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Traditional Maltese cuisine is Italian in origin, but "international" food is on most restaurant menus as well. Locally caught fish is a specialty. The national dish is fenek (rabbit); bra?joli (beef olives) and lampuki (dorado) pie are runners-up. Pastry coats fish, vegetables, cheese, and pasta dishes. Soups, minestra (minestr
Traditional Maltese cuisine is Italian in origin, but "international" food is on most restaurant menus as well. Locally caught fish is a specialty. The national dish is fenek (rabbit); bra?joli (beef olives) and lampuki (dorado) pie are runners-up. Pastry coats fish, ve
Traditional Maltese cuisine is Italian in origin, but "international" food is on most restaurant menus as well. Locally
Traditional Maltese cuisine is Italian in origin, but "international" food is on most restaurant menus as well. Locally caught fish is a specialty. The national dish is fenek (rabbit); bra?joli (beef olives) and lampuki (dorado) pie are runners-up. Pastry coats fish, vegetables, cheese, and pasta dishes. Soups, minestra (minestrone) and aljotta (fish) especially, are common, and are delicious with daily baked crusty Maltese bread. Capers, the buds of the caperis specicum shrub that is native to the islands, are widely used. Native wine is abundant and inexpensive; look for medium-dry whites. Cisk lager is a local favorite, and try Hop Leaf pale ale for something with a bit more bite. Kinnie, a terrific nonalcoholic thirst quencher, is made from a "secret recipe" that includes bitter oranges.
One of the buzziest restaurants in the capital is the family-run Beati Paoli, an impossibly cozy, friendly affair that still flies under the radar of most visitors. It has that neighborhood feel, boasting of its "local fresh rabbit" on the blackboard frontage, yet serves up subtly crafted, on-point Maltese and Mediterranean dishes with a changing specials menu that never fails to delight. The interior is all stone and white walls, with an open kitchen to boot. Add to that a good local and European wine list and you can't fail to be charmed.
Valletta, N/A Malta, Malta
99-309–319
Known For
Friendly service
Excellently crafted local dishes
Good selection of Maltese wines
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Closed for dinner Sun.; closed for lunch Mon. and Sat.
One of the current rising stars of Malta's dining scene is Jonathan Brincat, owner-chef of the much talked-about Noni, a chic, cozy escape set in a former jazz bar. The menu is a studied, elegant affair taking a number of Maltese and Mediterranean classics and fine-tuning them with a bit of French flair, from saddle of rabbit with confit croquette to a crackling smoked rib "gyoza" that accompanies the pork to smoky chorzio bean puree. It also has one of the better wine lists in town. Book early to get a table downstairs in the stone cellar and avoid the chilly overflow tables on the ground floor.
This is one of the last remaining traditional Maltese trattorias along the tourist strip, and local families, along with a few in-the-know visitors, flock to this relaxed eatery. The chef is famed for his homemade succulent braġjoli (thin beef steak stuffed with pork herbs and breadcrumbs, then rolled and cooked) and mouth-watering slow-cooked rabbit. The freshly made pastas and sauces are copious and an excellent value. The menu is matched by local, reputable wines. The restaurant is a little difficult to find, located down a narrow alley off the main shopping street. There's no view, but don't worry, food and the rustic ambience add up to a typical Maltese experience.
80 Fawwara La., Sliema, N/A Malta, SLM 1670, Malta
On the ground floor of the original treasury of the Knights is Valletta's oldest café. Since 1837, this ornate, vaulted confectionery has produced hot, savory breakfast pastries and qaghaq ta' l-ghasel (honey rings). The lunch menu also includes sandwiches, salads, and a choice of daily specials. The interior air-conditioned café attracts Valletta movers and shakers, because of its close proximity to parliament and the law courts. The shaded outside tables in Victoria Square are the city's prime people-watching spots. Enjoy a coffee, beer, or glass of wine and relax.
244 Republic St., Valletta, N/A Malta, VLT 1114, Malta
A Mdina institution, this café offers some of the most scrumptious cakes in Malta, paired with delicious freshly brewed coffee. It's not just the food that attracts a regular stream of clients throughout the day; the terrace tables have magnificent views across the Maltese countryside that invite a long lingering visit. Try a crisp warm Maltese pastizzi (a crisp pastry filled with ricotta cheese or mashed peas). Sandwiches and pizzas are also on the menu for a light lunch or a short stop to recharge the energy levels and give tired feet a rest.
Leading politicians and the fashionable alike dine here on haute Maltese-Italian cuisine. Dishes hit the heights with pan-seared boneless quail and veal chops, and the day's catch is usually reliable. Tables on the open balcony-style terrace overlook the Sliema waterfront, but if it's too hot outside, try the table just inside the open full-length windows to get the best view combined with a little cool air. There is a lounge downstairs; the restaurant is on the fifth floor. An elevator only takes you part of the way; you'll still have to climb a flight of stairs to get to the restaurant.
23 Windmill St., Valletta, N/A Malta, VLT 1351, Malta
This inventive Maltese trattoria has a menu that takes traditional, seasonal ingredients and tries to do something a little different with them, from a tempting starter of pork cheek lasagne to rabbit done "three ways." It's set in a 400-year-old vaulted stone building, with a series of small, simply furnished and elegantly lit dining spaces. When the restaurant is full, space can be a little tight.
22 Old Bakery St., Valletta, N/A Malta, VLT 1459, Malta
Fresh fish served by the sea is the signature of success for this long-standing Gozo favorite. Try a salad sprinkled with locally grown capers followed by grilled catch of the day or clams with pasta. The low ceiling of the vaulted dining room, once an old boat house, can feel a little claustrophobic but the sunny terrace overlooking the bay is popular with visitors from surrounding hotels but many local families also make this the place for long lunches or dinners.
Marina St., Marsalforn, N/A Malta, MFN 1010, Malta
For a simple, cheap, and delicious meal, Sotto is the go-to in Valletta. Set in a bustling stone cellar, and with a mix of tables and benches, it's Malta's best pizza joint by a mile, dishing up Roman-style square pies with thin, crunchy crusts, just the right touch of olive-oil, and simple toppings. It's nothing fancy, just a matter of quality ingredients: an indulgent scattering of pork cheek and smoked cheese here; truffle sauce drizzled over rocket and parma ham there. A true institution.
Squirreled away in the backstreets of Vittoriosa, this eatery offers traditional Maltese food dished up in tasting menus (€28 per person) that typically feature pork, beef, and rabbit options. Bigella bean dips, cheeselets, and locally hung sausage starters form a crash course in local specialties; rabbit marinated in a zalza (a tomato-based sauce) preceded by an assagi (taster course) of ravioli stuffed with local ricotta-style cheese ram home the restaurant's credentials. As authentic a taste of Maltese home cooking as you'll find on the mainland.
20 Triq Pacifiku Scicluna, Birgu, N/A Malta, Malta
While most of the restaurants lining Marsaxlokk's waterfront are rather cheap and cheerful, aimed more at the ravenous lunchtime crowd, Tartarun not only skews more upscale but also makes superb use of the island's seafood—it is literally fresh off the boat. The atmosphere buzzes with intent, and light pours through its huge windows. There's no terrace, but you'll get more than a taste of the sea from the menu, with the prawn carpaccio a classic opener, followed by roasted sea bass and clam sauce and fried lentil or perhaps one of the fine local lobsters.
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