Cafe Sicilia — Restaurant in Sliema

Our dining experience at this Italian waterside restaurant was disappointing, primarily due to the unexpectedly small portion sizes and some culinary missteps.

We ordered two pasta dishes: Spaghetti Amatriciana and Rigatoni Carbonara. Both portions were considerably smaller than what we've come to expect from other local restaurants.The Rigatoni Carbonara was overly salty, and the pork cheek used in both dishes was not only overcooked but served cold, suggesting it wasn't freshly prepared. The Spaghetti Amatriciana failed to deliver on value for money, with its sauce seemingly made from canned rather than fresh tomatoes, and lacked the advertised red chilli pepper zest

Additionally, we hardly had any pecorino cheese, though luckily we had some parmesan cheese from another dish to compensate.

Another point of disagreement was the pricing discrepancy on our latte macchiato, which was billed higher than menu-listed prices. Service also detracted from our experience, as there was noticeable tension between the old waitstaff and new starters, who seemed unfamiliar with the menu and table arrangements. This confusion did not help the already lacklustred meal. Given the proximity of better dining options offering superior quality and value, this restaurant only merits two stars. While it was busy, perhaps indicating some popularity, our personal experience fell short of...

Sometimes, you are in for a surprise. The "Scilia" has clearly the average tourist in mind, the menu with all the burgers shows that. The terrace has cheap plastic tables and a TV running. I would not have chosen this restaurant, but I passed by a couple of times and two things caught my eye. First, many locals inside, second the pasta looked very good. So I gave it try and this little, cheap restaurant gave me a big surprise. The Bruschetta as a starter was really good. Fresh toasted local bread, firm and tasty tomatoes and plucked, not cut mozzarella. On the minus side: No olive oil or Balsamico on the table. But all in all, a solid 7/10. I choose the main course from the daily menu. Linguine with clamps, octopus and shrimp with pasticcios in top. And that turned out to be one of the best pasta I had in a very long time. The seafood was cooked together in a lovely sauce, made from white wine, garlic and onions, they added some pasta water and then mixed it with the pasta to make it extra creamy. It was superb. (10/10). I had some local Chardonnay with the food. Nothing special, but light and ok (6/10). I would recommend the "Sicila" but would also advise staying with the pasta...

Unfortunate experience- Well the service isn't excellent as the staff (consisting of 3 people) was always around but the communication was hard as their English wasn't good and you could hardy understand.

I ordered a big cannolo which costs double as much as the tiny one and unfortunately the small one was served. As I mentioned my remark, the waitress tried to convince me that it was actually the big one at first so I pay a higher sum for less product. Well, I'm not giving up that easily, so in the end, I received what I ordered.

The menue offers many italian food-options (mainly Salad, Pizza and Pasta) and special desserts (cake, cannolo,... You should give it a try!) and the relatively big portion is served hot & fresh but honestly I missed the spices. Also, the meals contain lots of oil. Additionally, I missed the comfortableness but as the restaurant is directly at the street with little space they actually did a good job decorating and placing the tables.

The prices are low and the portions are big. All in all I would recommend searching for another restaurant but if you're searching something quickly this is a good...