Happy Pigs Restaurant — Restaurant in Saint Paul's Bay

It's not often anymore I feel moved to actually "review" a restaurant anymore. Eating out can feel like a transactional process, with money and food changing hands, and everything meets expections; it's a done deal.

We discovered this by chance. Where we're from in the UK we have a vibrant eastern European community but never got round to trying the food so we thought we'd give here a go.

It was a pleasant ambience and we were greeted by a lovely lady who showed us to our seat. As we went to make our food order, she advised us against what we were ordering on account for portion size and suggested the mixed grill would be appreciated better shared between two. When it came out we saw what she meant! Superb flavours and great portion size.

We really appreciated the honesty in helping us make an informed decision when it would've been easier to just take the order and money. For us this shows the values of this business as a honest, conscientious, and decent place to visit.

We had a Balkan take on Tiramisu for dessert which was really pleasant as well.

This was no transactional meal, this was an experience. From the moment we walked through the door to the moment we left, she couldn't do enough for us, but it was not in an over the top manner either. She genuinely cared about your experience. It turns out it is her and her husband's business and they're originally Bulgarian; this explains the authenticity of our meal.

I'm not normally one for leaving a tip just for meeting expectations, however in this instance I left a tip of what we would've spent on the extra main if it wasn't for her honesty at the start. Everything exceeded expectations from start to finish.

TLDR: Fantastic experience from start to finish. Incredible meal and service. Would...

Please, stop looking and go here. This place is magic. Had dinner twice during a 5 day stay in Malta. First night, we had the mezze plate, cold cut, and the pork sausage with butter beans. The plum rakia was crisp and refreshing, the beer perfectly cutting the rich umami of the pork with butter beans. Due to the generous portions we were too full for dessert. My only regret was that there were not more adults at the table to warrant trying other options on the menu. Service was warm and hospitable, despite being quite busy. 11/10 ⭐️

We went back for dinner on our last night in Malta. Ordered the country salad, molten cheese and slow cooked pork with mushrooms and onions. Again, perfect. Started with the rakia, but tried the house red wine with the pork on recommendation from our server. Excellent. Saved room, barely, for dessert and finally chose the tiramisu. It was a unique twist, light, creamy and delicious.

My daughters laughed at me the whole meal because I couldn’t stop smiling. I love food and it is rare when you go into a quiet, unassuming place and taste food that makes you incredibly happy. The hospitality was wonderful, the food soulful, fresh and plentiful. It is mind blowing to me that I was able to walk in twice for dinner without a reservation and have two incredible meals. Just go. You won’t regret...

We were looking for somewhere different to eat instead of the same old pasta, pizza, and burgers We did a quick google search for the best places to eat in Malta and the place came 14th ( because it doesn’t have enough reviews) Well WOW it should be number 1 the food is amazing We had a beef kebab succulent chunks of tasty beef with peppers onions and tomatoes it came with beautiful roasted potatoes We also had a feta and spinach bread we shared our meal it was plentiful and delicious Can’t recommend this place enough Go here you won’t be sorry It’s a little out of the way on the back street but just follow google The lady that served us was lovely and couldn’t do enough for us Thank you We will be back before we go home 11/7/2024 We returned for our farewell meal as we fly home tomorrow morning We were not disappointed, we shared the mushroom and goats cheese bread delicious My partner had the pork shank the meat was so tender and tasty and plentiful I had the salmon cooked with goats cheese it was a very generous portion and again delicious I only wish we had room for pudding but we were so stuffed Without a doubt the best food we’ve had while we’ve been in holiday well deserved...