The 10 Best Cafes and Coffee Shops In Valletta (and Sliema!)

Who knew that Malta was home to such wonderful cafes and hip coffee shops?! I was pleasantly surprised when visiting the Mediterranean island recently and I’ve pulled together this guide of the best cafes and coffee shops in Valletta and Sliema to help you find exactly where to visit!

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Now that I’m on the wrong side of 35, travelling with two little kids, I’m at the stage of my life where I much prefer to track down great independent cafes and coffee shops whenever I visit somewhere new.  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 travelling.

We visited Malta in November 2025 as a family for five nights and you can be absolutely sure that I made time to visit as many places as possible to sip my ritualistic flat white.  I wouldn’t necessarily say that I expected much from Valletta and Sliema in terms of independent cafes and hip coffee shops but I was pleasantly surprised.  I always do a bit of research before heading somewhere new though 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 have pulled together this guide to the best cafes and coffee shops in Valletta (and Sliema too to be fair) based mostly on places I actually visited but also a few places that I had on my list and unfortunately didn’t get chance to stop by this time around.  Hopefully in time, I will be able to return to Malta to update this list with new spots.

Let’s do this.

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CAFES AND COFFEE SHOPS IN VALLETTA AND SLIEMA!

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LOT61

We’ll kick things off 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 up extremely smooth flat whites (and all manner of third wave coffee specialties) utilising coffee beans roasted by themselves right here in Malta.  Not only is the coffee really good, I’m a big fan of their design in terms of logo and the set up of the café (which is only small) – I only wish now that I’d gone back to buy some coffee beans to bring the taste of Lot61 and Malta back home with me!

CAFFE CORDINA

Caffe Cordina is an essential café to visit in Valletta.  It’s a Maltese institution having served up freshly baked treats and coffees since 1837, actually bringing the first espresso machine to the island in 1957.  You can imagine therefore just how popular Caffe Cordina has been across the years!

I was a little nervous to accept a table within the café itself 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 upmarket establishment – I didn’t think a toddler and a nine month old would go down too well.  However, I really didn’t need to worry as the staff were extremely accommodating and had plenty of high chairs to go around.  I ordered a pistachio espresso royale which was something a little different with pistachio sauce (I guess), espresso and whipped cream – very nice!  We shared cakes between us all which were delicious; lemon meringue, Biscoff tart and chocolate brownie.  There were so many sweet treats to choose from it’s nearly impossible to pick.  There are plenty of Maltese specialities alongside more modern cakes.  Caffe Cordina is also offer main meals, hot snacks and ice cream.  Basically, you can get everything you’d ever fancy.

TAL-KAFÉ

A little bit out the way, Tal-Kafé is a laid back and quiet traditional café that I’d highly recommend visiting if not only for the Maltese Coffee.  The café sits alongside the owners spice shop, Tal-Hwawar, and those same spices are infused with coffee to create the historic brew – Maltese Coffee dates back to the 18^th century with strong chicory, cloves and aniseed flavours.  We took our takeaway coffee with us and continued wandering the quieter backstreets of Valletta, it felt as though it was suddenly 200 years ago sipping such a classic drink alongside historic honey-coloured buildings.

Word of warning, the Maltese Coffee was hotter than the sun – you can only imagine just how much I was sweating on a mild November day!

CAPRI CAFFE

This is a great little local café in Valletta; nothing fancy but it offers relatively cheap and simple food and drink.  Sometimes, it’s the smaller places, the more traditional and unpretentious cafes that charm you the most.  Expect freshly cooked pies and sausage rolls, cappuccinos, americanos and soft drinks.  Even for a beer it’s not badly priced €3.50 in Valletta is unbelievable value for money!

ELEPHANT SHOE

On our last day in Valletta, as we headed back for a wander around the peaceful Upper Barrakka Gardens (at least before the noon and 4pm firing of the guns), Elephant Shoe caught my eye as a great place for brunch and the atmosphere on the terrace (even in mid-November) was buzzing.  Expect massive stacks of fluffy pancakes, Turkish eggs, bagels and sourdough sandwiches alongside great coffee, matcha and cocktails.  

There are no reservations to be had here so you’re going to have to turn up and hope for the best but this is one of the most aesthetically pleasing cafes in the whole of Valletta with ultra-hip food and drink!

COFFEE CIRCUS

This is one café in Valletta that I had planned to visit in advance after researching the best places for coffee.  There are two locations, one on St Nicholas Street (Coffee Circus Hub) and Coffee Circus Lisboa, a rustic basement bar.  Unfortunately, when I visited in November 2025 the Coffee Circus Hub was closed despite Google Maps indicating that 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 receive rave reviews for its coffee, pastel de nata and speciality V60 pourover coffee too.

KYOTO JAPANESE BAKERY

We spotted the soft blue hues of Kyoto Japanese Bakery whilst wandering along the Sliema promenade and knew immediately that we needed to visit for lunch to bring back some great recent memories of our 14 night trip with Evelyn.  The food offerings blew me away to be fair with all manner of different Melonpan flavourings and designs including Pikachu.  Evelyn picked the blueberry flavoured turtle shaped melonpan whilst me and Emma shared the pork katsu sandwich and egg salad sandwich – both of which were incredible especially with the soft and fluffy milk bread (shokupan I believe is the Japanese word).  The matcha was of really good quality and the coffee itself was really smooth. 

Honestly, we really enjoyed visiting Kyoto Japanese Bakery and it’s certainly one of the best cafes in Sliema that you must visit whether you’re big in Japanese culture or not; the food is exceptional and the coffee great too!

LA CREMA

A little further along out of Sliema is the beautiful horseshoe bay, Balluta Bay, with a tiny golden sand beach and clear turquoise waters watched over by the imposing Knisja tal-Karmnu church.  The best place however to watch life roll by is in Balluta Square and, specifically, on one of La Crema’s outdoor tables.

La Crema can be found within the Art Nouveau Balluta Buildings; built in 1928 these are some of the finest buildings in the whole of Malta.  Grab a table under the oak trees, those that give the bay its name ‘ballut’ is Maltese for oak tree, sit back and relax with a strong coffee, tea or fruit juice and a fresh pastry.  We really enjoyed it here, even with having breakfast over the road at our hotel, the Malta Marriott Resort & Spa, we still found room for coffee here!  I could have sat here for hours!

COFFEE & STRANGERS

On our first afternoon in Malta, we wandered straight from our hotel in Balluta Bay into Sliema and spotted COFFEE & Strangers which was buzzing with locals grabbing takeaway coffees and many having catch ups over coffee with their friends.  Whilst I resisted the urge to grab a coffee there and then, I set off early morning on our last day to check out this highly recommended café.   With cinnamon buns bigger than your head, exceptional coffee, loose leaf tea and even alcohol drinks, it’s no wonder that COFFEE & Strangers is one of the best cafes in Malta let alone just Sliema.

CAFÉ MEZCLA

Just down the road from COFFEE & Strangers is Café Mezcla, another café that caught my eye.  I didn’t manage to visit this one unfortunately as there was only so much coffee I could physically drink but, again, this place consistently receives great reviews and offers a simple coffee menu (all of which can be offered iced), smoothies, matcha lattes plus beer, wine and cocktails!  There’s a very limited brunch menu but with quiche, hot oats, grilled cheese sandwiches – I’m not sure what else you’d want!  Again, when we visited, the atmosphere was really lively too perhaps serving up more beer than coffee by late afternoon!

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That wraps up my brief guide to the best cafes and coffee shops in Valletta and Sliema which I hope has been hopeful and perhaps helped you plan exactly where you need to visit for your flat white, matcha latte or whatever your drink of choice may be.  Of course, I only visited Malta for a short time and there are no doubt many more great cafes and coffee shops that I’d love to come back and check out.  If you have any tips yourself or have any questions at all, just let me know in the comments below and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible.

WHERE NEXT?

19 Incredible Things To Do In Valletta, Malta
Hotel Review: Malta Marriott Resort & Spa
On The Streets: Malta

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