U Bistrot — Restaurant in Saint Julian's

Where to begin...

We choose the U Bistrot for 3 reasons :

° We came the day before in the same building in another restaurant (Taro Villa, which was awesome) ° The building is really attractive and the decoration is perfect from the outside ° People's comments on the U Bistrot were utterly positive (+ 4,5/5)

Everything went well before the main course & the wine came. We ordered a Montepulciano d'Abruzzo Masciarelli red wine, which is indeed a wine we do really appreciate as we already ordered it 20+ times at restaurant around the world and in addition a wine that we have back at home. During the tryout I smell something weird but accepted the wine since I wasn't sure about it and also because I'm a shy person by myself.

Few moments later it was clear that the wine had a real problem since the smell was bad and it tasted like spiced water ; I asked the waiter to try it out but he told me there was nothing wrong with the wine. It might just be the wine I've drink the most often in my life and obviously there was a problem but ok let's not focus on it.

The true problem came along the main courses being a linguine prawns and a fettuccine carbonara. Linguine prawns tasted awful like the prawns were cooked and served with the juice straight out the sea without any spices or preparation ; the carbonara tasted awfull aswell as the pasta were precooked and then some bacon just went in alongside a weird cheese which was no either Parmesan nor Provolone. Being partly from Italy I never ask carbonara to be prepared as in Italy but just to taste good which was far from being the truth.

The waiters all saw that we weren't drinking the wine either eating our plates but did not asked if there was any problem.

We asked the bill directly with nearly full plates and bottle of wine and it didn't trigger any specific question whatsoever.

Summary of the short time we spend at the U Bistrot : 75% full bottle of wine, 90% full plates main course and of course 100% of the bill.

We were although asked if we wanted to take the plates and the wine back home (?!?!??) but even after explaining we didn't liked the main course, there was no reaction from the staff asking if they could suggest anything else.

Please think twice before choosing this restaurant for you to spend the night. You might be careful with the comments about it.

1/5 for the food 1/5 for the wine 5/5 for the staff before it went bad (no reaction ) 5/5 for the ambiance...

Incredible customer service… incredibly bad. We were refused entrance out of fear of not spending enough.

The first time I went there it was for a late lunch (~15:00) and everything was fine. I had the carbonara which tasted very good although I’m not sure that was real guanciale. What I can say for sure is that it definitely wasn’t crunchy (I assume it was left in the sauce). Also, to my disappointment it was made with fettuccine not rigatoni(this stated in the menu so it wasn’t a surprise). But it tasted good and that’s all that matters. I ate it all and I would recommend it.

But the thing that really impressed me over there was their kiwi cocktail. Absolutely delicious. I don’t remember ever tasting something more delicious. The perfect balance of alcohol and fruit, not too sweet .. simply perfect. My heart really stayed with that amazing kiwi cocktail all I could think of the following day was going there again.

So i do that in the evening (~7pm) but the waiter simply refused to accept us in. The reason being that we only wanted a drink and it was dinner time. Mind you: the terrace was more than half empty and there were no “reserved” signs on the free tables.

How many people even have dinner at 7pm in the south of Europe??? (We for sure, were planning to have it later, and this was an option we were considering but we were just not hungry at that specific time.)

I don’t know how much time he thought we would have spent there sipping 2 cocktails that we specifically came to taste again. But I can tell you for sure we were not there to stay. It was an in and out situation. And ultimately, I would have even stood up in a corner just to be able to serve that deliciousness again. But there was no room for negotiation.

Too bad. Food was good, drinks absolutely amazing, but the attitude of the waiter ruined the experience and the will to return.

I would definitely not recommend this place...

I cannot recommend this restaurant highly enough. The staff are delightful, the food is excellent and the choice is fantastic. It was our last evening in Malta and we booked here after passing earlier in the day and seeing the excellent vegetarian options for my other half. We had originally booked outside but the wind had picked up and they kindly sat us inside the restaurant. We were were served by a young Lady who was so lovely and welcoming and took our orders, I had the Brisket and my Wife had the Butternut Risotto. Whilst we were waiting enjoying the wine we watched the Chef plating up the huge seafood sharing platter for a family on the next table, it looked excellent and the Chef was a true artist taking his time to present this fabulous dish. Our food duly arrived and my Brisket was so tender and the mash and gravy delicious but my highlight was watching my wife truly enjoy every mouthful of her Risotto. We spoke with the Chef and waiter and thanked them for making our last evening such a treat they are such lovely people. Please give this Restaurant a try chat with the staff and make your meal memorable, we hope to return to Malta and visit...