Beati Paoli Restaurant — Restaurant in Valletta

Small but mighty! This family run (father and his 2 sons) restaurant is delicious. It’s more than delicious, it’s awesome, great, fantastic…I can go on. Hard to get secure a restaurant as many locals have standing weekly reservations for this 50 max restaurant. The full sleeve tatted Dad is the chef and he does not look like he has 2 grown sons. The eldest son works the front of house and he was my dining companion that evening. He and I talked about my time in Malta which quickly moved to the topic of wine. As we talked about our favorites and flavor profiles, he then proceeded to walk me through his insane wine collection of wines from all over the world.

The menu is solid with standards but I immediately honed in on the specials. Lobster with linguine and calamari fritti. I had my choice of lobster the regular kind or the clawless slipper lobster. I never saw this prehistoric looking lobster before so I had to try it.

As an amuse bouche, they presented me with caponata on local bread. This was pure magic. The tomatoes and whatever spice mixture they conjured up was a flavor bomb in my mouth. The local bread is INSANE and I immediately thought of Erskine Shoulars because he always likes a good bread. Crunchy crust, but not too hard where you have to “pull it” and damn near prevent yourself from hitting the nearest person. The center was soft but not too chewy where it almost melted in your mouth. Maybe 3 chews needed.

The calamari fritti was just as good. The nearly there coating let the true taste of the calamari shine. It was the perfect starter. The main entree was epic. The sauce was made from stock of the shells, finished with butter and a few cherry tomatoes. DELICIOUS! The lobster meat was insanely sweet and plentiful, so plentiful I didn’t miss having the meat from the claws. This is THE SPOT and should return with Jack, this restaurant will be on the must eat list. So, if you ever find yourself in Valletta head over to BEATI PAOLI Restaurant, you...

Some meals are pleasant. Others are memorable. And then there are the ones that make you want to immediately cancel your flight home and start browsing local real estate listings. Beati Paoli falls firmly into the third category.

They start you off with a little welcome dish — traditional Sicilian bread with aubergine and black olive spread — and already you know you’re in safe hands. We shared the pepata di cozze e vongole, a glorious heap of mussels and clams in a sauce so good it practically begged for bread. And bless them — they actually give you enough bread to do a proper scarpetta, as God and Sicily intended.

My wife went for the linguine vongole, perfect in its simplicity, while I had the rabbit. Fresh rabbit. The sort of fresh where you suspect it was still nibbling on a carrot earlier that afternoon before being sautéed in a rich, savoury sauce. The meat was so tender it practically removed itself from the bones out of courtesy.

And then there were the vegetables — local, seasonal, and bursting with flavour. Sweet carrots, earthy potatoes, and greens that tasted like they’d been picked from a garden five minutes before hitting the plate. Nothing fancy, just honest, perfect produce treated with the respect it deserves.

Paired with a full-bodied Mdina Syrah — a match so perfect it should be legally binding — the whole experience was flawless. Good espresso, amazing staff, and Mikail, our host, ran the evening with warmth, charm, and the kind of quiet efficiency that makes everything look effortless.

Five stars, and frankly, I’d give them another five just for the bread — and for the cozy, traditional atmosphere, complete with a glass floor that lets you peek into the kitchen downstairs, where all the...

This place is definitely something special. We were in town for a conference and I'd made a review at Beati Paoli after reading previous reviews—we were not disappointed. The place is tiny, but cozy and welcoming. Our server was very attentive and friendly, and they had a fairly long list of specials. We shared the appetizer with mozzarella, aubergine, and tomatoes, as well as the fried calamari rings, both of which were very nicely prepared and presented. All of us ordered pasta and thought the food was great. I had the pasta with pancetta, cream, onion, and sage, and it was delicious—perfectly al dente and with very well-balanced flavors, with none of the ingredients dominating the taste of the dish. We also had dessert, which was alright, but not as exceptional as the food (I'm quite sure the desserts are pre-made and possibly thawed before serving). You definitely need a reservation if you want to come here, given that the place is both small and popular. They had to turn away multiple people who didn't have reservations while we were there. All in all, I would very much recommend Beati Paoli and had a great...