Lou’s Bistro — Restaurant in Sliema

I have been a client of this restaurant for about two years now. I am nicely welcome and seated wherever I am pleased. Staff are happy to answer my questions and are helpful when I ask for some changes relative to what is the menu. There are many dishes I enjoyed, some in the menu and some are specials. On the 16th of June, the bartender had an unprofessional behavior that spoiled my mood and consequently the pleasure of the meal. When I got into the restaurant the staff took the initiative to ask me if I am happy about the air conditioning and I said yes. I found it nice that they asked. As I started having the main course I heard someone speaking loud and ignored it initially then I found it annoying and realized it was the bartender having a loud conversation on the phone while at the bar with the phone speaker on. I found it upsetting. Nevertheless, I discretely asked his colleague to talk to him and it stopped. A few moments later, the bartender manipulated the air-conditioner setting which resulted in at least one of them pausing and I started sweating while eating. I spoke again to the same waiter and as I was speaking to him the bartender interfered in the discussion and sharply asked me "what, did I do something?" He had and aggressive facial expression, which was shocking to me in a place where I am supposed to be served. When I looked at him severely in return, he understood he was wrong and softened himself. He made a lengthy discussion while interrupting me instead of just understanding what is disturbing me and let me continue my meal in peace. He ended putting back the setting as it was but tried to keep arguing and I had to tell him twice "thank you" in order he stops. A few moments later, he was at the bar knocking repeatedly on the furniture and preventing me from eating with serenity. Earlier, I asked his colleague who was the manager and I was told there was no manager. My assessment is that the bartender lacks sensitivity to the client's comfort, he has weak client facing skills and is unaware of the consequence of his actions. I would also say there is an amount of arrogance in his attitude. It seems he was taking advantage of the management's absence to behave carelessly.

Edit of 18th of July: I decided to dine again there today to see how serious the management are about their apology. I found the usual manager/owner and I discussed with him the air conditioning issue. Unfortunately, he was not informative and told me ordinary stuff about the fact the door is open. I told him previously the air conditioning was much more performing and the door was open as well. He just made some body language and did not construct something sensible. I decided to eat there and while waiting for my order I went to him to tell him he is not being honest about the matter. He looked at me while squeezing his face out of anger and told me "if you don't like it you can go. you are so arrogant. I don't have time for you". There was only one or two tables taken in the restaurant so his claim of not having time had no credibility. when I decided to leave he told me I am not welcome here again. This shows how the so called apology in the owner's response was fake, just lure potential clients into thinking the ownership is civilized and caring. Well, I revealed your true face Sir. From the experience above, I have no choice but to conclude that the purpose from this restaurant is not to serve the client and attend to his comfort but their is a condescending attitude whereby the ownership wants to exhibit their ability to do some good food as a show off, not out of a will to honor people who want to enjoy quality with dignity. If you flatter them, everything is fine, if you challenge them, they turn and show their hypocrite faces, which is what happened today. My message to the owner is if you cannot handle being challenged, you are loser. The apparent quality becomes consequently fake and you are not doing any favor to anyone. It's better you close the restaurant and leave the space for a more...

Serious food safety concerns!

My wife and I ate at Lou's two nights ago on the merit of the good reviews. We chose the halloumi fries as the starter and they came out quickly Unfortunately, we soon realised that there were lots of hairs (at least 10) on them and in the dip. At first I thought they were perhaps stringy bits of cheese but it then became clear that they weren't... They were all around 1.5cm long and fair coloured, so they didn't seem like human hair. Some kind of cat or other small mammal like a mouse.

Obviously we told the waitress and refused to eat more, and she was confused as to what they were because, as she said, the dip is made in house and not frozen/tinned. Somehow, it had been contaminated by an animal which is very worrying. The waitress was not experienced enough to deal with the situation appropriately.

This was pretty disgusting, but on the basis that the restaurant had otherwise good reviews and being very hungry, we regrettably decided to stay and switched it for a separate starter. In hindsight this was the wrong choice. The ribs that I ordered for my main were ok, and we put aside the contaminated starter for the time being.

It should be said that during all this, the owner was present in the restaurant and was aware of what had happened, but did not once come over to us. In fact, she seemed to deliberately avoid talking to us, despite talking to other guests throughout the time we were there.

When it came time to pay, a waiter offered me a shot of Bajtra to make up for it. Bajtra costs €10 a bottle... his offer is then perhaps worth 20 cents. I accepted but should have been more forthright. There had been no other offer at all of making up for the fact that our starter had obviously been contaminated and could be a health risk. At that point I made a point of calling over the owner and asking why she hadn't come over to address what had happened. Her excuse was that she believed her manager had talked to us (he hadn't) and that she was busy (she had been standing around a lot of the time just a couple of metres from us and clearly seen what was happening).

I don't know anyone who as a restaurant owner would find out that a meal had been contaminated with animal hairs and then ignore the customer, and then not offer to make it right at all. In hindsight, we should not have continued to eat here and the restaurant should probably be reported to the health authorities.

I just wish we had taken photos to show just how many hairs there were, we found at least 10 to 15.

This recollection is exactly what happened; we are tourists and have no other agenda against this restaurant. The infected food and subsequent service from the owner was shocking. I would strongly avoid eating here as there are evident concerns around food safety, nevermind the poor service and lack of attention given to very...

Review for Lou’s Bistro – A True Highlight in Malta

During our one-week holiday in Malta, we discovered Lou’s Bistro – and ended up dining there three times. We had actually planned to try out many different restaurants, but Lou’s impressed us so much with its unique atmosphere, the high quality of the food, and the fair prices that we kept coming back.

The menu may be concise, but it offers something for everyone – from meat lovers to vegetarians. We especially want to highlight the cauliflower starter, which even won over die-hard meat fans.

What truly sets Lou’s Bistro apart is the team. You can instantly feel the amazing team spirit and the passion they bring to their work. Even when the place is busy – as it usually is – the staff remain consistently friendly, professional, and attentive. This creates a warm and welcoming atmosphere that makes you feel right at home.

We also want to mention the cleanliness of the restrooms, which always met our high standards – something that’s sadly not a given, even in otherwise great places.

Dining here was an absolute pleasure – not just because of the fantastic food, but also because of the many happy faces of other guests leaving Lou’s with a smile. One thing’s for sure: this won’t be our last visit. If there were a Lou’s in Stuttgart, it would definitely be one of our favorite go-to spots. Highly...