Manta - Beach Club & Mediterranean Restaurant — Restaurant in Sliema

We live on Malta. We visited Manta early June for the second time. The first time we came, we had a pretty good time. That first time it wasn’t all that busy and the wait staff were attentive and friendly, so we decided to come back again.

We arrived at Manta on our second visit. We ordered some food and drinks using the QR code affixed to the side table. After a long wait the food arrived. My wife’s salad had no cutlery and my sushi had no soy sauce. We found a staff member and they went to retrieve the items for us. As we sat there, wait staff would walk up and down with drinks trays trying to figure out who had ordered the drinks. It seemed there was no system in place for identifying where an order had originated from. We ordered some more drinks using the QR app online. They took a long time, so I flagged down a waiter and he told me that it was better to order directly from the staff as online orders were always delayed.

The DJ came and she was amazing. Half-way through the afternoon, the sound cut out and only her two speakers near her DJ table were working and the normal house music came up over the speakers behind us.

We called for our bill and when checking it saw an order of fries that we had not ordered. The waiter, reviewed his notepad, re-keyed the new amount into the card machine and handed it to me without any apology for the error. The first time we came, we spent ~Euro 400 and left a Euro 100 tip. This time we left a Euro 30 tip despite the fries incident.

We arrived at 10:20am on Saturday July 6th for our third (ANF FINAL)and did not have to wait long to be shown to our two day beds we had reserved near the pool. I do find it remarkable that the hostesses don’t seem to be able to rely on a system that shows repeat guests. A “welcome back to Manta” would have been lovely to be greeted by. As the hostess left us at the sun beds, we asked if we could have the umbrella raised. She nodded yes, and walked away. We waited for about 5 minutes and I then asked a passing waiter if he could raise the umbrella. He nodded and walked away. After 10 minutes, another waiter returned with the key to raise the umbrella.

I immediately had a swim and used the furnished towel to dry off and noticed a huge tear on the one corner of it. My wife asked if I could request a few more towels to avoid having to sit on wet towels on the sun beds. I went to the reception and found a shortish Indian chap with a walkie talkie strapped to his belt wearing sunglasses. About four feet away from us was a pile of folded towels on a stool. I asked if we might have 3 additional towels. “You need to go and get them from the hotel,” was his brusque response. I assume there is a hotel nearby, but I am a resident on Malta, not a hotel guest. The hostess quickly came over to me and handed me three towels.

Throughout the day, as with our prior visit, we noticed how waiters could never seem to locate the table that had ordered food or drink. It was comical. Thankfully our waiter, Cameron, was very attentive and friendly and so he took great care of us.

On Sunday evening, we had a dinner party for about a dozen people. The conversation turned to summer and pool clubs. I shared our recent experiences with Manta.

So in short, you have done everything you can to ensure I have no desire to return to your club, and I doubt our friends will either. Had you read my review below from June 18th from our 2nd visit and taken some sincere actions to remedy, the outcome would have been entirely different. I shall take my wallet elsewhere I think.

I shared this most recent commentary again with Manta, but this time,...

Probably one of the worst experience I had so far. Might be great during the day to just hang out at the pool, for some Instagram photos and drinks but nothing more.

My partner and I came here for our anniversary, so we reserved a table in advance. We were sitting at a high table that was so wobbly that we actually asked if they could fix it - that was not possible, and the other tables were unfortunately not better.

We had a waiter introducing himself to us, he would be the one being responsible and serving us for that evening. That sounded really nice! We ordered our first drinks, and it took already a very long time (about 20+ minutes, the restaurant was nearly empty at this point, and we didn't order exotic cocktails or something). First they weren't even brought to us but to the table next to us, not by the waiter who introduced himself but by someone else. Only by chance we noticed it was our drinks as the couple next to us thought it was a complimentary drink they received.

Then the probably worst part, my main dish. I ordered Prawns Saganaki, I was looking forward to this dish for days already. For those who don't know, Saganaki is usually fried greek cheese (feta). 28.50€ is a solid price for a main course in Malta, but my expectations were high. What I got? Watery sauce (?), 4 prawns and tiny feta crumbles on top, the side dish, potatoes, were so dry, I didn't even know potatoes could reach that level of dryness. I'm wondering how they can call it Prawns Saganaki (see attached photo, yea you almost have to search for the feta). I raised my disappointed with the Waiter, but they said that's how it always is. I was really hungry and ate it anyway, the head waiter(?) came then 15 minutes later to ask what is wrong, and I showed him the picture. He apologized and offered a new dish, but honestly the anniversary dinner was already kinda ruined and why would I want to eat the same dish again.

After we finished, we sat down at the sun beds and told them they could give our table to other guests, as the restaurant was packed at this point. We ordered a second round of drinks and waited again more than 30 minutes for those. Again, those were 2-3 ingredient drinks, not crazy cocktails. Before we finished those, we asked for the Bill, again we waited almost 25 minutes. My partner then went directly to the register to pay. On our way out, the waiter was stopping us and said they had a small something for us, because it is our anniversary. We have been sitting only with drinks on those sunbeds for almost an hour plus the waiting time for the Bill, and they remembered on the way out they had something for us? We didn't expect anything, but why mention it when we are on our way out?

I give you 2 stars because at least the food my partner received was decent, and the cocktails...

Dangerous and Unprofessional Service - Raw Chicken Knowingly Served

1/5 Stars - Do Not Recommend

I'm compelled to share this experience to warn others about the serious food safety issues at this establishment. We chose this restaurant for my wife's birthday celebration with a party of over 20 people, and what should have been a memorable evening turned into a nightmare. Service Issues

The problems began immediately with basic service failures:

Only half our table received menus initially Despite confirming our large party reservation that morning, the maître d' questioned our booking upon arrival Poor coordination led to my appetizer arriving and going cold before my main course Replacement sides arrived only after I'd finished eating

The Serious Food Safety Violation

The most alarming incident involved my wife's meal. Due to her food allergies, we specifically requested careful preparation of her chicken dish. Not only did her meal arrive after everyone else had finished eating, but when she began eating, she discovered the chicken was completely raw.

When I brought this to the kitchen staff's attention, the chef's response was shocking: he turned to the server and said, "I told you it wasn't ready." This admission made it clear that they were aware the chicken was undercooked but served it anyway. Management Response

The duty manager offered a complimentary meal the following day, which we obviously declined given the circumstances. He promised his supervisor would contact us as a courtesy call, but no one ever reached out despite the serious nature of the incident. Health Consequences

My wife suffered from stomach illness for four days following this meal, which significantly impacted our planned holiday. Final Thoughts

While the restaurant may appear appealing from the outside, the combination of poor service, serious food safety violations, and complete lack of follow-up care demonstrates a fundamentally unsafe and unprofessional operation. The fact that raw chicken was knowingly served to a customer with food allergies is inexcusable and potentially dangerous.

I strongly advise considering other dining options for your special...