Hi
We arrived back home this morning after 2 weeks holiday in St Pauls Bay which is the other side of Bugibba from Qawra. We can highly recommend a restaurant called Incognito, Fliegu Street, Qawra - we were taken there by some local Maltese so it must be good! It's located not far from the bus terminus and to be honest from the front we would never have tried it - it looked just like a tourist bar - but the restaurant is at the back and away from the noise. It's run by a guy called Michael Tanti and his son David, and the restaurant offers both Maltese dishes (such as rabbit) and gorgeous steak as well as fish dishes. You can eat cheaply (pasta dishes as a main course for around L2.50-3.00 - about £5), but we all pushed the boat out! 6 of us, all 3 courses, with copious amounts of wine, beer and licquers. The total bill came to L60, about £100, but the quality of the food was so high that I'd say an equivalent meal here would be double that. Tell them that Owen who ate the whole rabbit sent you!
On a down side, avoid Geronimo's which is just off Bugibba Sq (it's actually a pedestrian circle!) - although the food was ok the service was abysmal - we were lucky and got our meal but other customers were walking away in disgust after waiting an hour for their food.
Although we didn't eat there, the food at the Cherry Tree looked very tasty and very affordable. Wednesday is BBQ night though so it gets very crowded, and also to be avoided if football is on the tv as they have a giant screen outside on the pavement.
If you're looking for cheap and cheerful then some people staying in our hotel recommended the Bay View which is a tourist restaurant on the sea front - apparently it's much better than the George which is next door.
Hope that helps!
