Pillar 04 · Food & Where to Eat
Where to Eat in Żejtun: Restaurants, Cafés & Bakeries
Żejtun is not on most food tourists’ maps, which is why eating here is still one of the more rewarding things you can do in the south of Malta. The pastizzi are made fresh several times a day; the family-run restaurants don’t need to chase reviews; and the coffee, in the places that take it seriously, is as good as anything in Sliema and a third of the price. This page is the guide.
The honest hierarchy
If you only have one meal in Żejtun, eat at one of the family-run trattorias near the parish square. If you only have one snack, eat a fresh pastizz from a working pastizzeria — not a tourist one. If you only have one drink, find the bar where the older men are reading the newspaper and order a coffee. Everything else is detail.
Restaurants worth a journey
[LOCAL FACT — Mattew to populate this section with current named restaurants. Suggested format: 3–5 restaurants, each with a sentence on what they’re known for, a price band (€/€€/€€€), location reference, and the day they’re closed. Avoid review-style language; aim for the steady-handed local-knows-best tone.]
What I’ll say in general: the restaurants near the parish square run from genuinely-good family-run trattorias to one or two more ambitious kitchens that have arrived in the last few years. Avoid anything that is clearly aimed at coach tourists. Look for the places where the menu is short and the wine list is mostly Maltese. Curated restaurant guide.
Pastizzi and bakeries
A pastizz is a small filo pastry filled with either ricotta or mushy peas, served hot, eaten with your fingers. Done well, it is one of the great things to eat in Malta. Done badly, it is greasy disappointment. The difference is whether the bakery makes them itself, several times a day, or buys them in.
[LOCAL FACT — Mattew to list 2–3 pastizzerias here with location and approximate baking times. Suggest including one that does qassatat too, since that’s a separate question.] Full pastizzeria guide.
Coffee in Żejtun
Coffee in Maltese towns falls into two categories: the corner bars where men of a certain age have been ordering the same espresso for forty years, and the newer cafés that take third-wave coffee seriously. Żejtun has both. The corner bars are wonderful for atmosphere; the newer cafés are wonderful for the coffee itself. Where locals go for coffee.
What to eat — Maltese food worth seeking out
If you’ve not eaten Maltese food before, a short list of things to look for:
Fenkata — slow-cooked rabbit, traditionally a feast meal, often served as a stew with red wine and garlic, or fried in olive oil. The benchmark Maltese dish for a long-form lunch.
Ftira — Maltese sourdough bread, often split open and filled with tuna, olives, capers, tomato. Lunch food, not breakfast food.
Aljotta — fish soup, traditionally Friday food, garlicky and clean.
Kapunata — Maltese take on caponata, vegetable-heavy, served as a side or with bread.
Bragioli — beef olives, slow-braised, deeply savoury.
Imqaret — date-filled fried pastries, usually eaten as street food.
Maltese olive oil and capers from the south — the agricultural land around Żejtun produces excellent olive oil and the wild capers that grow on rubble walls along the coast are still gathered each spring. Where to buy olive oil from Żejtun.
Sunday lunch
Sunday lunch is the meal of the week in most Maltese families, and it shows up in restaurant kitchens accordingly: longer menus, more roasted things, a willingness to take the afternoon. Book ahead in summer. Sunday lunch guide.
Eating near the parish square
The parish square is the obvious place to eat if you’ve come for the church and want to stay close. Restaurants and cafés within five minutes of the square.