Tico Tico — Restaurant in Valletta

BAD FOOD! - MICROWAVED OUT OF THE PACKET BAD STAFF! - WAITER SPOKE NO MALTESE AND LITTLE ENGLISH UNHYGIENIC! - WAITER DIDN'T WASH HIS HANDS AFTER THE TOILET LONG WAITS! - 30MINS FOR A PRE-BOOKED TABLE

I'm giving this 1 Stars because it was a really bad experience that nearly ruined the day. If I could I would give it 0 stars!

We went in the late afternoon and had to wait for almost half an hour to be seated at a table we had booked in advance. There was no defined smoking area so the place was awash with cigarette smoke the whole time.

The food itself was sub-standard. Some of it had blatantly been microwaved from a packet and the rest was just badly prepared.

Our waiter was slow and spoke no Maltese whatsoever and his English was very poor meaning it took ages to get the correct order.

To top it all off whilst waiting for the toilet I watched our waiter leave a cubicle and walk straight back upstairs to continue handling food and taking order, making no effort at all to wash his hands!

Horrible little venue!...

By far my worst experience on Malta. Orders got lost, starters came after the main courses, the food was not seasoned at all. For example we got seafood pasta that was basically just a handful of seafood on top of unseasoned spaghetti. Not salted, no sauce, nothing. Absolutely tasteless. Some of us waited an hour for the food and we had to remind the staff several times what we ordered. After more than an hour we even cancelled some of our food. The waiters were incompetent, one didn't understand English at all but pretended to understand. The other waiter just put all guilt on the kitchen, saying it's not his fault that the food is not coming. But on the other hand he kept insisting that the food is coming. Oh and the rabbit penne? I got ONE TINY piece of rabbit in a thin goulash like sauce. Ridiculous. DO NOT EAT HERE. If you're just out for drinks, it might be okay, but it's a horrible...

Our final night in Malta and we wanted to find somewhere not too far from our hotel for a light bite and final drink. Plenty to choose from as always on Strait Street but Tico Tico's menu really stood out.

Made to feel very welcome, sat outside on a table for four (just two of us) so plenty of room for drinks and sharing plates. So many places try to squeeze you onto small tables, not here.

Mezze rather than Tapas, so served as larger dishes. Highlights were the grilled mackerel with new potatoes and fava beans - so fresh and tasted amazing. Charred Zenguli tomatoes served with yoghurt, almonds and balsamic was just right to cut through the other flavours. Baba Ganoush with scratch bread was so moorish.

The refreshing watermelon margarita and Negroni hit the spot.

Wasn't rushed at all. Would definitely return....