Nenu The Artisan Baker Valletta — Restaurant in Valletta

We went in on the recommendation of a local shopkeeper—a server at a Valletta souvenir store who assured us we’d find well-prepared Maltese fare at fair prices. This was our first (and only) deep dive into traditional Maltese cuisine, and honestly, we were pleasantly surprised.

Ambiance & Pricing The place strikes a nice balance between inviting and unpretentious. It isn’t cheap, but it isn’t overpriced either—just what we were told. The menu clearly notes that pasta can be ordered either as a starter or a main (with about a €5 premium for the latter), so keep an eye out for that when you decide portion size vs. budget.

Starters (Pasta Trio) We shared three pastas as starters: • Spaghetti with octopus • Spaghetti with rabbit • Ravioli filled with sheep’s cheese

All three were excellent—really fresh, perfectly al dente, and generously sauced. The octopus offered a nice briny bite, the sheep’s-cheese ravioli was creamy without being heavy, and even the rabbit pasta (often a gamble) was tender and well seasoned.

Main Courses (Sharing Four-Way) For mains—again sharing among four—we chose: A plate combining horse meat and fried rabbit A hearty pork stew served “al forn” with a vegetable medley Chicken glazed with honey

The pork stew was a standout: melt-in-your-mouth pork complemented by simple roasted potatoes and seasonal veggies. The fried horse meat also surprised us—crispy exterior, tender inside, full of rich flavor. The fried rabbit, however, didn’t win everyone over; a couple of us didn’t finish our portions. The honey-glazed chicken was solid if not spectacular—my friends loved it, even if it didn’t “wow” me.

Service Our servers were uniformly friendly and attentive—until the bill arrived. The man who processed our separate payments seemed noticeably put out by splitting the check (we were four and each asked to pay individually). Up until that moment he’d been perfectly cordial, so perhaps he just had a bad day.

Bill Details We were a group of four and each paid €27, which felt very reasonable given the variety and quality of dishes we enjoyed.

Overall Between the three pasta starters, the trio of mains, and a few sides, we left pleasantly full and satisfied. Quality and value hit the mark, with pork and horse meat dishes stealing the show. Aside from the minor hiccup at checkout and the less-than-stellar fried rabbit, this spot delivers on authentic Maltese flavors without breaking the bank. Highly recommended if you want a genuine taste of local cuisine...

My husband and I ate at Nenu a couple of times during our week in Malta. When we initially tried to get a walk in table, they were fully booked, so we made a reservation for both of our next visits. I would definitely recommend doing this, as they are frequently incredibly busy!

Our first visit was for dinner, the waiter was very friendly and went through the menu with us, recommending different dishes and telling us all about traditional Maltese food. We each ordered a ftajjar: I had the Ta’ Karmnu l-Bidija, which the waiter recommended, it was topped with pork belly, Maltese sausage, gravy, thin sliced potatoes and sesame seeds and was absolutely delicious. My husband's one was the Anġla l-Furnara, which was topped with rabbit stew, peas, thin sliced potatoes and sesame seeds. We had also been given a complimentary appetiser of some dips and bread and were absolutely stuffed at the end of the meal!

At our second visit, which was for lunch, we again had meals that the previous waiter had recommended. I had another ftajjar, this time topped with sundried tomatoes, black olives, grated peppered Maltese cheeselet, onions, Maltese sausages, capers, thyme and sesame seeds. My husband had the fried rabbit in red wine sauce and this was served with vegetables, potatoes and a very generous amount of bread to dip into the sauce. We were given the same appetiser as before and once again were very full by the end!

Unfortunately, the service was not as good at our second visit. The staff who had been working before were nowhere to be seen and there were two waitresses there instead. Not even two minutes after we had arrived, we were asked for our food order. When I requested more time to decide, we were approached again very quickly. At the end of the meal, we paid the bill and were waiting for our change. The waitress brought us significantly less change and the receipt for another table. When I explained the problem, they asked if we had paid for our meal yet and there was a lot of confusion among them. It was sorted and we received the correct change, but it did affect our experience. However, the food was wonderful and we would visit again if we were...

Nenu the artisan baker makes a dizzying selection of well-prepared ftira

N35°53.931' E14°30.977' after the entrance, you enter the basement restaurant with a display of the bakery in days gone by. Nenu is famous for its ftira: traditional, pizza-like Maltese flatbread with raised edges filled with a hearty, spicy mixture of olives, capers and anchovies, along with the spicy local tomato puree of sun-dried tomatoes, ground with rosemary, sugar and other secret ingredients and baked in an oven like a pizza.

In October 2021, as starter we ordered Ġbejniet friski sħan bil-basal ikkaramellizzat (€7,50), a warm cheese steak with caramelised onions and home-made sun-dried tomatoes, served on a bed of broad beans and artichokes in garlic and finished with a dash of tomato jam. Ġbejniet itself is a small, hard, white cheese traditionally made from unpasteurised sheep or goat milk. It is often steeped in olive oil, flavoured with salt, and crushed black peppercorns. It tasted good.

As a main course, we ordered traditional maltese ftajjar: Fra Gużepp, Maltese bread dough topped with marrow beans, aubergines, onions, green peppers, tomatoes, local cheeses, garlic, black olives, capers, fresh mint, olive oil and sesame seeds (€12,50) and Anġla l-Furnara, Maltese bread dough topped with rabbit stew, peas, thin sliced potatoes and sesame seeds (€13,50).

We have to confess that we are not great pizza lovers, except for pizzas from Pizzeria Maruzzella at Piazza Guglielmo Oberdan 3 in Milan, Italy. They serve the best pizzas in the world, according to our experience. The portion of ftira was too big to us. It was well prepared and tasted good, but we will not become ftira lovers. Service from our waiter Vesid was excellent and as an encore, he showed us the decades-old wood-fired oven.

Nenu the artisan baker makes a dizzying selection of well-prepared ftira....