[Updated 03 July 2024]
Table of Contents
Maltese Food 🇲🇹 🐟 🍝
Italian Food 🇮🇹 🍝 🍕
Asian Food 🍣 🍜
Sweets/Desserts 🍫 🍰
Bars/Beer/Wine 🍺 🍷
This not an exhaustive list. Valletta has many great restaurants, bars, and cafés. These are just some that stand out for me.
You can see/save the entire list on Google Maps here: BenGoodTour Google Maps Valletta Food & Drinks Recommendations. Otherwise keep scrolling for more context and details 😊
All links will take you to the Google Maps location of highlighted place.
Simple, homemade, cheap, Maltese food.
Be aware it's only open for breakfast & lunch, i.e. until 15:00. It's also quite busy around noon, and very small.
I eat my ftira here, just €4. You can just ask for a "traditional" ftira, with tomatoes, olives, capers, lettuce, onions. It usually comes with tuna and ġbejna (the Maltese goat cheese), but I replace them with bigilla - a delicious bean paste.
Besides Ftira you can get anything, like Bragioli (aka Beef Olive) - minced beef wrapped in veal in a tomato stew of peas and carrots. Or the baked pasta. A lot of traditional options here.
Opening hours: 07:00-15:00 (Saturdays -14:30), Sundays closed.
An authentic Maltese food place. Simple, rustic, hearty, not pretentious.
Opening hours: 08:00-16:00 (Monday -15:00).
I enjoy the food selection here tremendously. As it doesn't give you many other options other than real "Maltese food". (Except for maybe the "Ftira Pizza", that is possibly an abomination - might taste good, but it's a new invention).
Opening hours: 12:00-14:30, 18:00-22:30, Sundays closed.
There is only one fully vegan restaurant in Malta, and it's not in Valletta but in Gżira (close to Sliema): Balance Bowl.
For fully vegetarian in Valletta there is Ġugar.
If you want indulgent vegan options in Valletta I would recommend Tribe, Manon, and Elephant Shoe.
I Pupi, new place but very well received. Very close to our tour end location.
Pappanis is very good too.
San Paulo Naufrago, another very good pizza place in a very instagrammable setting.
Sotto Pinsa Romana is a great pizza place. Very close to our tour end location.
Drunken Dumpling, great Chinese food.
Naan Bar, great Indian food.
N Japanese Bistrot, top Japanese food in a smaller more intimate setting.
AKI, another great Japanese restaurant with great sushi.
Suki Asian Snacks, small intimate Asian fusion; very well loved.
Lot 61 Coffee Roasters, possibly the best coffee in Valletta. Have all sorts of coffee extraction, filtration methods.
Coffee Circus Lisboa, another very good coffee shop. They have another new location in Valletta: Coffee Circus Hub, it's much quieter and further away from the main streets of Valletta.
Chocolate District, they have their own line of Maltese dark chocolate which they mix with Maltese ingredients. A very cool souvenir in my opinion.
But if you're passing, get the chocolate liqueur drink (they don't have a name for it). It's half melted chocolate, and half prickly-pear liqueur.
"Strait Street" has a lot of cozy bars, such as: Rumi, Rootz, and Yard 32 Gin & Tapas.
Trabuxù Wine Bar, very good wine selection and serious about wine.
67 Kapitali, great selection of beers: bottled, canned, on tap. In terms of Craft Local Beer I always go for Lord Chambray.
Café Society, trendy and hip place on the steps of a narrow Valletta street. Good selection of cocktails and beers.
Places where I frequent often. The staff and patrons are friendly, and it's easy to strike up a conversation.
A Bohemian place that has a very impressive (maybe my favourite) selection of canned and bottled beers & ciders. They also make great smoothies (my favourite, as they add interesting ingredients), and serve only vegetarian/vegan food.
It's not everyone's cup of tea, but I love it. I also love the staff there too 😉
The crowd is the usual pub crowd. Lots of characters with strong opinions, but very friendly and eager to strike up an interesting conversation. Again, great staff here 😊
A totally off the beaten path place. Also not everyone's cup of tea. Opening hours are also not very standard, the owner opens when she wants - and I personally like that.
It's got a unique setting. Placed next to the boat houses, on the water's edge, surrounded by the impressive fortifications of Valletta with a view of the sea.
Again, I go here for the crowd and the owner.
Getting to Maori is tricky. First go to the restaurant called Sally Port, then walk down the ramp through the arch (or "Sally Port"), then walk to the water's edge and to the right.