Grain Street
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Under Grain may only have been open for one week, but it will undoubtedly take the Valletta and Malta fine dining scene by storm. I visited the outlet at the start of its second week from opening. Service was impeccable and the food was exceptional. From the moment you enter, you are greeted by staff and led to your table in an extremely professional manner. The decor speaks luxury and reflects the fine tailoring theme that pervades the whole experience, from the menu reflecting a tailoring pattern to the way you select your plates with tailoring chalk. Yet one still feels very comfortable and in an informal ambience. Service always gives you the first impression of an outlet, before the actual food experience itself, and at Under Grain I would dare say it is Michelin Star classic service, particularly the girl with French accent who clearly was very knowledgeable and precise in her descriptions. The other girls were exceptional too. Then came the food. What can I say? I have been around most local fine dining restaurants, and Under Grain is certainly up there with the best of the best. For starters, my wife and I went for the Papperdelle with chorizo and fresh local prawns and the Agnolotti with rabbit confit. The tastes and sauces were divine. We couldn't resist sharing. Most often when we dine out starters are very good but then the mains are somewhat of a let-down. Definitely not the case at Under Grain. Again our expectations were exceeded. We went for the Roasted Stone Bass and Roasted rib eye of Black Angus beef. Tastes again were exceptional and cross sharing continued. I dare say the secret is in the sauces. To top it up we went for desserts. My wife went for the meringue and I went for the Chef's signature dessert. Both tasted like heaven. Victor Borg, his kitchen brigade and the service team have something very special going on in the heart of Valletta. I have long awaited a restaurant of this cailbre and I must admit, it is finally here. Under Grain you will undoubtedly see us again very soon. Kudos to AX Hotels and Rosselli - AX Privilege
Joseph BorgJoseph Borg
10
We was served a bottle of white wine warm. Is that a Michelin standard? Food taste ok and interesting but the whole dining experience is negative. When you look into the details lot of things are missing or ignored. Don't be fooled by a private dining room idea.. Room badly decorated and dark. The dining table top in this room was a piece laminated chipboard damaged. Not even a table cloth! In the toilet be careful not to hit your head with the ceiling if you are a bit tall. They promote a concept "to share"... the food served is too small to share. What can you share from a thin tiny fillet of sea bass 4cm wide by 10cm long and served completely on its own? or what can you share from a mushroom side dish with 4, yes four, 1 euro size mushrooms? They go all in 1 bite by 1 person. Communication is also very bad. Update after your reply: Why in your website you are showing the Grain Street with a Michelin badge next to it (photo Attached)? Isn't that misleading? The white wine I ordered was from the Under Grain wine list and was served warm. The private dining room that we were offered (without telling us before) is the same one used for Under Grain... and no table cloth. Go check the damaged chipboard table top for yourself. We did not order 1 fish to share between 4. For 6 adults we ordered 3 fish and 3 steaks plus lot of side dishes besides 2 of each large portions pasta, risotto and lasagna so your reply indicating that we ordered 1 fish dish to share between 4 is misleading and not honest.
M SM S
00
This restaurant is a Michelin Bib Gourmand, which means you can get very high quality prepared plates for a reasonable price. It’s one of the three places of Grain all in the same building: the Under Grain which is a one Michelin star restaurant and the Over Grain rooftop bar. The service if very professional, friendly, smiling and warm. The table settings are beautiful and classy. Now the food: we had the carte blanche surprise sharing tasting menu and we were positively surprised in general by the quality and quantities. The home made Fetira bread was nice to eat with the anchovies tuna based spread and the extra vergin olive oil. The cheese based fried balls were delicious. The vegetarian risotto and duck based macaroni based entrees were excellent. First main plate was fish based, very well cooked and seasoned. The best plate of the dinner in my opinion was the aged veal with fried onions and mushrooms, with additional mushrooms on stick and potato sides. The dessert was good but was the least pleasant plate to my taste both in terms of quantity and type of ingredients used: it was mostly ice cream rather than an original sweat based dessert with ice cream on the side. The red wine was excellent. The whole experience was exceptional.
Moustapha MahmoudMoustapha Mahmoud
00
The food was decent, but I do not recommend dining at Grain Street! I booked this restaurant for my boyfriend’s birthday dinner, expecting a pleasant experience, but it was far from it. I booked the outdoor seating, thinking it would provide a nice atmosphere in the summer. Unfortunately, this was not the case. We were informed by the staff that the indoor seating was fully booked, so we couldn’t move inside. While this is completely understandable, the restaurant should have provided a better description of their outdoor seating area. As shown in the photo, we were literally seated next to a delivery truck at some point. Additionally, being located next to a sports bar and a live music venue, all we could hear was yelling and loud bar music, completely ruining the atmosphere, if we would have known, we’ll never book the outdoor seating let alone this restaurant at all. We spent around 140€ on dinner, but it did not feel like a nice evening at a quality restaurant. It was certainly not worth the money. Last but not least, I want to thank our waiter, who was helpful and nice, but the female host we encountered was unfriendly.
Jessica HsiehJessica Hsieh
00
We dined there Friday evening. It was nice and warm outside but we were one of the 2 tables, it seemed quite empty. The service was lovely and very responsive, maybe even a little bit too keen, but I can imagine it was because we were the only ones to serve. We’ve ordered all the snacks and 3 mains to share for a start. The snacks were 50-50, with the pork ears being tasty and very much alike skinny crackling and the cheese snack being second best. Deep fried lasagna and the fish snack were more or less mediocre. For mains we shared the soufflé, lasagna nera and pasta amatriciana. The soufflé was outstanding and paired beautifully with the salad and pears. The lasagne and pasta were more or less “just ok” and very comparable to any other restaurant flavours. The pasta sauce contained near no seafood, the lasagna was ok but extremely flat in flavour. We didn’t stay for dessert as we didn’t feel confident it can change our experience. Overall ok experience but most certainly not comparable with any other Michelin guide or Bib experiences we had this far.
Marta DecMarta Dec
00
Tasting Menu & Sommelier Experience rendered us speechless, stuffed and suitably sozzled… The experience of having the chef choose for us was a delight and we savoured every mouthful of every dish. Being gluten free didn’t mean missing out on anything for me (even the bread course - which was doughy and crusty all at once! So rare) and they did everything normal for my non-gluten intolerant boyfriend. Having dietary requirements wasn’t made a big deal of/like an inconvenience - painless in the extreme! And everything was so delicious and well thought out in terms of courses and wines. The service was IMPECCABLE - thank you to everyone who made us feel so looked after and special across the entire evening. How this doesn’t have a Michelin Star yet is beyond me - but don’t wait till it does to go, a heavenly treat to take advantage the first opportunity you can!
Alexandra BakerAlexandra Baker
00
Nearby Attractions Of Grain Street
Upper Barrakka
Upper Barrakka Gardens
Triton Fountain
St. John's Co-Cathedral
City Gate
Valletta City Gate
Lower Barrakka
Lower Barrakka Gardens
National War Museum - Fort St Elmo
Is-Suq Tal-Belt - Valletta Food Market

Upper Barrakka
4.7
(12.2K)Click for details

Upper Barrakka Gardens
4.7
(10.2K)Click for details

Triton Fountain
4.7
(9.1K)Click for details

St. John's Co-Cathedral
4.7
(8K)Click for details
Nearby Restaurants Of Grain Street
Caffe Cordina
Sotto Pinsa Romana Valletta
San Paolo Naufrago
Zero Sei Trattoria Romana
Nenu The Artisan Baker Valletta
AKI
Palazzo Preca Restaurant
Rampila Restaurant
Sally Port Pizzeria
Legligin Restaurant

Caffe Cordina
4.1
(2.3K)Click for details

Sotto Pinsa Romana Valletta
4.7
(1.9K)Click for details

San Paolo Naufrago
4.7
(1.8K)Click for details

Zero Sei Trattoria Romana
4.5
(1.7K)Click for details