Ta' Rożi Restaurant — Restaurant in Saint Paul's Bay

Stopped in on a Friday night recently and came away disappointed. The service from the front of house manager was excellent, almost to the point of overbearing, sometimes less is more. I do think asking diners if they would like to see the catch of the day before turning up at the table with a plate of dead fish would work better, it didn’t bother me but a more gentile lady seated at the next table was less than impressed. The menu is interesting, classic fine dining with a strong seafood bias, no complaints on paper. Bread and crostini were fine and like everything else very well presented. The main dishes however were a selection of missed opportunities; Short rib was tasty enough if not anything special, the accompanying potatoes were bland and the vegetables undercooked to the point of raw. Mussels were equally unimpressive and at least half a dozen were unopened and shouldn’t have made it to the plate. Fish and chips was not the easy win it should have been with the fish surprisingly unexciting and the chips rock hard. We had opted not to have starters, planning instead on dessert or coffee, in the end we had the confidence for neither. We were left underwhelmed, Ta’ Rozi tries hard but ultimately trips over...

Having strolled around the San Pawl bay area, we were guided by our rumbling stomachs and despite the first reflex of avoiding an empty restaurant, went in just the same. We were greeted by a kind, somewhat nervous young man who proudly offered us a backstory on the chosen wine as we tasted. The pasta with beef and gravy was somewhat underwhelming, especially when comparing to (for example) a beef tagliata. The tender beef was covered in flour to thicken the sauce, which could still be tasted, sadly. After inquiring with the waiter, it turned out the lack of other guests was a daily issue, and he felt his job to be quite boring because of it. Further banter lead to less than professional remarks about his employer, trips to Thailand, meeting girls there with a 'special surprise', which no doubt stemmed from feeling a bit too much at ease with the only guests, both male, but we could've avoided the remarks about the transcommunity and continued complaining altogether and thought higher of the staff and place.

A...

Go next door. The place looks nice at the first sight but the food was really disappointing. Honestly, we should have left when we got the starter…. We ordered a ceviche with shrimp and salmon and it was served in a cocktail glass drenched in mayo! We immediately were concerned that this was to hide the actual taste of the fish. It was a complete turn off. We couldn’t really taste the fish in there. Sadly the starter came after we ordered the main courses. I got pasta with fennel and anchovies and my boyfriend got mussels and we left right after the first bite. It was just not good at all and it felt like nothing there was fresh. The mussels had a weird taste and were very chewy. We also got served bread with butter and the bread was just plain cardboard. Lastly, they also bring you small pieces of bruschetta before your actual order and while it’s nice I personally feel like it was just a cover up for the rest...