What to Eat in Valletta: Ftira, Pastizzi, Fenek Rabbit Stew & Best Restaurants

Maltese cuisine (kċina Maltija) is a delicious edible timeline of every Mediterranean power that ever dropped anchor in the Grand Harbour. Menus blend Sicilian pasta and ricotta pastries, North African and Arab spices (cumin, cinnamon, cloves, orange blossom, and honeyed date rings), French and Italian Knights' game stews, and British Comfort pies. In 2020, the art of baking Malta's flat, ring-shaped sourdough bread, Il-Ftira Maltija, was officially inscribed on the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage list. Use this culinary guide to eat authentically across Valletta together with our Valletta travel guide and our 3-day Valletta itinerary.

01Street Snacks: Pastizzi, Qassatat, and UNESCO-Listed Ftira

You can eat like royalty at lunchtime in Valletta for under €7.00 if you know two Maltese baking words:

• Pastizzi and Qassatat (€0.60 to €1.50). Sold warm from steel trays at tiny corner pastizzeriji from 06:30 in the morning, a pastizz is a crisp, multi-layered diamond or boat of flaky pastry traditionally laminated with lard and baked until shattering golden. Always order one of each classic filling: tal-irkotta (creamy, lightly salted local ricotta) and tal-piżelli (spiced mushy green peas). Together with them sit round shortcrust baskets called qassatat, filled with ricotta, spinach, and anchovy.
• Il-Ftira Maltija (€4.50 to €7.50 sandwich, or €13 to €16 Gozitan stone-oven ftira). Baked in wood- or stone-fired ovens until the crust blisters and the interior forms large, airy sourdough pockets. A classic ftira biż-żejt is split horizontally, rubbed generously with sweet sun-dried Maltese tomato paste (kunserva) and extra-virgin olive oil, and packed with tuna, local salted capers, green olives, pickled onions, and broad beans (bigilla). If you want to try the pizza-like Gozitan open-faced ftira, topped with thinly sliced potatoes, sheep's cheese (ġbejniet), anchovies, and sesame seeds, book a table at Nenu the Artisan Baker (143 St Dominic Street in Lower Valletta).

02Three Essential Maltese Dinner Classics: Fenek, Bragioli, and Aljotta

When sitting down at a traditional Valletta bistro, look for three dishes that define Maltese home cooking:

1. Fenek (Maltese Rabbit , Stuffat tal-Fenek or Fenek Moqli). During the rule of the Knights of St John, hunting wild rabbit on the island was strictly reserved for the aristocratic Order. When hunting restrictions were lifted in the late 18th century, cooking rabbit became a proud symbol of Maltese national identity. Ordered either slow-braised in a rich red wine, tomato, garlic, and bay-leaf gravy (stuffat tal-fenek, often served with spaghetti tossed in the sauce as a starter first!). Alternatively, order it pan-fried in olive oil, white wine, and whole cloves of garlic (fenek moqli).
2. Bragioli (Maltese Beef Olives). Paper-thin slices of beef tenderloin wrapped around a savoury stuffing of minced pork/bacon, breadcrumbs, hard-boiled egg, parsley, and garlic, braised slowly in red wine and tomato sauce until fork-tender.
3. Aljotta and Seasonal Lampuki (Dorado / Mahi-Mahi). Start with a bowl of aljotta, a fragrant Maltese fishermen's soup of rockfish, crushed garlic, marjoram, tomatoes, and rice. If visiting between mid-August and December (the lampuki migration season), order pan-seared lampuki (Mediterranean dorado) or traditional Torta tal-Lampuki (fish pie baked in shortcrust pastry with spinach, cauliflower, olives, and sultanas).

03Where to Eat and Drink in Valletta: From 1906 Confectioners to Michelin Bistros

• Rubino (53 Old Bakery Street , Reservation Essential). Operating behind its vintage 1906 confectionery shopfront, Rubino has no fixed printed menu. Instead, the chalkboard changes daily with benchmark traditional dishes like baked ricotta timpana, rabbit, bragioli, and their legendary cassata Siciliana (€22 to €30 mains as of November 2026).
• Legligin (117 St Lucia Street) & Guzé Bistro (22 Old Bakery Street). At vaulted candlelit Legligin, lunch and dinner are served as a multi-course Maltese tasting menu (~€40 to €45 per person), while Michelin-recognized Guzé Bistro elevates rabbit and local seafood in a 16th-century stone room.
• Is-Suq tal-Belt (Merchants Street Covered Market) & Caffè Cordina (244 Republic Street). Built in 1861 with cast-iron trusses inspired by Covent Garden, the restored Victorian market hall of Is-Suq tal-Belt offers casual food stalls on the ground floor and seating upstairs (open daily 10:00 to 22:30). For afternoon pastry, sit beneath the vaulted ceiling of 1837 Caffè Cordina for a fried date-filled imqaret pastry (~€2.50) . Pair it with Malta's beloved bitter-sweet herbal soft drink, Kinnie (brewed since 1952 from Chinotto bitter oranges and wormwood herbs), or a cold glass of local Cisk Lager.