What street food should I try in Malta?

Beyond pastizzi, try ħobż biż-żejt (bread rubbed with tomatoes, olive oil, tuna and capers), qassatat (larger baked pastries with spinach or ricotta), imqaret (fried date pastries from market stalls), and ftira (filled flatbread sandwich). All cost under €4 and are available from pastizzerie, bakeries and market stalls.

Malta street food guide 2026: beyond pastizzi

Malta has more street food than it gets credit for

Most travel writing about Maltese street food starts and ends with the pastizz. This is fair — the pastizz is iconic, inexpensive and very good when made properly. But it’s not the whole story.

Malta has a genuine street food culture that includes an array of pastry, bread-based and fried foods that are eaten standing up, from paper bags, at market stalls or from pastizzeria counters. This guide covers them all, with prices (as of 2026) and where to find each.

The pastizzi guide covers that specific pastry in detail. This guide picks up where that one leaves off.

The street foods

Ħobż biż-żejt (bread with oil)

The full name in Maltese — ħobż biż-żejt means “bread with oil” — undersells what this is. It’s a round of Maltese bread (dense, slightly sour, proper crust) cut horizontally and rubbed aggressively on the cut face with a ripe tomato, then drizzled with olive oil and loaded with:

Local tuna (canned, but good Maltese canned tuna)
Capers (often Gozitan capers, with sharp brine)
Olives (green, sometimes black)
Sliced onion
Sometimes a hard-boiled egg
Salt, pepper, fresh herbs if available

The result is essentially a deconstructed Maltese niçoise, served on bread. It costs €3–5 from bakeries and market stalls. It’s easily the most satisfying quick lunch on the island.

Where to find it: Markets (Marsaxlokk Sunday market, the small Valletta morning market), bakeries in Valletta’s back streets, some pastizzerie that have expanded their menu. The food tours in Valletta almost always include a ħobż biż-żejt stop:

Valletta street food and culture walking tour

Ftira (filled bread)

Ftira is the generic term for Maltese bread in one form, but in the street food context it refers specifically to the filled ftira sandwich — a round of Maltese flatbread opened and filled like a focaccia sandwich. Standard fillings include:

Tuna, tomato, capers, olives (the classic)
Fresh cheese (ġbejniet) with sun-dried tomatoes
Sausage (zalzett) with onion
Roast pepper with local anchovies

A filled ftira costs €3.50–6 depending on the filling and location. The best ones come from dedicated Maltese bakeries that make the bread fresh. The worst come from cafés using yesterday’s bread with uninspired fillings.

Where to find it: Nenu the Artisan Baker in Valletta (Old Dominic Street) is the most visited venue for quality ftira. Gozo has its own ftira tradition with slightly denser bread — the market in Victoria and several Gozo bakeries are worth stopping at.

Qassatat

Qassatat (singular: qassata) are the larger, open-topped cousins of pastizzi. They’re made from the same flaky pastry but shaped differently — a round, shallow tart with the top left open, showing the filling. The two traditional fillings are:

Spinach and anchovy (qassata tal-ispinaci u l-inċova) — the most traditional, savoury and slightly fishy, with the spinach cooked down with onion and the anchovy integrated rather than visible in strips.
Ricotta (qassata tal-irkotta) — similar to the pastizz filling but in a larger format with the open top, giving a slightly different texture ratio.

Qassatat cost €0.70–1.20 depending on size. They’re found at the same pastizzerie as pastizzi but are slightly less ubiquitous.

Imqaret (date pastries)

The sweet street food of Malta. Imqaret (singular: mqaret) are deep-fried, diamond-shaped pastry parcels filled with a mixture of:

Dried dates (chewy, intensely sweet)
Anise (strong, slightly medicinal sweetness)
Orange zest
Sometimes cloves or cinnamon

They’re sold warm, dusted with icing sugar, from market stalls and from the traditional street vendor at the gate of Valletta. Cost: €1–1.50 for two or three pieces.

When to find them: Imqaret are most reliably found at markets and fairs. The most famous imqaret vendor is at Valletta’s city gate (near the bus station), open most days. During village festas (June–September), imqaret stalls appear at every festa market.

Honest note: They are extremely sweet. Two is usually the right quantity. If you’re eating them as part of a street food circuit, schedule them last.

Biskuttini tal-lewż (almond biscuits)

These diamond-shaped almond biscuits are a festa food — sold at village festas from small paper bags, along with nougat (qubbajt) and other sweets. They’re made from ground almonds, sugar and egg white, with a chewy interior and crisp exterior. The best versions are from village bakeries rather than supermarket packets.

Outside of the festa season (primarily June–September), they’re harder to find as a street food — look in bakeries specialising in Maltese pastry.

Qubbajt (nougat)

Malta’s festa nougat — white, chewy, studded with whole toasted almonds or pistachios. It’s sold in long bars from nougat stalls at every village festa. Qubbajt is sticky, sweet and better than it sounds. The pistachio version is particularly good.

The self-guided Valletta street food circuit

This is a morning walk that takes about 2.5 hours and covers the main Valletta street food stops. No guide needed; the stops are listed in order:

Start: Valletta city gate (8:30am)

Imqaret vendor at the gate — two imqaret, warm, to start
Walk up Republic Street to the first left — Old Theatre Street — to find local pastizzerie
Pastizz stop — one ricotta, one pea. Coffee at the bar alongside.
Continue to Old Bakery Street — this is the street most removed from the tourist corridor
Market stop (if Tuesday–Friday morning) — the small morning market near the lower areas sells fresh produce, local cheese and the occasional ħobż biż-żejt vendor
Ftira from Nenu (Old Dominic Street) — filled ftira for a mid-morning second breakfast
Wine or Kinnie stop — several small wine bars have started opening at 10am for tastings

Total spend: €10–15 for the full circuit.

The equivalent food tour (with guide, context and off-map stops) goes deeper:

Valletta food walking tour with tastings Valletta guided food walking tour with tastings

Street food at markets

Marsaxlokk Sunday market

The fish market is the headline, but the Marsaxlokk Sunday market has street food stalls alongside. The best options: ħobż biż-żejt from a proper vendor, fried fish in paper (if you can find it), and occasionally a qubbajt stall.

The tourist trap here is the sit-down restaurant row. The street food stalls are genuinely inexpensive and good.

Blue Grotto and Sunday market at Marsaxlokk

Village festas (June–September)

Every Maltese village has its own festa in summer — a weekend of fireworks, brass bands, statues carried through streets, and food stalls. The food stall component is street food at its most authentic:

Imqaret fried fresh on the stall
Qubbajt and biskuttini tal-lewż
Pastizzi and qassatat from the local pastizzeria
Ħobż biż-żejt from temporary stalls
Ħotdog with Maltese sausage (a casual localisation)

The festas are free to attend and the food is cheap. The calendar changes annually, but from June to September there’s typically a festa happening somewhere in Malta or Gozo every weekend. Ask at your hotel or check the Malta Tourism Authority’s current schedule.

Street food prices (2026)

Item	Cost
Pastizz (single)	€0.35–0.45
Qassata (single)	€0.70–1.20
Ħobż biż-żejt	€2.50–4
Filled ftira	€3.50–6
Imqaret (2–3 pieces)	€1–1.50
Biskuttini tal-lewż (small bag)	€1.50–2.50
Qubbajt (nougat bar)	€2–3
Coffee (espresso)	€1.20–1.80
Kinnie (bottle)	€1.50–2

All prices are for non-tourist-facing establishments. Add 30–50% for waterfront cafés or tourist zones.

What pairs well with Malta street food

Kinnie: The Maltese bitter orange soft drink — acquired taste, universally available, goes surprisingly well with the savoury pastry foods. A pastizz and Kinnie is the classic combination.

Kafe Malti: Maltese coffee is espresso or espresso-based. A kafe żgħir (small coffee) with a pastizz is the breakfast of Malta. Ask for it at any pastizzeria bar.

Cisk lager: Available everywhere, pairs acceptably with ħobż biż-żejt.

Local wine by the glass: Some of the more developed pastizzerie and market-adjacent bars now serve a glass of local wine (usually Marsovin basic white) for €3–4. With ħobż biż-żejt, this is a perfectly calibrated midday stop.

Frequently asked questions about street food in Malta

Is the street food safe to eat?

Yes. Malta has standard EU food safety regulations and active enforcement. Street food vendors at established markets and pastizzerie follow hygiene standards. The only caveat applies to shellfish and seafood from informal vendors in peak summer heat — same common sense as anywhere in the Mediterranean.

Can I make pastizzi or imqaret at home?

Pastizzi pastry requires practice — the laminated lard dough is technically involved. Imqaret are simpler and more reproducible at home. The Gozo cooking classes (see Malta cooking classes) sometimes include pastry dough in the curriculum.

Where is street food available in the evenings?

Pastizzerie typically close in the afternoon or operate limited evening batches. The evening street food scene is thinner than the morning one. Village festas (summer) are the exception — the stalls run until midnight. In Valletta, a few bars near the waterfront sell pastizzi into the evening.

Is there street food in Gozo?

Yes, with a slightly different character. Victoria’s market and the area around the Citadel have ftira stalls, pastizzerie and occasional market food. Gozo’s version of some foods (particularly ftira and ġbejniet cheeses) has a distinct character worth comparing to the main island versions.

Are there food halls or markets with multiple street food options?

The freshest version is the Sunday market in Marsaxlokk. Valletta’s indoor market (il-Merkant) operates on weekday mornings and has food vendors alongside produce stalls. The Ta’ Qali crafts village (central Malta) occasionally hosts food markets. There isn’t a permanent covered food hall in the Singapore or European market hall style.

Where street food fits in a Malta visit

Street food is the most accessible entry point into Maltese food culture. Here’s how it connects to the wider picture:

The deeper dive: The Malta traditional food guide covers the sit-down dishes and the cultural context behind what you’re eating at street stalls.

The pastizzi specialists: The pastizzi guide covers the 8 best pastizzerie in depth — more detail than this guide has space for.

The market experience: The Marsaxlokk fish restaurants guide covers the Sunday market with more nuance on the fish stalls and when to arrive.

Gozo street food: The Gozo food and cheese guide covers the Victoria market, Gozitan ftira and fresh ġbejniet — distinctly different from the main island versions.

If you want a guide: The Valletta food tour comparison identifies which tours specifically take you to back-street pastizzerie and market stalls rather than tourist-facing venues.

What to drink with it: The Malta wine guide and the fenakat context in the Malta traditional food guide both cover Kinnie, Cisk and the drinks that pair with street food.

Budget eating context: The Malta restaurants by budget guide puts street food prices into context alongside mid-range and fine dining options.

Last reviewed: 2026-04-20