ORTYGIA Food Experience — Restaurant in Valletta

The good: the location was good, the interior also provided a very nice atmosphare. The staff were friendly, attentive and competent. We were able to get a table for lunch without reservation. The Pesce Spada alla Palermitana (Breaded swordfish alla Palermitana with caponata and mushrooms) was very good, crumbly coating with juicy fish, the caponata was beyond expectation and the mushroom were also very tasty. All in all a perfect dish for lunch.

The not-so-good: the Ravioli di Pesce (Homemade ravioli stuffed with seafood and crab meat served with saffron cream), the pasta was very thick and there was very little filling per raviolo as can be seen from the flatness shown in the photo - the whole pasta-to-filling ratio was very off. The filling itself lacked the taste of seafood or crab meat - perhaps it's present but there was so little filling that you mainly taste the thick pasta sheet and the saffron cream. The saffron cream was adequate, the taste of saffron was present while not too overpowering - the only redeeming element in the dish.

Summary: a bit of a hit-and-miss with the mains. For the same price of 18 EUR I'd definitely order the swordfish again but not the ravioli. The other tables mainly ordered the platters of meats and cheeses to share and they all looked pretty good and the guests seemed to enjoy them - perhaps worth a try for...

A place with a nice staff, a beautiful ambiance, popular with locals, and maybe somewhat of a 'hidden gem' given that it's not located very prominently on the touristy streets in Valletta.

The dishes are of a high quality, and there is thought behind the preparation of the dishes. Personally, I don't think my main dish was worth five stars, but I also think that is mostly because this type of pasta is simply not my preferred pasta; this pasta doesn't lend itself well to easily eating everything at once. I am pretty sure that, if I had ordered another dish, I would have rated it five stars (because objectively I can see the thought behind the preparation and such), so I decided to rate it five stars anyway - I'll trust that this place is worth it.

The dessert is good as well, exactly how a...

WORST EXPERIENCE EVER. Extremely RUDE staff. We made a reservation through their website and literally waited 30 minutes for someone to show up after they should have opened (the restaurant was closed when it should have been open). They told us we did not make a reservation and that we were lying. We came to Valetta just to go here and celebrate our dating anniversary and ended up being treated horribly by these staff members. I'm still unsure what happened with our reservation but it was definitely their website error or something (we wouldn't be waiting outside in the cold and come all the way here without a reservation knowing you need one). Absolutely unnaceptable. Definitely do NOT recommend them. That's not how you treat potential customers that were VERY eager to go to...