4 Best Restaurants in Mdina and Rabat, Malta

You come here partly for the setting, which includes a pretty garden terrace and the chance to dine in the restaurant's belowground "cave room," which has been hewn from the rock and is rather in keeping with the rest of Rabat's subterranean attractions. But the bonus is that the food is also superb, making the most of the area's local produce. Starters toy playfully with Maltese classics such as lampuki, while the mains up the ante with foams and unexpected ingredients, subtly elevating the small but stately à la carte menu and choice of tasting menus.

A Mdina institution, this café offers scrumptious cakes paired with delicious, freshly brewed coffee. It's not just the food that attracts a regular stream of clients throughout the day; the terrace tables have magnificent views across the Maltese countryside and invite a long lingering visit. 

A cluster of fine-dining options has sprouted up in Rabat's own little Michelin corner on Saqqajja Hill, just as you enter town, with one of the better reasons for this being the lush views you get of the countryside below. This stately entry from gregarious chef-owner Carl Zahra is arguably the finest, with a relaxed setting in an old stone-walled building. The seasonal menu of Mediterranean and pasta dishes is reliably excellent. 

There isn't too much competition for your appetite within the walls of Mdina, with most of the alternatives over in Rabat. The one exception is this lunchtime favorite that is reliably packed when the tour buses are in town. Things quiet down in the evenings, and that's when the restaurant, in a 500-year-old building, finds its feet. Bag a seat in the pretty internal courtyard and take in a menu of mostly Mediterranean fare with plenty of Maltese, Turkish, and Italian influences.