EAT
Caffe Cordina
The very definition of a local institution, Caffe Cordina first opened in 1837 and has occupied a prime position on Valletta’s main artery, Republic Street, since 1944. Its tables spill out into elegant Republic Square, with the 18th-century neoclassical National Library of Malta providing a grandiose backdrop. While you’ll find classic crowd-pleasers on the menu, from club sandwiches to burgers, it’s a good starting point for sampling some of Malta’s most traditional dishes. Try a pastizzi, made with buttery, flaky pastry and stuffed with either ricotta or crushed peas and minced beef, or spread big dollops of bigilla, a broad bean and red pepper dip, onto bread or crackers. The jaw-stretching ftira is a beast of a sandwich, seeing slabs of bread filled with tuna, olives, mint, capers, onion and peppered cheese.
244 Republic; caffecordina.com
Caffe Cordina and the National Library
Aki
Come for the art, stay for the sushi; Aki is an elevated izakaya that dazzles in all senses, from the exquisite gilded sculpture by local visual artist Austin Camilleri to the palate-pleasuring dishes turned out by the Japanese-led kitchen. Start at the marble-topped bar with one of their innovative cocktails, such as the Shogun, which blends sake, shochu, Italicus Rosolio di Bergamotto, absinthe and distilled Sichuan pepper, before settling down at a table overlooked by one of the sexily lit space’s striking, contemporary artworks. Don’t worry, they won’t distract from the food, which is as good as it gets, and runs the gamut from sashimi and maki rolls to tempura, hirata buns and robata. You can choose an omakase menu if you like, but if you’re going a la carte, make sure you order something like the hoji-cha octopus (simmered in green tea), charcoal-roasted yuzu shiso lamb cutlets, or the diver scallop and asparagus skewers. UK-based foodies should note that a London outpost is scheduled to arrive in the Spring.
Corner of Strait Street and Santa Lucia Street; akimalta.com
Upper Barrakka Gardens
© viewingmalta.com
Ion Harbour
Acclaimed British chef Simon Rogan’s first restaurant in the Mediterranean, and Malta’s only two-Michelin-star dining establishment, ION Harbour sits pretty overlooking the water from the fourth floor of the Iniala Harbour House hotel. Rogan brings his farm-to-table ethos to a multi-course tasting menu, using local ingredients which showcase the best of what Malta has to offer. It changes regularly and seasonally, but you could be tucking into anything from raw, aged Charolais dairy cow dressed in coal oil, caper jam and pickled kohlrabi, to stuffed rabbit from Żurrieq with jubilee sweetcorn and a sauce infused with lovage stems and pickled tapioca, or bee pollen and goat’s jam cake with Mġarr flat peaches in marigold, sheep’s yoghurt sorbet and fig leaf cream. Definitely one for a special occasion.
11 St Barbara Bastion; ionharbour.com
DO
Subterranean scouting
A little-known fact about Malta is that it was the most-bombed country during WWII; the constant shelling – by around 15,000 tons of explosives – drove Valletta’s residents to the network of tunnels and cisterns under the city’s streets, which were originally created as a water and drainage system by the Knights of St John. These tunnels offered vital shelter and were expanded to create enough space for the thousands of people who lived in the city. They survived there for days or weeks at a time, and the conditions were deplorable: constantly damp, and with no proper facilities, you had to sleep on the ground. You can still see graffiti scratched into the stone walls by British soldiers, then stationed on Malta, including some satirising Hitler. Poignantly, there are some remnants of floor tiles, installed by families who wanted to make these unbearable burrows feel more like home, alongside a plethora of captivating religious carvings.
Auberge D’Italie, Merchants St; heritagemalta.mt/explore/underground-valletta
Underground Valletta
Be dazzled by the St John's Co-Cathedral
Your first question is bound to be: what the heck is a co-cathedral? We’re so glad you asked – it simply means a cathedral which shares a bishop’s throne (or ‘cathedra’) – with another; in this case, St Paul’s Cathedral in nearby Mdina. St John’s is Malta’s most impressive place of worship by quite some margin; inside, everything that could be carved into an angel, covered in gilt, or adorned with a Renaissance-style fresco or trompe l’oeil painting, has been. It looks, essentially, like Liberace’s living room. The overall effect is as ravishing as the cathedral’s creators – yes, it’s those Knights of St John again – originally intended. Many of them donated substantial sums of money towards the interiors, which meant they could afford artworks by the leading artists of the time. This includes Caravaggio, whose compelling work, The Beheading of St John the Baptist, resides in the oratory.
St John’s Square; stjohnscocathedral.com
The Grandmaster's Palace
Aarpon Briffa
Explore a royal residence
The imposing Grand Master’s Palace, dominating St George’s Square, is just a short walk from the cathedral, and since its construction in the 1570s has served as Malta’s seat of power. Today it’s home to the office of the country’s president, but much of it has been preserved as a museum. No expense was spared in its decor, from Baroque ceiling paintings to crystal chandeliers, which were aimed at imitating the great aristocratic courts of Europe. Today you can visit a series of grand State Rooms, the Throne Room, Ambassadors’ Room, and the Grand Master’s Sitting Room, but do make time for the historic Armoury. Its collection is considered one of the best in the world, and boasts the suits of armour of past Grand Masters Alof de Wignacourt and Jean de Valette, Ottoman armour and weapons, and various pieces of artillery.
Palazz tal-President; heritagemalta.mt/explore/grand-masters-palace
STAY
The Melior
Located in a historic building which used to be a bank, The Melior is set towards the top of Republic Street, not far from the Renzo Piano-designed city gate. Slightly incongruously, on the ground floor of the honey-coloured stone building is a branch of Starbucks, through which you pass to get to the elevator that takes you up to the hotel. Once ensconced in what essentially feels like a chic urban apartment, you’ll want to take up position by one of the windows to gaze down at the endlessly fascinating pedestrian traffic which flows up and down the wide, paved avenue. Some of the rooms that face the street have the distinctive enclosed balconies that typify older Maltese buildings, which makes for an even better vantage point. Art is a common thread running through the hotel; several of the 18 rooms feature enlarged murals based on four contemporary paintings by local artists and two 17th-century artworks on display at the Mdina Cathedral Museum.
Rooms from £112 per night. 300 Republic; meliormalta.com
The gardens of the Phoenicia Hotel
The Phoenicia
Technically, this iconic, five-star Art Deco hotel isn’t actually in Valletta itself, but it’s just a three-minute walk from the city gate. The kind of hotel you could imagine an Agatha Christie novel being set in, it’s full of character and stylish, 1930s-era design which has regularly drawn distinguished guests from the late Queen Elizabeth to acting royalty such as Helen Mirren, Derek Jacobi, Joaquin Phoenix and Rachel Weisz; it also hosted the cast of Gladiator while they were filming in Malta in 1999. Take afternoon tea in the Palm Court, splash around in the outdoor pool – from where you can see across to Sliema – or chill in the cosseting spa. The hotel is also home to a branch of the internationally acclaimed, meat-focused restaurant Beefbar.
Rooms from £302 per night. The Mall, Floriana; phoeniciamalta.com
