Picasso Nergili Lounge — Restaurant in Sliema

Picasso Hookah Lounge – Misleading Name & Disappointing Experience

While in St. Julian’s, we decided to take a walk and enjoy a drink with a shisha, choosing Picasso Hookah Lounge based on the reviews. Unfortunately, our experience turned out to be very disappointing.

Upon arrival, we realized that this is not a shisha lounge at all, but a restaurant. Despite the name, shisha is only available at night, meaning that during the day, it functions solely as a dining spot. When we requested a table for five to enjoy a drink and a shisha, a polite staff member informed us that shisha service was not available at that time and would only be served later in the evening.

This is clearly misleading advertising. If a place only serves shisha at night, it should not be branded as a hookah lounge. A more accurate name would be Picasso Waterfront Restaurant, as the current name creates false expectations for visitors.

Location Details & Coordinates

We went to the location listed on Google, entered the restaurant, and were greeted by a staff member who informed us that shisha was unavailable at that time. The entrance to the place we visited was:

After the dining area of The Point shopping center

Past a residential area with apartment entrances

Down a set of stairs, with the entrance on the right side

At the bottom of the stairs, there was another restaurant on the left.

We left feeling disappointed, as we had come specifically for a shisha experience that wasn’t available. If you’re looking for a true shisha lounge, be aware of these details before...

Wonderful views of the sea and buildings across the water. Very comfortable, modern place with pretty comfortable seating. The dinning area looked nice as well. Friendly staff greeted me, I made a reservation online via Google maps. Unfortunately much of the shisha menu is not available, he told me he didn’t have any dark tobacco, which I was looking forward to because it’s not that easy to come across. He prepared love 66 for me and it was pretty good, he changed the coals in a reasonable time and the Negroni I ordered was a little smaller in quantity than I expected but it was prepared nicely. The shisha guy comes around often to make sure everything is okay, which was nice. 30 euros for everything- I thought it was...

Went for Shisha. It was ok. Location is off the track a little, small space for Shisha around 20 people. The venue is mostly a restaurant with the outside space for Shisha. The pipes are nice and clean, the selection of flavours is good. Great views to the front. Side is an Apartment complex. They accommodated us when full at the back which was nice. Service for us wasn’t great, although, they were very nice people. Took 25 mins for our Shisha to appear, which annoyed me as I only had limited time. For Malta I expect this is the standard. But for someone who smokes regularly, not great. The flavour wasn’t packed to my liking. However, it is worth a visit if you are local, it was a good effort...