What is the traditional food of Malta?

Malta's iconic dishes include rabbit stew (fenek), pastizzi (flaky pastry with ricotta or mushy peas), timpana (baked pasta in pastry), and bigilla (spiced broad bean dip). Seafood is excellent — lampuki (dolphin fish), swordfish, and sea bream are freshly caught year-round. Maltese bread (hobz biz-zejt) with tomato, olive oil, and local goat's cheese is a classic starter.

Is eating out expensive in Malta?

Malta is good value by Western European standards. A full meal with wine at a mid-range restaurant runs £25–£45 per person. Fine dining at Under Grain or Noni costs £70–£120 per person for the tasting menu. Pastizzi, street food, and local bakeries can feed you for under £5.

Where is the best place to eat seafood in Malta?

Marsaxlokk fishing village (southeast coast) is the definitive answer — fresh fish restaurants surround the harbour and use the morning's catch. The Sunday fish market there is a highlight of any Malta visit. In Valletta, Waterfront restaurants by the cruise terminal also serve excellent fish.

Malta Restaurants Guide 2026: Where to Eat in Valletta & Beyond

Malta's food scene has quietly become one of the Mediterranean's most interesting — blending Sicilian, North African, British, and Maltese culinary traditions into something entirely its own.

Maltese cuisine doesn't get the recognition it deserves. The island sits at a cultural crossroads — Arab and Sicilian influences dominate the traditional food, layered over a surprising British legacy (rabbit is the national dish; pastizzi are everywhere). In 2026, Valletta's restaurant scene has evolved considerably: a new generation of chefs is reimagining Maltese ingredients with serious technique.

Valletta Fine Dining: The New Wave

Under Grain (within the Rosselli hotel) is the most talked-about restaurant in Malta right now — a subterranean dining room in a 16th-century palazzo basement, serving a tasting menu built around Maltese ingredients with contemporary technique. It's the closest thing Malta has to a Michelin-star experience and books out weeks in advance. Victor Borg's Noni on Republic Street is slightly more accessible with an à la carte option and equally serious cooking.

Rampila in Valletta's Victoria Gate area serves inventive Mediterranean cooking in a former fortification — the terrace with harbour views is spectacular at sunset. Book the outdoor table specifically; the interior, while atmospheric, misses the view.

Traditional Maltese Cuisine: What to Order

Rabbit (fenek) is the definitive Maltese dish — braised slowly in wine with garlic and herbs, served with crusty Maltese bread (hobz). Order it at a local village restaurant (avoid tourist-strip versions). Pastizzi — flaky pastry filled with ricotta or mushy peas — are Malta's beloved street food, sold from hole-in-the-wall bakeries for 50 cents each. Timpana is a baked macaroni in pastry that sounds absurd and tastes extraordinary. Bigilla is a broad bean dip with garlic, coriander, and olive oil served as a meze — essential when it's good.

Marsaxlokk: The Seafood Village

Marsaxlokk, the traditional fishing village on Malta's southeast coast, is the best place to eat fish on the island. Sunday mornings bring a fish market alongside the colourful luzzu fishing boats; the surrounding restaurants serve the morning's catch through the afternoon. Il-Rizzu and Tartarun both offer good-value seafood lunches with harbour views. Order the fresh swordfish, lampuki (dolphin fish, the Maltese autumn catch), or the simply grilled sea bream — all are likely to be within 24 hours of the water.

Where to Eat in St Julian's & Sliema

St Julian's has the highest restaurant density in Malta — quality varies enormously. Mint (Spinola Bay) is the most reliable upscale choice for modern Mediterranean cooking. For something more casual, the string of restaurants along Spinola Bay promenade is pleasant for lunch; Pappone, a long-running Italian, is consistently good. Sliema's Tower Road has decent café options; The Brew (craft beer pub) is the best local bar in the area with reasonable food.