La Nave — Restaurant in Saint Paul's Bay

The restaurant situated within an aquarium offers a stunning Outlook on the ocean and is themed quite appropriately. The interior ambiance of the restaurant exudes cleanliness and simplicity.

Following our visit to the aquarium, we were seated in the restaurant, and the staff's responsiveness was satisfactory. The menu boasts an extensive selection of dishes, encompassing burgers, pasta, pizza, salads, and barbecue options. While the prices may lean towards the higher end, the menu offers sufficient diversity to cater to maltiple budget preferences.

To commence our dining experience, we were presented with bread accompanied by a mayo (& perhaps bacon?) dipping sauce. The bread had a notably chewy texture and appeared slightly stale. Opting for the mango chicken burger, I enjoyed every bite alongside a side of incredibly crisp fries. My companions opted for a variety of salads or quinoa bowls, all of which they seemed to enjoy.

As for the mango chicken burger, the fries stole the spotlight with their crunchiness on the exterior and fluffy interior. While the burger itself boasted a enjoyable hint of mango flavor, the breading of the fried chicken left something to be desired, as it tended to slip off the meat. Additionally, the portion size of the meat could be more generous. Notably, there was an abundance of mayonnaise accompanying our meal—an observation I found noteworthy, given that the burger, fries, appetizer, and salads all seemed to feature a mayo-based sauce.

The demeanor of the staff varied, with some exhibiting warmth and friendliness while others appeared visibly fatigued. Overall, I would characterize this establishment as slightly above average, particularly suitable for satiating one's appetite after exploring the wonders of...

Why cannot I give this pace 0 stars?

So a restaurant should serve their guests. This includes mentioning any non cooked or deep frozen items they heat up and serve as if cooked in the kitchen right? Wrong. Not if you're La Nave Bistro apparently.

We ordered two pizzas one normal one with gluten free dough. Our orders we r e taken arndnd after a reasonable wait we got our pizzas.

The normal dough pizza was Ok. The gluten free pizza looked like it was a plastic lookalike kept in shop windows.

We qwre there with our kid and due her being hungry and having some allergy issues had to continue to eat it and share it with her. Sending it back would not work with 18 month old kids who need to eat on time.

After the "meal" we requested to finally speak with the manager and asked why they didn't bother informing us that the dough wasn't made by them but in fact manufactured frozen off the shelf? We said that any restaurant that uses precooked pizza dough base should in fact inform us when we order --- we could have switched to gluten free pasta for example had we known.

His glum response sans empathy not respect for our predicament was that he will inform the managing board of our feedback. Now this is a smug response clearly meaning I don't care nothing will be done.

Ok we left isot at that. Then comes the bill. The plastic pizza was on the bill. A decent place would take it off. Even our coffees were still on the bill. Bit even did the manager do the courtesy of offering us the coffee free as a minor gesture.

So he a manager that is SMUG AND GREEDY.

This place is totally avoidable. Only our economic feedback will teach them am lesson in hospitality business.

A...

Arrived as a walk in about 7.45 and asked for a table for two. Despite the place being very, very empty, there was a performance to sit through as the staff discussed if we could eat there without a booking. Eventually, we were les to one of the 40+ empty tables. Weird, but we carried on.

We ordered our food and the server was a nice enough guy. Two drinks, a vegetarian pizza (around 12 euros) and a rack of ribs (pricey - 29.90 euros). We expected high quality to match the general aesthetic.

When the food arrived the rib plate looked a little sullen; a roughly half rack with 2 small corn cobs, with a side can of fries (which could have been on the plate). The corn looked to be largely burnt, but was oddly stone cold. No flavouring had been added of any kind. The ribs had a similar temperature issue being warm at best, and, while edible, were also very bland. The sauce added was a mild bbq, and sadly the whole thing felt like it could have been replicated with cheap ingredients in anyone's home kitchen with a microwave and pan of water - but at least some spices and flavour would be added in that case. The fries were the only hot part of this meal, and while again not even salted, were quite nice.

The vegetarian pizza was also a mess. Just as cold as the other mains, but greasy, overegged with tomato, and with veggies cooked into mush. My partner couldn't eat it and stopped leaving it largely untouched.

At a 50 euro bill already, we left and...