Zigumar Restaurant — Restaurant in Saint Paul's Bay

We had an utterly disgraceful lunch, made all the more worse by the response of management. This was probably the worst restaurant experience I have ever had. As someone who works in hospitality management, I feel fully qualified to make this claim. We went for a late Sunday lunch. We were rushed to order by the owner, who clearly wasn't keen on a last minute seating. I decided to go for their pasta with prawns and pistachio. When the food came I was served a dish of pasta drowning in a reddish/brown sauce! I was expecting a classic Sicilian, simply cooked dish. I got something completely different! Upon tasting, the dish had a sharp acrid taste. There was actually not much flavour as the dish lacked salt desperately. What I experienced was a bitter aftertaste which left an oily feeling in the mouth. The prawns in the dish were of varying sizes and clearly frozen and tasteless. This dish was completely unpalatable. I shared some with my family to get their opinion, but didnt dare eat another bite. I sent the dish back and told the staff it was terrible. The chef then proceeded to come to the table in defense of his dish. When I criticized the taste of the oil he proceeded to invite me to the kitchen to try his olive oil. I went along, which in hindsight was a mistake. The olive oil I sampled wasn't very good, but it wasnt the source of the acrid taste. The chef was becoming very defensive at this point. His serving staff also got involved in the discussion and were insulting and rude in their comments. I had one server tell me that I 'should go back to England if I want to eat pasta' Him incorrectly assuming that I was a British tourist typical of this area, when in fact I am Maltese. At this point some of the owner's friends who were hanging around also got involved. These were some very unsavoury characters that wouldn't look out of place in a police line up. They proceeded to praise the restaurant and use vulgar language. The rest of the staff also got very worked up and insisted that the dish was their best and they use the best quality ingredients. They showed me their pesto di bronte, however, I pointed out that the menu did not specify a pistachio pesto, but simply stated 'pistachio and prawns'. They denied this, and I proceeded to show them how their menu contradicted them. The kitchen helper showed me the seafood bisque they use in the pasta. I then could clearly see the source of the acrid taste as there was a thick red layer of oil on the surface. This should be skimmed and thrown away, but it clearly ended up in the dish. At this point things were pretty heated up as my family also got involved in the argument. We realised that we were wasting our time with these people as they continued to defend their dish at all costs. Both the chef and management became arrogant and refused to acknowledge that there was something very wrong with their dish. I have never seen management react in this aggressive way and don't really understand their behaviour. They should not work in this field. Their front line staff were actually much more polite and actually apologised for their managers' behaviour. I feel sorry for any actual tourists who might mistakenly try this place and go through the same ordeal. There are many great restaurants in Malta which do not have abusive management, please...

While the food was absolutely amazing, we had to ensure one hour of getting terrorised by a baby from parents that seemed out of control of their child, seemed to be friends of the owner and therefore tolerated while a someone who would care for this other guests would have asked those parents to kindly take their child for a walk - and don't get me wrong : I totally love kids! Probably because of the same reason, this family being friends of the owner, they received preferred treatment while we were constantly ignored by the staff and had almost fight for their attention. What could have been a nice evening with friends enjoying a great meal, turned out to be a nerve wrecking experience making us want to flee the place - which we luckily didn't have to because eventually this family left, losing us to, at least, enjoy a, again really...

This was my last night at Malta until my trip back to the states. I figured it was time for some nice Mediterranean seafood and boy howdy did I get it. I ordered the pot mussels and the catch of the day (pictured). They were delicious.

As a severe diabetic that cannot have many carbs and no sugars, it was perfect for splurging. Also means I cannot have alcohol.

So how awesomely friendly is this staff? Peter, my waiter, got my food and filled my drinks like he should, complimented services. But that's not all - this guy - my phone ran out of charge and he ran it back to the restaurant to get a charge so I could get an Uber. Well above and beyond. Thank you thank you.

Should you go here,and I highly recommend it, ask for Peter and the mussels were my favorite part of the meal (although it...