Where to eat in Malta, and how to dodge the tourist menus

Malta’s problem is too much choice. The Malta Tourism Authority’s register lists 938 licensed restaurants, 629 bars and over 1,200 snack bars, in a country of 316 km². Finding a table is easy. Avoiding the wrong terrace is the hard part. So rather than a list of names, here’s the reasoning I’d use.

Three areas with most of the tables

The numbers are clear. St Paul’s Bay, which takes in Buġibba and Qawra, has 147 restaurants. Valletta has 74, St Julian’s 65 and Paceville another 63, so the St Julian’s and Paceville strip outnumbers the capital. Sliema and Mellieħa sit around 48 each.

Quantity isn’t quality, though. To me St Paul’s Bay feels like volume first and cooking second. Valletta, on the other hand, holds fifteen of the Michelin Guide’s Maltese entries, and that’s where I’d have dinner if I only had two nights. My pick by street is in my guide to the best restaurants in Valletta.

What should you order to eat like a local?

Visitmalta describes the cooking as rustic and seasonal, shaped by Sicily and North Africa. The official guides list lampuki pie, rabbit stew, bragioli (beef olives), kapunata (Malta’s take on ratatouille), widow’s soup with ġbejniet, the small sheep’s cheeses, and aljotta, a garlicky fish soup. To pick at, there’s bigilla, a broad bean pâté, and ħobż biż-żejt, bread rubbed with tomato and oil and filled with tuna.

My rule is simple. If the menu has none of those, it isn’t a Maltese restaurant, whatever the sign says. I go through it all in my guide to Maltese food, and the dish most tied to the island gets a page of its own, Maltese rabbit stew.

Fish, close to the boats

The Ministry for Gozo is blunt about it. For the freshest fish, go to Xlendi, Marsalforn and Mġarr, where the fishing harbours are. On Malta, the place is Marsaxlokk, with its Sunday morning market, which visitmalta calls the best showcase of what Maltese waters produce.

Season matters. Visitmalta lists sea bass, grouper, dentex and red mullet, then swordfish and tuna from autumn and finally lampuki, which the Ministry for Gozo says starts in August. If you’re over in September or October, order it. More in my guide to Marsaxlokk restaurants.

Using the Michelin Guide as a filter

Malta has its own Michelin Guide. The 2026 edition, presented in March at the Phoenicia in Floriana, lists 48 restaurants. One has two stars, ION Harbour by Simon Rogan in Valletta; six have one, including Under Grain and Noni in the capital, Rosamì in St Julian’s and De Mondion in Mdina. Five hold a Bib Gourmand, which Michelin gives to good cooking at moderate prices.

For an ordinary holiday, I think the Bib Gourmand is the smartest way to use the guide. Grain Street and Rubino are in Valletta, AYU in Gżira, Verbena in Mġarr and Commando in Mellieħa. Rubino, according to its Michelin entry, has been going since the early 1900s and keeps fenek moqli, rabbit braised in red wine, on the menu. If you only splash out once, make it there.

Cheap eats that are actually good

Malta plays to its strengths here. Pastizzi (flaky pastry parcels of ricotta or mushy peas) and a filled ftira will sort out lunch in any village, and ftira has been on UNESCO’s intangible heritage list since 2020. I won’t give prices because no official source publishes them, but it’s the cheapest way to eat on the island. The full story is in my guide to pastizzi.

What I’d avoid

Two things. First, eating in Paceville’s club zone without checking the bill, because the Foreign Office warns of overcharging and spiked drinks in some bars there. Second, planning to have lunch on Comino as if it were a village. It isn’t, and I’d bring food over from Malta or Gozo. For something to drink with dinner, Maltese wine and Kinnie get their own page on Kinnie and Cisk. As for the tip, the MTA thought 5 to 10% fair when you’ve been well looked after, which I go into in tipping in Malta.