Santa Cruz Bistro and Tapas
6, Ponsonby Street
Gżira
Tel: 9933 7759

Food: 8/10
Service: 7/10
Ambience: 5/10
Value: 9/10
Overall: 7.5/10

I’m always on the lookout for new restaurants and bars. I find food and drink to be an excellent break from the monotony of the day-to-day grind so if there is ever an opportunity to discover a new experience, I tend to take the leap.

This has its obvious pitfalls. There are a lot of mediocre places out there. Not necessarily bad, just lacking originality, anything particularly unique or a level of quality that stands out against its hundreds of other counterparts.

That is always the struggle though isn’t it? Nights out are rare these days and wasting them on disappointing fare leaves you with an inflated sense of frustration. I have a list of establishments that are my ‘go tos’. We hit the same sushi place monthly, I know where I want to go when I crave a pizza, and happy hour cocktails are a thing I have recently discovered that I need more of in my life and so far we have a favoured haunt we visit semi-regularly.

But occasionally, I see a new place open its doors, or I get a recommendation from someone that is far too tempting to pass up. And a lot of the time I’d huff and puff and weigh my options but this time I came across Santa Cruz Bistro and Tapas midway through my Americana crave. So my mind was already made up. I had to pay this new restaurant a visit.

From the outside, Santa Cruz Bistro and Tapas is completely unassuming. In fact, we had almost walked past it and we were looking for the place. There’s a short flight of stairs to help you work up an appetite and you find yourself in the middle of a very oddly decorated space.

I get that the ‘industrial warehouse’ look is very much ‘in’ these days, but with this restaurant it just seemed extremely unfinished. And again, some people would argue that that is the point of the decorative style. But again I’d have to say that the exposed batches of wiring on the ceilings are just off-putting and an eyesore. That aside, we were shown to a table immediately.

I could sense the staff here were a bit wet behind the ears but fortunately for us, there weren’t many patrons in that evening. I could see who I was guessing was the owner/manager directing the waiters’ every move, but with new restaurants, this is always forgivable. I will say that the staff were extremely polite, friendly and attentive throughout the evening if somewhat slow and occasionally careless, but I value the former far more than the latter. Had we been given menus in decent time, had cutlery and sideplates not been forgotten and minor hiccups like those not occurred, the score would be far, far higher.

This is not an inherent problem with the service at all; these are teething problems that can be fixed given enough time so I will refrain from mentioning anything else that may seem damning. It was fine, really.

I’ll give this place another go or two and who knows, maybe it will make its way onto my list. I’d say it is well worth a shot

The menu is vast, which would normally put me off, but to be fair, further inspection reveals that most ingredients are used throughout other dishes so the freshness should be there. We set about ordering a few staples and got ready to stuff our faces.

The restaurant boasts a California vibe which I didn’t get from the surroundings and the food hinted at but I would like to take a moment to applaud the Red Hot Chili Peppers playlist that accompanied us. There is nothing more Californian than RHCP. I would also like to condemn the ridiculousness of the free Spotify account that blared out adverts after every three tracks.

Please folks, for the love of God, its €8 a month. And I know this because I was told multiple times over the tannoy just after By The Way and again after Velvet Glove. It was ridiculous and genuinely aggravating.

The starters made their way out in quick time. The Bacon Tacos were very lacklustre. I mean, they were good and did what they said on the box but I don’t know what I was expecting. In my head it was going to be more like crackling or chicharrones in a salsa heavy taco, but it was thinly-cut, limp Mosta Back Bacon and not particularly seasoned. Still, bacon, so good. And at €6 for three tacos, you can’t complain too much.

We had also ordered a plate of the Cauliflower Bites. The batter was delicious and the cauliflower offered perfect resistance. This was truly enjoyable. The only downfall was the chimichurri that dressed it. It wasn’t the vibrant green I expect from a fresh herb sauce and there was far too much vinegar in there. I like an acidic bite, but this was almost too overpowering. A lighter hand and some fresher parsley and that’s a winner.

The Crispy Chicken Thighs were the last of the starters and wow, these were good. Crunchy, moist and flavourful, the sauce that was drizzled over it was the right amounts of spicy and sweet and oozed umami. A bite of chicken, chili and sauce instantly sent my taste buds back to Vietnam. This was a real winner.

Our mains took a while to arrive but that was almost a blessing because as per tradition, we over-ordered. We had some time to let the starters settle before our Meat-in-Bun second courses hit the table. We started with the classic bacon-wrapped Chilli Dog. The bun to stuffing ratio was great, the chilli was good but lacked depth of flavour that should accompany a slow-cooked chilli. But the hero here was the hot dog itself. I am a huge fan of the fact that the sausage is made in-house. It had a brilliant snap to it, it was juicy and flavourful. I could have had a plate of just sausages and left extremely content.

The Jack Burger was also beautiful. I discovered pineapple in burgers in Australia a decade ago and, trust me, it is one of the best things ever especially when coupled with that savoury JD sauce. We were missing the promised tomato chutney, but I didn’t really care. This was great, and kudos for use of fresh pineapple as opposed to canned rings. The texture makes a huge difference and was perfect.

The only letdown were the fully loaded fries. Mac and cheese was missing the Mac (which was probably fine because it struck me as odd in the first place) and the toppings were strewn across the top in large chunks. As a whole, it was very tasty but I would have liked to see more of a dice on the pickles and onions and maybe have things incorporated into the cheese sauce so that we could have more uniformity across the dish with every bite.

Last but definitely not least, dessert. This is where Santa Cruz Bistro and Tapas nailed the brief. The Banana Split was huge and extremely generous. Heaps of fresh pineapple and orange, sweet caramelised banana, generous dollops of ice-cream. Absolutely well worth the fiver. My only criticism was that the ice cream was slightly crystallised but that’s me clutching at straws.

More impressive were the €4 nutella doughnuts. These were perfection on a plate. Warm, fresh and sinful, just what dessert should be after a meal that was very much the same.

Was the experience perfect? No. But I’d say within a few weeks and with enough attention to detail, Santa Cruz Bistro and Tapas should take off and do very well. Especially when one considers it is amazingly well-priced. I think I’ll give this place another go or two and who knows, maybe it will make its way onto my list. I’d say it is well worth a shot.