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Who would have thought that Malta was home to such wonderful cafes and modern coffee shops? I was pleasantly surprised to visit the Mediterranean island recently and have put together this guide to the best cafes and cafes in Valletta and Sliema. to help you find exactly where to visit!
Now that I’m on the wrong side of 35 and traveling with two young children, I’m at the stage in my life where I prefer to seek out great independent cafes and coffee shops whenever I visit a new place. With the need to keep my energy levels as high as possible, coffee has become an essential part of my daily life, even more so when I travel.
We visited Malta in November 2025 as a family for five nights and you can be absolutely sure that I took the time to visit as many places as possible to savor my ritualized flat white. I wouldn’t necessarily say I was expecting much from Valletta and Sliema in terms of independent cafes and trendy coffee shops, but I was pleasantly surprised. I always do a little research before heading somewhere new, although honestly, we found some of the places on the list below the old fashioned way, by just exploring and seeing what caught our eye. I’ve put together this guide to the best cafes and cafes in Valletta (and also Sliema, to be fair) based mainly on the places I actually visited, but also on a few places that I had on my list and unfortunately didn’t get the chance to stop by this time. Hopefully, in time I will be able to return to Malta to update this list with new places.
Let’s do this.
COFFEES AND COFFEES IN LA VALLETTA AND SLIEMA!
LOT61
We’ll start with one of the best coffees I’ve had in a long time: Lot61 in Valletta, just opposite the Valletta Food Market (Is-Suq Tal-Belt), serves extremely smooth flat whites (and all sorts of third wave coffee specialties) using coffee beans roasted by themselves here in Malta. Not only is the coffee really good, I’m a big fan of their design in terms of logo and the setup of the cafe (which is small). Now I just wish I had gone back and bought some coffee beans to take home the taste of Lot61 and Malta!
CORDINA COFFEE
Caffe Cordina is a must-visit cafe in Valletta. It is a Maltese institution that has been serving freshly baked delicacies and coffees since 1837, and in fact brought the first espresso machine to the island in 1957. You can imagine, therefore, how popular Caffe Cordina has been over the years!
I was a little nervous about accepting a table inside the cafe as there are plenty of tables outside in the beautiful square framed by the National Library of Malta and the Grand Master’s Palace and it is quite an exclusive establishment; I didn’t think a toddler and nine months old would be very good. However, I didn’t really have to worry as the staff were extremely helpful and had plenty of high chairs for everyone. I ordered an espresso royale with pistachio which was something a little different with pistachio sauce (I guess), espresso and whipped cream – very good! We shared cakes with each other which were delicious; lemon meringue, Biscoff cake and chocolate brownie. There were so many sweets to choose from that it was almost impossible to choose. There are many Maltese specialties along with more modern pastries. Caffe Cordina also offers main dishes, hot appetizers and ice creams. Basically, you can get anything you want.
TAL-KAFÉ
A little out of the way, Tal-Kafé is a quiet and relaxed traditional cafe that I recommend visiting even if it’s not just for the Maltese coffee. The cafe is located next to the owner’s spice shop, Tal-Hwawar, and those same spices are mixed with the coffee to create this historic drink: Maltese coffee dates back to the 18th century.th century with strong flavors of chicory, clove and anise. We took our coffee to go and continued strolling through the quieter alleys of Valletta, it seemed like it had suddenly happened 200 years ago drinking such a classic drink next to historic honey colored buildings.
One warning: the Maltese coffee was hotter than the sun. You can only imagine how much I was sweating on a mild November day!
CAPRI COFFEE
This is a great little local cafe in Valletta; Nothing special, but offers relatively cheap and simple food and drink. Sometimes, it’s the smaller places, the more traditional and unpretentious cafes that you love the most. Expect fresh pastries and sausages, cappuccinos, Americanos and soft drinks. Even for a beer the price is not bad: €3.50 in Valletta is incredible value for money.
ELEPHANT SHOE
On our last day in Valletta, as we headed back for a stroll through the tranquil Upper Barrakka Gardens (at least before the guns firing at midday and 4pm), Elephant Shoe caught my eye as a great lunch spot and the atmosphere on the terrace (even in mid-November) was lively. Expect huge amounts of fluffy pancakes, Turkish eggs, bagels and sourdough sandwiches along with great coffee, matcha and cocktails.
You can’t make reservations here, so you’ll have to come and hope for the best, but this is one of the most aesthetically pleasing cafes in all of Valletta, with ultra-modern food and drink!
COFFEE CIRCUS
This is a cafe in Valletta that I had planned to visit in advance after researching the best places to drink coffee. There are two locations, one on San Nicolás Street (Coffee Circus Hub) and Coffee Circus Lisboa, a rustic bar in a basement. Unfortunately, when I visited in November 2025, Coffee Circus Hub was closed even though Google Maps indicated it should be open. I’ve seen reviews much more recently that the Hub appears to be open, but the basement location is certainly open and continues to get rave reviews for their coffee, pastel de nata, and V60 specialty coffee.
KYOTO JAPANESE BAKERY
We saw the soft blue hues of the Kyoto Japanese Bakery as we strolled along the Sliema seafront and knew immediately we had to visit for lunch and to bring back some fresh memories from our 14-night trip with Evelyn. The food offerings blew me away, to be fair, with all sorts of different Melonpan flavors and designs, including Pikachu. Evelyn chose the blueberry-flavored turtle-shaped melonpan, while Emma and I shared the pork katsu sandwich and the egg salad sandwich, both amazing, especially with the soft, fluffy milk bread (shokupan, I think, is the Japanese word). The matcha was of very good quality and the coffee itself was very smooth.
We honestly really enjoyed visiting Kyoto Japanese Bakery and it is without a doubt one of the best cafes in Sliema that you should visit whether you are a great connoisseur of Japanese culture or not; The food is exceptional and the coffee is great too!
THE CREAM
A little further from Sliema is the beautiful horseshoe bay, Balluta Bay, with a small beach of golden sand and crystal clear turquoise waters watched over by the imposing Knisja tal-Karmnu church. But the best place to watch life go by is in Balluta Square and, specifically, at one of the outdoor tables at La Crema.
La Crema can be found inside the Art Nouveau Balluta buildings; Built in 1928, these are some of the finest buildings in all of Malta. Grab a table under the oak trees, which give the bay its name ‘ballut’ In Maltese it means oak, sit back and relax with a strong coffee, tea or fruit juice and a freshly baked cake. We really enjoyed it here, even having breakfast at our hotel, the Malta Marriott Resort & Spa, we still found room to have a coffee here! I could have sat here for hours!
COFFEE AND STRANGERS
On our first afternoon in Malta, we walked straight from our hotel in Balluta Bay towards Sliema and saw COFFEE & Strangers, which was packed with locals having takeaway coffee and many of them having coffee with their friends. While I resisted the temptation to grab a coffee on site, I set out early in the morning of our last day to visit this highly recommended café. With cinnamon buns bigger than your head, exceptional coffee, loose leaf tea and even spirits, it’s no wonder COFFEE & Strangers is one of the best cafes in Malta, let alone Sliema.
BLEND COFFEE
Right at the end of COFFEE & Strangers is Café Mix, another café that caught my eye. Unfortunately, I didn’t manage to visit this place because there was a limited amount of coffee I could physically drink but again, this place consistently gets great reviews and offers a simple coffee menu (all of which can be offered iced), smoothies, matcha lattes, plus beer, wine and cocktails. There is a very limited brunch menu, but with quiche, hot oatmeal, and grilled cheese sandwiches. I’m not sure what else you would like! Again, when we visited the atmosphere was also very lively, perhaps serving more beer than coffee in the late afternoon!
This concludes my short guide to the best cafes and coffee shops in Valletta and Sliema, which I hope has been encouraging and perhaps helped you plan exactly where you should visit for your flat white, matcha latte or whatever drink you prefer. Of course, I only visited Malta for a short time and there are certainly many more great cafes and cafes that I would love to come back and visit. If you have any advice or have any questions, please let me know in the comments below and I will get back to you as soon as possible.
WHERE NEXT?
19 Amazing Things to Do in Valletta, Malta
Hotel Review: Malta Marriott Resort & Spa
On the streets: Malta
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