L' Ostricaio Paceville, St. Julians — Restaurant in Saint Julian's

This has been my worst experience in beautiful Malta. What did start off as an amazing evening ended when our first dish we ordered came. We had an awesome server named Andrea that explained the menu and was excellent at selling the off item menu items, which is what we went with. Just be aware for the €25 charge for off menu items, which wasn’t explained but luckily money wasn’t the issue we just wanted a good meal with the fresh seafood we saw in the restaurant display case.

Service was slow but that’s expected here in Europe so we waited patiently for our drink order to be taken and then to wait for several other servers to come revisit our order for a couple bottles of white wines that Andrea had recommended. In the end we ended up with only one bottle of Rose. We did enjoy it however I was wanting a white wine that paired with the dish I was sold on by our lovely waiter. We were disappointed when our starter arrived. As we ordered lobster thermidor which Andrea recommended and described and sold us on. I attached the pics of what it looked like. The butter was cold and so was the lobster. My friend told Andrea and he was upset we didn’t like the food but we did enjoy the lobster it was fresh and even good cold but it wasn’t lobster thermidor. I included the description for those that are not sure what it is.

Lobster Thermidor is a French dish of lobster meat cooked in a rich wine sauce, stuffed back into a lobster shell, and browned. The sauce is often a mixture of egg yolks and Brandy, served with an oven-browned cheese crust, typically Gruyère. The sauce originally contained mustard.

When we finished our lobster not so thermidor our hands were needing to be cleaned so my friend was going to get up to go ask for some wipes for our hands. However her trying to get up with dirty hands she slipped back and her chair broke and she fell to the ground. A couple staff members one we later learned his name is Ivan just watched and then came to grab the broken chair and put a new chair back, he didn’t ask if my friend was ok. She was embarrassed and no one came to check on her or ensure she was ok for quite sometime. We got the impression that after we complained about that lobster not being what was described that our waiter was angry with us and ignoring us. The situation began to escalate because we could hear the staff talking about us in Italian. I finally got very irritated because I felt for my friend as she was not being acknowledged or even treated as a human. Kindness goes a long way. Some assistance or even making sure she was taken care of should have happened. I don’t like to see anyone miss treated and disrespected so I just wanted to leave.

I asked for the check and was willing to pay for everything we ordered. At this point we didn’t want to eat and everyone was upset. Just a very disappointing experience to see how unkind people can be. Ivan was so disrespectful and should learn to be respectful to people. It was sad to see how ugly someone could be especially to someone who was clearly embarrassed from what happened.

No discount was offered, the supervisor did come to speak with us but then our waiter was whispering in her head as my friend was trying to speak with the supervisor. We asked him to leave however, nothing really changed. I just paid the bill and they did pack our food up to take home. I will say that our food was good but it wasn’t as described. Fresh seafood was delicious. I do wish that the night had not gone the way it did and we could have enjoyed the evening as we planned at this restaurant. Hopefully training for the staff can be offered. Although I’m not sure kindness can be taught to some people. I don’t like writing bad reviews but I do think others need to be aware of horrible...

We are traveling in different parts of the world to find best places to have great food experience and we visited for the first time Malta in September 2019. First of all a big thank you to the great staff of this place❤️❤️ The manager and the owner are just simply amazing!!!! Guys, you made our trip to Malta to something special👌 You can see with how much love they treat the guests and this charming restaurant.

What about the food..... Gushh... really no comments... Positive no comments 😅😅 food is really, really amazing!!!!! 😍😍 Such a premium quality and so much freshness in the fish and seafood. We were flashed by the starters and by all the recommendations of the manager. We can really say one of the best places we have ever been. It is simple but with taste.

One small thing, we would not pretty recommend is the seafood pasta. In comparison to other dishes we ate it could be a slice more better like more spices and the presentation also more creative.. But don't take it wrong it is like a really mini-mini critic point from us! Just something to be improved 👌

If you are planning to visit this place in the evening you will need to make a reservation for sure! This place is very popular also among local people so without it you will not get a table. If you are there just be open to the recommendations of the staff they know what they are doing and if you are a fish lover you are in the right place. You will be spoiled here with food, attention and a good selection of maltian wines. You would go back home fully satisfied, this is guaranteed.

Enjoy and cheers from Thorsten, Lika and small baby boy Leo from Frankfurt ❤️ when we will come to Malta we will definitely...

I’m biased towards unprestigious seafood places. The kind of spots that just seem to have been there forever and buy all their produce from a historic fishing market, perferably family owned. This place gives me that vibe, although the flavours and techniques are, perhaps, not natively Maltese.

The oysters (Royale) are sublime. With that perfect mouthful size and a devine balance in the saltiness of the produce and the citrus. I was expecting to miss my regular shalot vinagrete, but I did not, which is nothing short of a compliment to the produce (only served with a slice of lemon). It’s a confident serving. And it leaves nothing to be desired.

For me, their grilled lobster was the obvious choice of mains. While the lobster itself is very well cooked, the execution of the sides disappoint (the fries stand to par, however the flavourless mixed salad was left as a decor). To me, they offer little but decor.

Dessertwise, I went for the pistacho mille-feuille, which albeit approchable was the least impressive on the menu. For places such as this I’d question the logic of a dessert menu. The upside isn’t there.

Clearly, this is a restaurant I’d condone. Why not a 5*, you say? Simply because of haste. Albeit I understand time is appreciated, I would have enjoyed your produce more had I been left more time between servings. The service seems stressed and on the margin enjoyment is equally applicable to feel distressed here. Which is sad, cause the produce is stellar.

Note: For this review, I ended up chosing their most high end options, both for starter and mains. Experiences with less expensive alternatives may differ. If back, I’ll likely go for the...