Chophouse — Restaurant in Sliema

We decided to choose The Chophouse for my birthday. I had seen reviews about this restaurant and the menu looked like it would make for a memorable and special dinner for both of us. We were promptly greeted by the manager when we arrived, we arrived about 30 minutes early, and were asked to sit in the bar while we waited. After about thirty minutes of waiting, our waitress came and brought us to our table. The waitress gave us the specials but we never received menus and it took around 15 minutes for her to return and us to request menus. After we were reviewing the menus, another waitress came by and dropped off bread. Apparently bread is dropped off after a customer orders their entrees so it took well over 30 minutes for anyone to return to our table, we informed her we haven't had the opportunity to order yet and requested more beard. Add an additional 15 minutes till another server came by and we again asked for additional bread. Finally our waitress arrived and we were able to place our order of The Beef Platter and a side, again asking for more bread. Bread was finally brought and we asked for butter to apply to it...which we waited...and waited....another server we stopped and asked for butter...and waited...and waited... finally never coming. Our entrees arrived which was all excellent which is why I am giving this two stars but if the service was even a tab bit acceptable would have been an easy five stars. This wasn't a change in staff situation that could have caused this incident because our waitress walked our table on multiple occasions never acknowledging us or checking on our current condition. In the end, we ended up spending over $150 including tip. You may ask why we still tipped this is because we weren't sure if it was a tip share and the rest of the staff was extremely helpful minus a few hiccups. Based on the fact we were basically completely ignored on my birthday when I choose this location for my special occasion was really disappointing and if I ever ate here ago it would...

3.5/5 for food, 5/5 for view. We were really looking forward to dining here having read other reviews and reserved our table several months ago, ready for our Maltese holiday. The view is over to Valetta is knockout if you manage to secure a window seat but there is an outdoor space you can access and a promenade around the headland which was busy with walkers. The service was very friendly and generally efficient and the interior is stylish with a good playlist. The seats weren't particularly comfortable but we weren't there for very long. Starters were a broccoli risotto which was tasty and well seasoned, and I had the aubergine. I found it a bit bland, despite a small amount of tomato type chutney, a cream which I think was supposed to be coconut and something else which was crunchy but didn't really have much flavour. It was a very large section of aubergine with not a lot else going on, I left 1/3 of it as I was bored eating it.

For mains we had chicken and ribeye. The steak was pretty good but not exceptional and it didn't really go with a few leaves of wilted pak choi and some kind of cheese mousse/foam. I was expecting to be wowed at the combination but there was nothing I couldn't find at a regular restaurant. The chicken was moist with a nice jus, both came with rosemary fries which again, didn't taste of rosemary and were super well done.

I tried the local panne cotta which was supposed to be flavoured with rose water. It was really firm like it had been refrigerated a long time and utterly bland. It did come with some fig puree/jam and some chopped pistachios. Rose is a difficult flavour to get right but there was zero taste to this dessert which was a shame. I think the chef needs to taste his food some more, or perhaps train the waiting staff to ask questions when they collect plates of food which are not all empty. It was expensive for a fairly standard dining experience but the premium is for the location. A nice one off but I wouldn't return...

To be honest, I should have given this place a low rating: while admittedly we came without a reservation after some shopping at the mall, we waited ~1.5 hours for a table (so we ate around 9 pm). I was hangry (only had breakfast), disappointed that we lost views during the daylight / sunset, and it was HOT (it was about 83 degrees F, so I was also sweating). When our table was finally ready, I wanted to leave because I was hesitant to spend a little more on dinner because of all these factors and felt like doing business elsewhere…. BUT!!! I was wrong; I’m so glad I ended up staying.

I got their burger (I know, I know; sue me) but it was one of the best burgers I’ve had — and I am so thankful I tried it. It paired well with their pale ale beer which was precisely what I wanted for our penultimate night in Malta: a good burger and beer outside. The food and drinks cleared away all disdain and anger I had not just for that day, but all memories I had of starvation, heat exhaustion, and sleepiness; in the words of Jules Winnfield: That [was] a tasty burger.

Whoever is reading this I absolutely beg of you to come here. I beg you make a reservation and sit outside to enjoy the scenery. And if you are like us and try coming without one, and you have to wait almost 2 hours, I highly recommend you do it. Sit on the couches like we did, order some pre drinks, debrief the trip, plan the next few days activities, there are so many things you can do to fill in the time but I assure you this place is a must try in Malta. I’m so grateful and lucky we got to try it before we left and it has, based on all the things we’ve done this week, been the inspiration for my return. I cannot wait to come back here to try this place again and attempt their tasting menu with my husband (who was the one who talked me into staying and...