Porto Maltese

Very happy we found this place! We stopped in for pre-dinner snack and much to our delight they have a $1 oyster happy hour from 5-6. The oysters were shucked nicely with minimal shell. It comes with a red and white vinegar mignonette and cocktail sauce with fresh grated horseradish. The oysters were great! We had 36 total! We also got a lobster roll. The lobster roll was great, packed with fresh lobster meat. It also came with plantain chips, which was a nice surprise. They could have used a bit of salt or seasoning though.I got the grilled seafood platter. It was reasonably priced at $21 and came with a nice variety of seafood. It is a nice appetizer-sized dish. The seafood was cooked nicely but slightly under seasoned. Nothing a few grains of salt couldn't fix! Overall the service was great and attentive, the ambiance is modern nautical and they have a good variety on the menu. They also have a full bar and a nice cocktail/beer and wine list.

Porto Maltese is more than a great restaurant; it is a distinct and exciting approach to Mediterranean cuisine developed in the seaports of the historic island of Malta, at the very heart of the Mediterranean! In the mid-1980s this authentic approach to seafood began to inspire restaurants from Barcelona to Rome and all across Europe.

Outstanding!!! Absolutely love it!! The most delicious seafood I have ever tasted!!! Highly recommended!!! Make sure you make a reservation because they are very busy!

This place has a very odd vibe. Our meal was okay, I guess, despite the fact that the waiter didn’t know the menu, and our drinks took forever, and the meal was way overpriced. The weird part is the atmosphere. There were a lot of young girls there, all at once, scantily clad, and my friends and I could not shake the feeling they were hired escorts to fill the place up. They were definitely not customers and I can just tell you that it seemed off. We won’t be back, we’ll go to the tapas place down the street when we want to go for a celebratory meal next time.

This was one of the biggest surprises I have experienced. As you walk into this fancy brand new restaurant all you can expect is the best, but what I experienced was the complete and utter opposite. Not one thing went the way it should have and the service was just an embarrassment. One of the members of my party decided to order a red snapper and he was the most excited for his meal and was originally the one that we thought would enjoy it the most. An hour and a half we realized that they haven't even placed in the order and his food had not been prepared. Cmon what even is that. The waiters poor excuse was "I'm so so sorry" which is what he continued to repeat over and over again without thinking of a compromise or lowering our bill. My close friend ordered a steak with no mushrooms and instead wanted mashed potatoes. Long story short she ended up getting mushrooms and no mashed potatoes. At this point we were all shaken up and were ready to get up and leave but we still reminded them of the mashed potatoes. We ended up having to repeat the reminder several times and eventually gave up. The owner knew exactly what had gone on and his solution was to get up and leave before we could even speak to him. After all of this we expected a lowered bill or a free meal for the person in our party that never even got his order in the first place. Do not bother even thinking of stepping foot in this restaurant because the risk of having this repeated to you is very high.

There were three of us on Friday night. We started our dinner with tuna carpaccio, salmon tartar, corn polenta, fish and tomato soup, then we moved on to paella, and chef’s platter (grilled seafood). Every dish was fresh simple with thoughtful preparation, beautifully presented, and was beyond delicious. Apple cake for desert cannot be missed. The restaurant was crowded with a good vibe. Overall, we had unbelievable dining experience at Porto Maltese. Fantastic food, impeccable service, beautiful ambiance. Great dinner experience with friends. We will definitely come back again soon.

Wow! A fish restaurant in washington square with delicious desserts too! I was so impressed by my first visit, spoiled for choice ( there must have been 7 or 8 fish to choose from) but went for the branzino ( my go to fish). It was piping hot, beautifully cooked and tasty to the last bite! Looking forwArd to working through the rest of the long list. Being weak I also ordered an appetizer of the assorted charcuterie and was pleasantly surprised by scrumptious slices of some sort of smoked ham. Yummy. And couldn’t stop: so had the apple pie dessert and wanted to order another slice to bring home with me having devoured this one. All washed down with a very drinkable Sancerre. Thank you for opening! your food is marvelous and the atmosphere and table layout both intimate and ‘buzzy’.I think this is going to be a long relationship!

We sat in the back of the restaurant where there is a beautiful Mural which gave you the feeling you were on a boat with an open kitchen right next to us. My girlfriend ordered the branzino encrusted with salt (comes on fire) which is one of the coolest presentations I have ever seen and the fish lived up to the build up of the theatrics. I ordered the filet which was perfectly cooked and tender. We split a grilled seafood appetizer which was a great starter. There was a variety of whiskeys for myself and wine for my date. Will be back very soon. Thank you!