Where to eat in Malta
Malta has plenty of nice restaurants and bars. According to Belgian standards the prices are affordable. Most restaurants have a nice selection of Maltese wines available which are of good quality. We always try to have local beers and wines. No need to drink good Belgian beers when we are travelling 🙂
Important to notice is that it’s a habbit to give a 10% tip in a restaurant if you had a good experience. To our information it is not expected in shops or regular bars. When paying cash you can off course always round up the change.
Located in Marsascala you can find Tal Familja which is currently #3 out of 70 restaurants in Marsascala. This famous restaurant which is frequented by plenty of locals has a huge menu and daily specials. They have a wide selection of fresh fish and classic Maltese dishes. It’s better to make a reservation.
They have a trolley with fresh fishes where you can choose from. Once you have made your selection they will prepare the fish for you. The table is nicely decorated and fresh bread and butter are put on the table.
They have a very extensive wine card with a nice selection of Maltese wines. They are affordable prices, like in most of the Maltese restaurants.
When we arrived the place was fully loaded, but credits go to a Belgian waiter who works there for 3 years who helped us to get a spot anyway.
The restaurant is only 400 meters away from a bus stop where you can take a direct bus back to Valletta.
In Melieha can find this restaurant which also has a wide selection of pastries and pancakes. In the afternoon I had a pancake with caramel and chocolate. Later the evening we had a tapas board to share with 2 together with a very delicious local Maltese wine. An affordable place with great staff.
Irish pubs (Valletta)
In Valletta you can find two cosy Irish pubs; The pub and The Queen Victoria City Pub.
The pub can be found near the university and only has a few tables inside but a larger terrace. They have a limited choice of draft beers but also some bottles. Staff is friendly and mainly the atmosphere makes it a fun place to hang out.
The Queen Victoria City Pub on the other hand is a very large pub with an extremely nice interior. It takes quite some time to let it sink in. The details are really impressive. They have a large bar and different cosy seating areas. They serve food but we didn’t consume any. We had an aperitief before heading for dinner.
Located just outside the famous Paceville area in Saint Gillian’s you can find TripAdvisors #2 out of 273 restaurants.
There are 2 restaurants by the same owner, and more background of his goal can be found on the central website. The second restaurant is located in Gzira.
The location is not very special nor cosy. It felt a bit chaotic, but still acceptible. Maybe it was just a day of those. I don’t think we would have entered if we would not have made a reservation. I do think it was because we were sitting in the area between acquarium and toilets. The terrace looked cozier. And we didn’t check the back part of the restaurant, so we might be biased.
Once seated, the staff was friendly. We selected a local Maltese wine from the list but it was not available. I always find it a bit annoying when that happens. Nevertheless the waiter proposed a similar wine which tasted good.
Now, the main thing we came for was the food. We decided to go for a pizza and we didn’t had to wait too long before they were served. They looked great and were yummy.
The Fat Rabbit (Nadur, Gozo)
Number #2 out of 15 restaurants in Nadur. The restaurant is located in the same building of the Quaint Boutique Hotel. There are some tables outside in the alley, but we were sitting inside. The place was quite loaded but we were lucky to have a table without reservation.
In Malta we saw plenty of rabbit dishes on the menu. Can there be a better restaurant than “The Fat Rabbit” to try some rabbit? I selected a stew of rabbit and Marie-Claire had some octopus. It came with several side dishes ranging from potatos, fries, salad and warm vegetables.
The portions were really royal. We were unable to finish it all and when looking around we saw the sam at all tables. The food was very delicious, but the portions are so big that I don’t think a lot of people would be able to finish it all. We saw several people asking for a doggy bag.
Service was great and the price was once again very affordable. For this quantity and certainly the quality you should not doubt to go to The Fat Rabbit when you are in Nadur or Gozo.
The Square Gastro Bar is a bit tucked away from the main street in Mellieha. We passed the place when heading to our hotel Viu 57, which was a little walk up the hill. I’m convinced that it’s current score on Tripadvisor (#40 out of 96) is linked to this. You can’t see it from the main street as it’s up the stairs and when looking for a restaurant online, I don’t think many people would select a restaurant on place 40. This is one of the downsides of TripAdvisor scoring in my opinion.
The restaurant has a cozy terrace which is extremely nice when the weather is good. However there was also some heating available, we decided to sit inside as wind was coming up.
The staff is very friendly and helpful. They have several tempting dishes but a few too many with coriander in my opinion :-). The dishes were served with care and taste was delicious. The local wine Caravagio is not something I would select another time. But this is a very subjective opinion 😉
Parrruccan (Rabat, Mdina)
Not a restaurant, but still you can find your treat here. Only a few hundred meters away from Mdina you have Rabbat. In front of the church you can find Parruccan bakery.
A friendly men has a small shop where you can find all kind of Maltese specialties. They are not to be compared with the sweets we are used in Belgium, as they are less sweet 🙂
We bought several, and they were not bat, but I can’t say they were delicious neither. But worth a try.
Gebuba (Nadar, Gozo)
This bar, located on the main square of Nadur, is famous for it’s wide selection of beers. The author of Lonely Planet claims more than 300. You cannot sit inside, only on the terrace.
The fridges contain plenty of Belgian beers, and although it’s always tempting, I avoid it when travelling.
We both had some beer from a local brewery named Lord Chamrray. The offer some standard tastes and how some seasonal ones, of which we selected one.
