Amalia Café Restaurant — Restaurant in Charlotte Amalie

I'm absolutely confused by the rave reviews for this place.

Ordered the pasta del dia, which was a lobster tail stuffed with crab meat with some fettuccine. The lobster and crab meat was chewy and had little flavor. We ordered the fettuccine non-spicy, but it came out spicy so it had to be re-done. The replacement wasn't fully cooked (stiff noodles, clumped together - see pic).

Also ordered the burger (forgot the name, but it has sausage inside the patty). Ordered medium rare but it came out medium, if not medium well. I did enjoy the flavor, but it was lacking in toppings and came out sliced in half and separated—I've never received a burger that way. There were like 3 or 4 steak fries, which I think is unusually few. The salad was generic and bland, like school cafeteria salad.

We paid $4 for a four-piece bread starter, which turned out to be three-piece. Really subpar rolls and they were cold. Again, like school cafeteria food.

And lastly, they don't have tap water, only bottled. We may have been mistaken but we did not hear the bottle cap split open when it was being opened by the waiter... so it might have been refilled, but that's just speculation. Not accusing them, just saying. We ordered one hot tea. Total for the two was $14. $14 for a big bottle of purified water and a hot tea. I don't know what the split was, but that is just obscenely expensive.

Our total bill was like $140 and I genuinely have never felt more robbed at a restaurant.

Our waiter was very nice however, and the decor is very picturesque. So...

I was really rooting for this restaurant, but the rude and standoffish owner really left a sour taste on our meal. The restaurant has a nice cool outdoor vibe and really meant for couples and small groups.

Highly recommend making a reservation as walk-ins are not welcomed as I sadly experienced. I saw a table open up and asked if my family could have it, the owner frowned and reluctantly cleaned off the table 20 min later. Over the 2 hour dinner service, the owner refused to even glance in our direction and checked on ALL of the tables except ours. The unwelcomed feeling was definitely evident even by his staff despite that we spent $150. I could hear him jeering and shouting at our waitress and other staff members behind the closed doors. The waitress was very nice and kind.

The complementary fluffy bread basket was nice, but didn't quite hold us over for the 1 hour wait to get our food.

The food is a culinary experience and deserves 5 stars. The juicy Eggplant Rollatini stuffed with spinach and cheese was quite tasty. Hands down the best I've had! The Poach Pear with vanilla ice cream was unique with a sweet warm caramelized pear. It was a fun to try as I rarely spot that dish on the menu.

While the food was worthy of 5 stars, it was hands-down the worst dining experience on our trip. The apathetic and brusque attitude of the owner and long wait time demotes the...

We were thrilled to come to this restaurant. We had a look at some of their food items when going for a stroll one night. The atmosphere is great and the food was excellent. Our server did not treat us the way she did the other tables. Just being direct. She profiled us because we were black, and she waited on the other tables hand and foot. She was from the states because I could tell by the way she talked, and I would think she would have more respect for herself and for others by treating everyone the same. I have worked in a restaurant as a server in the past, and I understand that some people who come into the restaurant do not have etiquette, however, you do not treat people this way. I was disgusted by the way she acted; it was obvious and she didn't try to hide it. Due to experiences like that, a customer would never remember how great the food was or the atmosphere because the experience was ruined by the service. I would love to have given this restaurant more stars and unfortunately this was the only damper on our vacation trip. Just a tip to that waitress and I'm sure she knows who she is, treat everyone the same. The bottom line is you treat everyone with respect. By the way, we tipped her great, because that's the kind of people we are, so I hope she took a page out...