Lume - Caribbean Cuisine and Mixology — Restaurant in Saint Paul's Bay

From the moment we walked in, the entire experience felt strange and awkward. The atmosphere was uncomfortable, and although our waiter genuinely tried his best, it was painfully clear that he had no idea what was going on. The lack of training and knowledge was very apparent, which is surprising for a restaurant that’s partnered with a four-star hotel.

It took around 25 minutes just to place an order for our group of seven. Even then, the process was bizarre – he took the entire order at once: drinks, mains, and starters, all in a single go. It felt completely disorganized and set the tone for the rest of the evening.

Four of our guests were on the hotel’s "all-inclusive” package. Strangely, instead of being truly all-inclusive, they were given a limited set menu to choose from. This already felt misleading. Things went downhill when the first dish came out – a cold kidney bean soup as an appetizer. Next, their starters arrived served “family-style” on one shared plate for everyone to pick at. Even though I wasn’t one of the all-inclusive guests, I was shocked and disappointed by this presentation.

For my own starter, I ordered the chicken wings. The sauce itself was flavorful, but serving only three wings as a starter felt very stingy, especially given the setting and price point. My wife chose the pulled beef tacos, which were even more disappointing: a stale taco shell filled with dry, unseasoned beef – no marinade, no sauce, no garnish, nothing to tie the dish together.

Another guest ordered pulled beef nachos, which turned out to be one of the strangest presentations I’ve ever seen in a restaurant. They were served inside half a hollowed-out pineapple and topped with powdered cheese – yes, powdered cheese in a four-star hotel restaurant. There was barely any salsa and maybe 15 grams of deep-fried pulled beef scattered on top. It looked and tasted like a bad experiment rather than a thought-out dish. You just need to google the word nachos to see what nachos is.

For the mains, my wife ordered the pork belly, which came with four small pieces for €27.50 – and none of the listed components that were supposed to accompany it. How this ended up being the most expensive item on the menu is beyond me.

As for me, I settled on the pulled beef burger, mostly because nothing else on the menu felt remotely Caribbean or appealing. Unsurprisingly, it was a letdown: a plain bun with the same unseasoned pulled beef and a basic cheese sauce. No garnish, no salad, no slaw – just meat and bread. It was embarrassingly minimal and completely uninspired.

Overall, there was nothing Caribbean about this restaurant – not in flavor, presentation, or concept. The dishes felt thrown together without thought, the portions were inconsistent, and the lack of staff training was glaring.

For a restaurant connected to a four-star hotel, this was an extremely disappointing experience. Management urgently needs to step up: train the staff, fix the menu, and deliver food and service that actually reflect the quality they claim to offer. Right now, Lume is failing on...

We went to the Lume Restaurant as part of the all-inclusive package at the Qawra Palace Resort and were treated to a three-course meal. My girlfriend and I were very disappointed with our visit. The starter was a small bean soup and a plate of nachos, salsa, and two small filled pastries. "Small soup" is definitely the right description for the soup, as it's barely served in an espresso cup. It also tasted rather bland. The nachos and pastries weren't bad, but they were supposed to be the best part of the whole meal. For main course, I had a lamb curry with rice, and my girlfriend had a Jamaican vegetable curry with tempeh. My lamb curry wasn't bad, but my girlfriend's curry didn't have a single piece of tempeh in it. It was also poorly seasoned. The problem with both dishes, however, was that they felt like they were only child-sized portions. Therefore, the main course comes with a bowl of French fries to keep you somewhat full. That's pretty cheeky for an outside restaurant guest to pay €27 for the menu. The highlight, however, was the dessert. It was carelessly served on a plate for two people, and you get two ordinary scoops of vanilla ice cream and a crumbly cake that tasted okay. Overall, it was truly disappointing. The service was also disappointing. It was very clear that our waitress was completely unmotivated. The food was carelessly and rudely placed on the table, and empty plates weren't cleared away for minutes, even though she repeatedly walked around our table without having anything to do. After we finished our dessert, we were completely ignored and not even asked if we wanted another drink. So in the end, we got up and left without saying a word.

I can only advise anyone visiting the Qawra Palace Resort to go to either Tsubu or El Vagabundo. It can only be...

An astonishing vantage point.

From the side of this nice and cozy restaurant, you can get to the small area shown on the pictures.

The restaurant has also a nice balcony, right above those rocks and waves, with a breathtaking view on the sea.

This vantage point is brutally beautiful, and it can become treacherous, if you are reckless. Do be careful please. The temptation is too strong to approach the waves, walking on the slippery rocks. Remember the story of Ulysses and the charming Sirens…

So take it easy, use the stairs and the balustrade. [Specially at night, if your have had a drink or...