place these on the table whilst acting like he was solving some sort of rubric cube puzzle. I became a meme. I tried a sort of “you cannot be serious…” comment. A lightbulb went on in the heads of Gululu. We resumed normal operation and I hurried my way through the remainder of the meal now fully accepting and agreeing with the hassle approach Gululu used that day. I was like a jack-rabbit exiting the Grand Canyon. And don’t forget rabbit is a Maltese speciality Gululu know about and I didn’t want anymore roasting. I hightailed it out of there. Gululu were good, they did offer to not charge starters. But I paid anyway thinking I was just not a customer dovetailing well with their modus operandi and there are two sides to these sorts of things. Next time I’ll try Manakis Greek Taverna next door or perhaps Brasserie Rodin...

They would have gotten one-star but the fried goat cheese balls were good.

The previously frozen refried French fries were ok. Although, we did not order them, they arrived none the same and were the second best option on the table.

We tried the rabbit as it is considered a delicacy on the island. It lacked flavor and I would suggest you try it elsewhere.

The fish of the day presented well but it was 100% devoid of any seasoning and was very dry from being overcooked.

Working down the list... the fresh vegetables were actually frozen vegetables rewarmed probably in the bowl pictured. Outside of dumping them in the bowl they made no effort to enhance the flavor or combat the sogginess.

The potatoes were also ok with some fennel which gave them a unique flavor. They were a bit greasy bit that may have been alluded to on the menu.

We also got a side salad which was a usual salad and was fine.

The service was rushed. They are excellent at getting tables cleared and people back in the seats. Food came out really fast and right on top of each other. Notice my pictures have all the food on the table.

We saw our waitress three times. When we ordered. When she asked if we were finished and when we were leaving. A continued nod to their get them in and get them out, a designated roaming cashier ran our card.

We piled used bottles and plates on the edge. Even after they delivered food we had to specifically ask them to take the used stuff.

The price was comparable to other restaurants.

I'd recommend trying...

I'm torn between three and four stars but went for three as for me the food is the main thing to review in a restaurant review. The place is lovely located at the small marina. We were seated indoors and upstairs were it was quite warm but the air got better as some of the balcony doors were open. The room was nicely decorated. The service was fast and friendly. When selecting the wine they tried to help, but we ended with a rather sour wine that was too pricey for the limited range of flavours it offered. Now for the food: it was a lot, so you will not leave this place hungry. We had two starters, one was a salty bean dip and one were fried cheese which were really delicious. For the main course the chicken was excellent, but the stuff beef slices were not tender and also quite salty. French fries and vegetables as sides were boring and the salad lacked the dressing. The baked potatoes were too dry and also quite salty. I'll stop mentioning the salt now, as it was dominating the whole experience. Overall I was reminded of the traditional German restaurants of the 1980ies, before Paul Bocuse and the nouvelle cuisine influenced them for the better. The final espresso was very strong, as was the bill - compared to other places on Malta. So if you like a lot of everything and everything painted in strong colours with thick strokes, this might be your place to be. I personally would prefer a 'less is more' approach. But from the atmosphere and service or was a...