La Crema — Restaurant in Saint Julian's

I'm going to write this review in both English and Italian.

Having an Italian wife, at some point I was surely going to gravitate towards La Crema SicilianA... We went for breakfast a number of times but this was the one time I will surely remember for the some time, for two reasons - this was the first time we went out to an eatery post COVID lockdown. Business had returned to nearly normal and at least for this establishment, the shop had a lot of customers. No surprise there. The staff was helpful and the owner (I'm 99% sure that she is, but anyway) remembered us from 4 months earlier, including my order! With all her many customers, that is saying something! It is these little things that make a difference between excellent and superb service.

The second reason why this review is that during the lockdown I had spent nearly 2 months working on home improvements that made me feel like an old man, with all the lifting, sanding and what not. When we went to La Crema SicilianA, I had just finished my DIY project the day before. As soon as that gorgeous pastry, made a few minutes earlier in the kitchen upstairs (you can spot the chef making them), all the aches in my body melted away as I tasted that goodness! It was the unmistakable taste of Italian pastry that makes your heart soar!

If you are Italian and would like a taste of home, this is the place to go! If you just want to feel like you are in Italy for breakfast, go and taste those pastries! I, for one, can't wait to go back for another cup of good Italian coffee and some more of those mouth-watering pastries!

In Italiano:

Avendo una moglie italiana, ad un certo punto avrei sicuramente finito per andare a fare la cola a La Crema Siciliana. Siamo andati diverse volte, ma questa volta me la ricorderò per un bel po', per due motivi: questo era la prima volta che siamo andati a mangiare fuori post-COVID lockdown. Gli affari sembravano essere ben'o male normalizzati, e almeno per questo stabilimento, il negozio aveva molti clienti. Nessuna sorpresa fin li. Il personale era cordiale e sorridente sotto la mascherina, e la proprietaria (sono sicuro al 99% che lo era) ci ha ricordato da 4 mesi prima, incluso il mio ordine, malgrado tutti i suoi clienti! Sono queste piccole cose che fanno la differenza tra un servizio eccellente e un servizio sublime!

Il secondo motivo per cui sto scrivendo questa recensione è che durante il lockdown avevo trascorso quasi 2 mesi a lavorare duro su un progetto fai-da-te per la mia casa che mi ha fatto sentire come se avessi 90 anni! Quando siamo andati a La Crema SicilianA, avevo appena finito i lavori il giorno prima. Non appena quel splendido cornetto, preparato qualche minuto prima in cucina al piano di sopra (puoi vedere lo chef che li prepara), tutti i dolori del mio corpo si sono sciolti mentre ho assaggiato quella bontà! È stato l'inconfondibile gusto della pasticceria italiana che fa volare il tuo cuore!

Se sei italiano e desideri un assaggio di casa, questo è il posto per te (o come direbbe Montalbano, "per vossia")! Se vuoi solo sentirti come se fossi in Italia x una colazione da Dio, vai ad assaggiare quei cornetti! Io non vedo l'ora di tornare per un'altra tazza di buon caffè italiano e un altro di quei golosissimi cornetti!...

ordered the anchovy and olive focaccia and was excited for it to arrive only to see that instead of a beautiful, delicious sandwich i had been given a poor approximation of an open faced sandwich that frankly was an assault to the senses. i had popped in to ask barista at the counter if she recommended the bruschetta caponata over the olive focaccia and she had to call in her supervisor because it was a new menu but pointed me to a beautifully arranged salmon focaccia sandwich in front of a salami sandwich. her supervisor suggested the focaccia over the bruschetta with a mention of "if you want to save money". he was in and out taking other orders and asked me to take a table so i sat just outside the shop with a lovely view. then, had to flag a waiter down after he took the order of the table beside me and his first assumption was that i had already ordered. i ordered with him and it took a long time to arrive and i felt my excitement die as the plate was placed in front of me. the anchovies, olives and red onion slices had been haphazardly arranged so that each bite was unbalanced. initially, the first two seconds of a bite is wonderful! then you're overwhelmed with nothing but salt. i had to flag down my earlier waiter to ask for lemon juice or vinegar to try and fix it, and when he appeared with three slices i knew it wasn't enough. second image is after attempting to "fix" the monstrosity. i will note that one olive on my fix it slice fell apart as if it was butter (praise) and was a beautiful colour of a true kalamata olive, whereas the others were dull and stiff. i attempted to flag down the supervisor that i spoke to but he didn't see me.

i eventually flagged down a waiter and he offered to fix it but truthfully the dish is inedible and has left the beginnings of a salt sore on my tongue. i asked if i could leave and very kindly he said yes, which was fantastic as i had been contemplating leaving since the 10 minute wait time to have my sandwich arrive

the primary fault of la crema is that the tables arent sectioned for waitstaff so they aren't able to divide their attention to their customers, and arent familiar with new...

la crema is a beautiful place with view to baluta bay in st. julians. the food is good, the coffee also excellent (if you want to have strong, get another shot). the staff is very kind and nice to talk too, as most of the people in malta. I went there every day of my holiday. one day was different: on sept 2nd 2024, but then the shift for the outside seatings was taken by a young guy with a baseball cap. the was ignoring me for 25 min, after I got my seat. then I got up and asked him politely, if I can order, he said yes. then he was ignoring me for another 15min but take the order of 4 other tables, for people coming later than me. and also, he was not only ignoring me, he generally does not look around, if people want to pay or order. So I literally starred at him for another 5 min or so (he was 2m away from me), and he would just keep looking at his phone. I got up again, and asked him why he is ignoring me. he said: since I had already a coffee (I ordered a coffee first with some other guy) he was assuming I had ordered (food?). I said, man, you are wrong. no response. no sorry. just also starring at the order pad and asking what I want. I have not seen that combo of ignorance, unwareness of what is going on, and impoliteness in decades of travel around the world. but this guy is the only problem la crema has, maybe he ist just the son of the owner, no idea, but I am sorry for him. la crema is a...