Malta Restaurants

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.

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  • 1. Beati Paoli

    $$

    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.
  • 2. Noni

    $$$

    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.

    211 Republic St., Valletta, N/A Malta, Malta
    21-221–441

    Known For

    • Imaginative cooking
    • Hip atmosphere
    • Good selection of local wines and craft beers

    Restaurant Details

    Rate Includes: Closed Sun. No lunch Mon.–Wed.
  • 3. Tal-Petut

    $$

    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
    21-891–169

    Known For

    • Classic Maltese dishes
    • Epic portions
    • Some of the best rabbit on the island

    Restaurant Details

    Rate Includes: Sun. lunch by reservation only
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