Galea's kitchen — Restaurant in Valletta

Disappointing Experience – Would Not Recommend

We visited Galea’s Kitchen with high hopes, but unfortunately, the experience fell far below expectations. We ordered the €50 steak special for two, after specifically asking if it was clear beef. The waiter explained in detail the cut of meat, and based on that, we placed our order. Along with the steak, we ordered one pasta with octopus and one carbonara.

The problems began when the food arrived:

The steak, which we asked for medium-well, was served well-done—almost burnt, very chewy, and completely bland. No seasoning, no flavor—just unpleasant.

The carbonara came as described in the menu (with egg yolk and guanciale) and was actually good.

The octopus pasta had bigger chunks of octopus that were quite chewy and difficult to eat.

We kindly asked to replace the steak due to how overcooked and inedible it was. Although the staff agreed, their attitude changed—they looked at the time and gave the impression we were bothering them. We decided to replace the steak with two more carbonaras instead.

Shockingly, the two new carbonaras were completely different from the first. These were made with cooking cream, not egg yolk, and didn’t include guanciale. It was clearly a shortcut dish, not at all like the original.

Inconsistent food quality, poorly prepared meat, and unprofessional service made this a disappointing dining experience. I’ll be posting photos to show exactly what we received....

My friend and I went here for the high reviews and were sorely disappointed. First of all, the waiter refused to accept our suggestions for a liqueur tasting, as we noted we def would buy one (the prickly pear for sure!) Yes, we understand they are served as double shots anyway. And YES you CAN make a teeny amount to taste- you just refused too. Since the waiter refused, I ended up paying for a shot I didn’t even like (cacao) and didn’t drink. The fig one I did like.

Waiters served us orders for other tables THREE times. I repeat, three. Seriously, how do you not figure this out?!

Finally, our food took quite a long time to come. We had to ask on its status as others who came after us were finishing their meals and we were still waiting. The server didn’t apologise and we were offered no discount for the wait. P1ss-poor customer service.

Do.not.go.

The two stars I have is because the food DID taste lovely- even though my salad was garbage iceberg lettuce. But the falafels were delightful and my friend’s pasta sauce creamy...

My wife and I turned up without a reservation after being let down elsewhere in Valletta, despite being very busy the staff were incredibly welcoming, helpful & accommodating throughout.

We were initially given a side area where we could sit and look at menus whilst a table became free - this took less than 10 mins. Once seated the staff were super attentive, drinks and food orders were taken promptly and service was well paced.

We shared a traditional Maltese tapas plate to start - a lovely mix of cold ‘nibbles’ - very generous and great value. Our mains were feta tortellini and beef fillet with an amazing mushroom, cream and black pepper- both delicious but too big to finish.

As an added bonus our meal was accompanied by a fabulous trio - ‘4th fret’ I think - who played a brilliant mix of rock classics and chilled out tunes throughout the evening.

Thanks for a superb...