Unmarked doors, basements and back rooms: the Malta bars you have to know about to find.
Last checked 14 November 2026. No bar paid to be included.
Swipe to see all 8 bars โ
Speakeasy
Fodor's Choice
Malta's first speakeasy. You walk in through a British phone box into a 1920s barbershop, with Prohibition-era cocktails at about โฌ8 to โฌ12, live music and a smart casual dress code. A Fodor's Choice pick.
๐ Ball Street, Paceville, St Julian's
Japanese restaurant and lounge bar
Listed in the Michelin Guide Malta
A sleek basement Japanese restaurant on the corner of Strait Street and Santa Lucia Street, listed in the Michelin Guide, with a cocktail bar along one side of the room. Try the Sumotori: Japanese whisky, umeshu and vermouth, smoked with green tea.
๐ 175 Strait Street, Valletta VLT 1455
๐ Daily noon to 1am (OpenStreetMap; check before you go)
Whisky and cocktail bar
An underground, cellar-like bar on Strait Street with more than 140 whiskies, one of the biggest selections on the island, plus cocktails and bistro food. An acoustic duo plays on Fridays. It is small, so it can feel snug when busy.
๐ Strait Street, Valletta
Speakeasy
The hidden speakeasy inside the Mercury development in Paceville. Finding the entrance is part of the fun and the menu is all adventurous, theatrical cocktails.
๐ Mercury, St George's Street, Paceville, St Julian's
๐ Daily 7pm to 2am (OpenStreetMap; check before you go)
Bar in a cave
A bar set inside a cave in Mellieฤงa, with views over Mellieฤงa Bay lit up at night and inventive cocktails. Good value outside the peak season.
๐ Adenau Street, Mellieฤงa
Whisky and cigar lounge
Gozo's only dedicated whisky and cigar lounge, hidden in the old alleyways of Victoria. A good spot for a nightcap.
๐ Victoria, Gozo
Wine bar
Malta's first wine bar, open since 2002 in a 400-year-old cellar on Strait Street. More than 200 wines, with cheese and charcuterie boards and Mediterranean small plates.
๐ Strait Street, Valletta
Wine bar
A candlelit wine bar in a medieval cellar within a historic palace in Birgu, across the Grand Harbour from Valletta. One of Malta's most romantic wine bars.
๐ Birgu
Tap a pin for the bar. Numbers match the list.
Start with The Thirsty Barber, AKI, StrEat Whisky Bar, Kuch Kuch and Cave Bar. Our full list has 8 bars.
This guide is written by the team at M.AD Agency. We run Cocktail Week, the ten-day cocktail festival held town by town across the UK and Ireland. Since 2022 we have taken it to more than 20 towns and cities and worked with hundreds of bars. Malta is next. We put this guide together from our own research and trusted local guides, ahead of bringing Cocktail Week to Malta.
No bar paid to be included and nobody can buy a place. We check the guide regularly as bars open, change and close.
Cocktail Week in Malta
Run a bar in Malta that should be here? Get in touch at hello@cocktail-week.com and tell us about it.
We use cookies to see how people use the site and to show you relevant ads. Nothing is set unless you say yes. Cookie policy