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REVIEW: Santa Cruz Bistro and Tapas, Gzira – new chef… improved dishes
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REVIEW: SANTA CRUZ BISTRO AND TAPAS HAS IMPROVED THANKS TO A NEW CHEF AND MENU
Out with the old and in with the new. A motto I abide by if it means growth... and it looks like Santa Cruz Bistro & Tapas agree.
Santa Cruz, the American-inspired eatery in Gzira providing burgers, meats, tapas and vegan dishes, recently hired a brand new chef who not only improved the menu, but added lots of dishes too.
If I can be completely frank (as always), I had attended the opening launch of Santa Cruz and wasn't impressed with the canapé offering so it didn't interest me to go back to eat there properly.
Months passed and I witnessed them gain quite a following whilst hearing many praises from the vegan community (which says a lot).
Highlights included the rich snails (without shell) and chorizo dish which proved to be competent and flavourful.
I was pleasantly surprised by the succulent yet crispy pork ribs. They come smothered in a slightly fruity in-house BBQ sauce with a favourable bone-to-meat ratio.
You can taste that they were marinated for a long time. It wasn't exactly fall-off-the-bone but it really didn't matter, they were tender.
I had to tuck in to some vegan options. I highly recommend the vegan tacos stuffed with 'chilli con carne' which had the same texture as its beef version. They were heavily filled, marinated and mixed with salsa and coriander.
They also have a Moving Mountains burger. Most eateries offer the Beyond patty but this is just as delicious. However, it depends entirely on what you do with it. Santa Cruz tops it with tomato chutney, lettuce, crispy onions, vegan coleslaw and a side of vegan spicy sauce.
What I really admire about Santa Cruz is the owners take criticism with the highest humility. For instance, although they are exceptionally meaty and tender, I told them that the buffalo wings were not indeed buffalo wings and told them how to improve.
The next week, I got a message to say that they took my advice on board and when I tried them again, although they needed a tad more tweaking (and the removal of the spring onions), they were 80 percent better in regards to the sauce.
On the whole, I enjoyed my experience at Santa Cruz more than I thought I would, if you had asked me a few months ago, I probably wouldn't have put them on the map but got to give them huge credit where credit is due.
The menu is vast, so there is definitely something for everyone and it's a pretty cool place to just hang out!
Oh and their African parrot steals the show and is the boss of the place!
Santa Cruz Bistro & Tapas
Ponsonby Street
Gzira
Website
Elsa Messi
Food connoisseur, curiosity feeder and travel queen. Londoner who has lived in Tokyo and now based in Malta.
I like what I C: Cheese, cats, consuming cuisines, canines, cooking, clothes and countries. I also like taking long romantic walks to the fridge.
