Grain Street — Restaurant in Valletta

I dined in Under Grain downstairs, and the overall impression is not very singular. Starting with the positives, the food is actually very good, amuse bouche and petit fours were quite exquisite, beautifully presented; starter of rabbit agnelloti, super tasty, if not quite as refined looking as it could be (or does, at eg. spectacularly good Noni further down the road). The main of local white fish with girolles, also very good, as was the mash. It is a shame then that such good cooking is quite badly let down by service. The setting and the whole tailors chalk menu choices, seems a little snooty and gimmicky, especially when (by my observation, super inexperienced) young server felt compelled to tell one, when handing one the said chalk, that the theme of their whole place was "privilege", and nothing quite says that as much as a tailored suit, and I quote. Did she mean luxury perhaps? Either way, it seems an outdated concept to champion, don't know about Valletta, but they would be laughed out of town in London or Melbourne for that sort of intro and crumbly chalk that crumbs over the table. All serving staff were below par, besides very efficient French accented lady, who doubled as front of house, food to table handler, and quasi-sommelier, since they didn't have one, I was informed. The problem with having just one properly trained staff on the whole floor with quite a large number of tables, is that one had to wait for ages for any sort of question, help request or service need. If you are positioning yourself at the top end of fine dining, and charging accordingly, then the least you can do is have a couple more extra staff, half of whom, at a minimum, have been trained at the top level. As it is, unduly long waiting times for real basics, no knowledge of the dishes from anyone but the aforementioned Frehch girl, all questions get referred to her, including on drinks. She does her best but cannot clone herself. The staff saw straight past my sea of crumbs on the table (the tasty sourdough was very crusty, thus the result), though for some bizzare reason they did come at weird times and clean off the crumbs off the neighbouring table but not 2 immediately next to it, mine included. No engagement with diners from staff, nobody checks in on you through the night, they just stand around looking into space. This sort of formal, detached service went out in France even in 3 star places at least 10 years ago, Grain may have missed the memo. Glasses continued to stand empty, for a long time after they were finished, and incidentally, noone tried to offer me another glass of wine when finally taking away those glasses. Noone on the floor (literally) knew anything about wine options, so every question got delegated to the solitary staff who did - very inefficient. The unnecessary, bordering on inappropriate, formality by staff spoilt the experience (and this is coming from frequent Michelin recipients diner). What a contrast then to truly Michelin quality food (see my separate review) at Noni earlier in the day which was accompanied by the most jovial, professional, yet caring service. Water was served in awkwardly shaped bottle, all covered in condensation, and yet not a single time through the night did anyone refill my water, despite seeing how nervous I was handling this big bottle, and how challenging it was, as I was simply scared it will just slip out. My other table neighbours had to ask for things all the time also, new glasses for their wine took about 3 request rounds. The wine poured is not even half a glass, I have never seen such stingy serving. Youngster who poured my white clearly has not been trained what a glass of wine looks like (see photo), the red poured by another server was standard restaurant size. Overall - good, solid, in places, clever innovative cooking, undermined by poor, understaffed (3 staff for the whole not insubstantial restaurant),...

We were greeted by a waitress who seemed uncharacteristically stressed – at least for a Michelin-level restaurant and the service expectations that accompany such claims and accolade.

The table just outside the posh hotel (with a sign of proclaimed greatness) was an enjoyable setting, with mariachi music playing from the street next to the restaurant. Service and orders were taken promptly, however, there were warning signs of what the experience would be for our vegetarian friend. As the table went for the carte blanche option (tasting menu with great levels of mystique and enigmatic allure of not knowing what you will be served…or even the number of dishes), we were made aware that this was unavailable for vegetarians, but such dietary requirements could be met if he accepted the tasting menu with the delimitations of “Pasta Tasting Menu”. All said and done, we agreed to go down this path – two carte blanche options and one vegetarian pasta tasting menu were coming our way…or well, it was going to at some point, when hunger had built.

Approximately 60 minutes post-order, we were served bread – neither the best nor the worst bread known to mankind, and an immediate dampener to our hunger-based irritation around the table. The bread was followed by the starters (some 30 minutes or so later), which went down very well and all dishes that made up the starter round were deemed delicious. Happy campers all around the table.

Some 60+ minutes later the coveted mains were seemingly on their way. These were a trifecta of smaller dishes and the carte blanche-enjoying guests were quickly digging into their options. The vegetarian experience took a turn for the worst, when the starter was served as one of three dishes, and the other two options had meat in them and therefore went back into the kitchen. The mistake was rectified, after having asked if the other two dishes indeed were vegetarian and admittedly not fulfilling that part of the deal, some 15 minutes later. The makeshift vegetarian excuses were enjoyable, albeit not quite up to the deliciousness standards one had come to expect after the starters. They were still of great quality and described as yummy, but the service experience and wait saw the appreciation dwindle significantly as an overarching review.

The finale – served 3 hours post-sitting down – presented a good-sized portion of rich chocolate combined with tart lemon and thus giving it a balanced character, suitable for most pallets. A great dessert without being exceptional by any means, and again; the wait and overall duration at the restaurant saw the diminishing importance of good food, as we all just wanted to go home. It was with a hint of bitterness and regret we concluded the evening thinking that we might had been better off going for the full experience of Under...

The food is good but not amazing and, surprisingly, the service and atmosphere was a little disappointing.

Firstly, and most importantly perhaps, I enjoyed most of the food.

All courses bar the main course were enjoyable. The main course of chateaubriand was not cooked to my liking and the chewy nature of the meat spoilt my enjoyment (I don't know whether it was cooked correctly as we were not asked nor told how it would be done).

I was disheartened to see the chef lean on gold and silver-leaf for some dishes as it adds absolutely nothing. The food should speak for itself.

The main issue with Under Grain was unfortunately with the style of service. It was all too stuffy and rigid. My previous visits to Michelin starred establishments have always been improved by the exemplary yet relaxed service.

The whole staff seemed slightly on edge as our fellow diners appeared to include 'influencers' and a reviewer of some description.

Maybe because of this the focus was elsewhere, but there must've been an issue with our main course as we waited basically an hour between starter and main course. This is far too long to wait, yet it was not mentioned at all by the staff. After this, the evening soured and later courses were not enjoyed as much as a result. We declined the cheese course option as it was now getting late. The waiter seemed offended by this and the staff barely spoke to us after that.

I was also disappointed by the wine flight. I know enough about wine to hold my own, yet I was recited a bland script about each wine that added nothing to my knowledge. The miniscule pourings meant I didn't get to enjoy the wine with the food as I had either finished my wine during the wait between courses, or, on rare occasions the food came out quickly, only had two small sips to pair with the food.

Overall, the whole evening goes on too long. Most reviews said the evening lasts around three hours. We were there for four hours and skipped the cheese course. This over-long service was needless and reduced the enjoyment rather than enhanced. We sat at 1900 and the main course was served at 2200.

Lastly, I have never been welcomed back from the toilets in my life, yet that seems to be a policy here. Very odd, very uncomfortable. Discretion would be the better customer service option in...