5 Best Restaurants in Valletta, Malta

We've compiled the best of the best in Valletta - browse our top choices for the top things to see or do during your stay.

Beati Paoli

$$ Fodor's Choice

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.

Noni

$$$ Fodor's Choice

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.

Giannini

$$$

Leading politicians and the fashionable alike dine here on haute Maltese-Italian cuisine. Dishes hit the heights with pan-seared boneless quail and veal chops, and the day's catch is usually reliable. Tables on the open balcony-style terrace overlook the Sliema waterfront, but if it's too hot outside, try the table just inside the open full-length windows to get the best view combined with a little cool air. There is a lounge downstairs; the restaurant is on the fifth floor.

An elevator only takes you part of the way; you'll still have to climb a flight of stairs to get to the restaurant.

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Guzé

$$$

This inventive Maltese trattoria has a menu that takes traditional, seasonal ingredients and tries to do something a little different with them, from a tempting starter of pork cheek lasagne to rabbit done "three ways." It's set in a 400-year-old vaulted stone building, with a series of small, simply furnished and elegantly lit dining spaces. When the restaurant is full, space can be a little tight.

Sotto Pizzeria

For a simple, cheap, and delicious meal, Sotto is the go-to in Valletta. Set in a bustling stone cellar, and with a mix of tables and benches, it's Malta's best pizza joint by a mile, dishing up Roman-style square pies with thin, crunchy crusts, just the right touch of olive-oil, and simple toppings. It's nothing fancy, just a matter of quality ingredients: an indulgent scattering of pork cheek and smoked cheese here; truffle sauce drizzled over rocket and parma ham there. A true institution.

Malta

Malta

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