Malta’s Indian & Pakistani Kitchens: Dhabas, Curries & Biryani (2026 Guide)

Walk through Valletta at lunch or Paceville at night and the smell of a real tandoor will find you. Malta’s Indian and Pakistani food scene is one of the island’s best-kept secrets: Pakistani dhaba kitchens serving nihari and karak chai sit alongside award-winning modern Indian dining rooms and busy South Indian curry houses. For Muslim travellers and residents, this is the cuisine cluster where halal food in Malta is easiest to find — but the halal claim still belongs to each venue, not the cuisine. This guide lists seven kitchens we researched in October 2026, each with the source behind its halal status so you can decide for yourself.

1. Naan Bar — Valletta (modern Indian, halal certified)

If you eat at only one Indian restaurant in Malta, make it this one. Naan Bar sits at 60/1 Melita Street, on the corner of Old Bakery Street in the Britannia House, and serves modern Indian food — slow-cooked curries, a live tandoor, and street-food-inspired starters — in a colourful dining room with its own cocktail bar. The restaurant describes its style as modern Indian cuisine, with chefs trained in India.

The halal assurance here is among the clearest on the island: the restaurant states on its own website that “all our meats are Halal certified,” and its Zabihah listing quotes management saying the kitchen prepares halal food “strictly in accordance with Islamic dietary laws” using halal-certified meat suppliers. TripAdvisor flags Halal under its special diets, and the venue holds a Travellers’ Choice 2026 badge. The restaurant also describes itself on TripAdvisor as a winner of Malta’s Best Restaurant at the World Culinary Awards 2021 & 2022.

Order the Old Delhi Butter Chicken — the restaurant’s own site calls it one of its most popular dishes — and try the tandoor platter if you can’t decide. Vegans and gluten-free diners are well looked after, with over 95% of the menu suitable for gluten-free diners according to the restaurant.

2. Annapurna — Valletta (Indian/Nepali, Zabihah-listed)

Two streets away in the Is-Suq tal-Belt food market, Annapurna is the lower-key pick for halal food in Valletta: an Indian and Nepali kitchen that Zabihah lists as fully halal (staff verbal assurance), and which Zabihah’s nearby-venues listing rates 100% halal with 4.0 stars from 72 votes. It’s the kind of place where you’ll find momo dumplings next to dal fry and thali plates — and where the lunch crowd eats fast and cheap.

3. Saffron — St Julian’s, Paceville (chef-led Indian)

Saffron has been St Julian’s landmark Indian restaurant for years, at 64 Triq il-Wilga in the middle of Paceville. Chef-patron Sudip runs the kitchen with chefs recruited from across India, and the restaurant’s own site highlights its signature tandoor dishes, banquet hall and large-group seating. TripAdvisor gives it 4.2 stars from 334 reviews, and Wolt rates it 9.4/10 from 20 ratings. The restaurant’s gallery page says it has hosted Bollywood visitors Amitabh Bachchan and Aamir Khan during film shoots in Malta.

One honest note: Saffron does not publish a halal statement on its site, so ask the staff about halal meat before you order. Butter chicken, lamb korma and the lamb lazeez are the dishes reviewers mention most. For more picks in the area, see our guide to halal restaurants in Sliema & St Julian’s.

4. Lahori Dhaba — Fgura & St Julian’s (Pakistani dhaba)

This is the real dhaba experience: a Pakistani kitchen at 187 Triq San Tumas in Fgura, with a second branch at 1 St George’s Road in St Julian’s. The menu reads like Lahore street food — gol gappa, crispy samosas, daal chawal, kebabs and the lamb biryani that reviewers on Wanderlog call a must-try, plus karak chai and kulfi. The St Julian’s branch stays open until 2:00 AM (4:00 AM on weekends), according to its own ordering page.

Lahori Dhaba is listed as a halal venue in HalalMalta’s own restaurant directory, and its food is widely described by visitors as authentic Punjabi cooking at very reasonable prices. See also our dedicated restaurant page for Lahori Dhaba.

5. Spicee Hutt — Birkirkara (Pakistani, “Halal” on its own site)

Central Malta’s dhaba pick is Spicee Hutt at 13 Triq L-Isqof Labini, Birkirkara. The restaurant’s own description says it “specialises in Pakistani and Indian food (Halal)” — an explicit halal claim from the venue itself. The site’s listed dishes are the classics of a Pakistani breakfast-and-lunch kitchen: halwa puri, paya, chicken biryani and tea.

This is budget-friendly, no-frills food — nihari, karahi and parathas in the style of a Lahore roadside hut, with delivery on Wolt. If you’ve been missing proper desi breakfast in Malta, start here.

6. Punjabi Tadka — Msida (open-kitchen Punjabi)

Near the university area at 43 Triq J. Borg, Msida, Punjabi Tadka is a small, busy kitchen where reviewers consistently praise the freshly cooked, open-kitchen cooking: butter chicken, tandoori chicken, dal makhani, samosa chaat and chole bhature that one TripAdvisor reviewer said tasted like Delhi. The restaurant runs its own site at punjabitadkamalta.com and lists delivery on Wolt.

Punjabi Tadka is listed as a halal venue in HalalMalta’s restaurant directory. Prices are moderate, portions are generous, and the mango lassi is worth the trip on its own. (TripAdvisor listing)

7. Chai Chawk — St Paul’s Bay (South Indian + chai)

The north of the island gets its South Indian specialist in Chai Chawk, at 590 Mosta Road, St Paul’s Bay. The restaurant’s own site presents it as a South Indian restaurant built around chai culture — think dosa, idli and filter coffee alongside proper karak. It’s a newer addition to the island’s curry map, and a useful stop for tourists based in Buġibba and Qawra. Chai Chawk does not publish a halal statement, so confirm with staff before ordering meat dishes.

What to order: a dhaba cheat sheet

If the menu language is new to you, start with these:

• Biryani — fragrant spiced rice layered with chicken, lamb or vegetables. The signature dish at Lahori Dhaba and Spicee Hutt.
• Nihari — a slow-cooked Pakistani beef or lamb stew, traditionally eaten at breakfast with naan.
• Karahi — meat or chicken simmered with tomatoes and ginger in a wok-like pan.
• Butter chicken / chicken tikka masala — the creamy crowd-pleasers; Naan Bar’s Old Delhi Butter Chicken is its flagship.
• Dal makhani — black lentils simmered in butter and cream; a vegetarian essential.
• Chole bhature — chickpea curry with puffy fried bread, a Delhi classic Punjabi Tadka does well.
• Halwa puri & paya — the Pakistani weekend breakfast; ask for it at Spicee Hutt.
• Karak chai — strong, milky, sweet tea. Order it wherever you see it.

A note on halal confidence

In this guide, a halal claim always belongs to the venue, not to us. Naan Bar and Spicee Hutt state it on their own websites; Annapurna is listed as fully halal on Zabihah; Lahori Dhaba and Punjabi Tadka are halal-listed in HalalMalta’s own directory. Where no claim is published — as with Saffron and Chai Chawk — the honest move is to ask the staff directly before you order. Kitchen practices can change, and a two-minute question beats an assumption.

Frequently asked questions

Is Indian food in Malta halal?
Some Indian restaurants in Malta make explicit halal claims — Naan Bar states on its own website that all its meats are halal certified, and Zabihah lists Annapurna as fully halal. Others, like Saffron, don’t publish a statement, so always confirm with the venue before ordering.

Where can I get biryani in Malta?
Lahori Dhaba (Fgura and St Julian’s) and Spicee Hutt (Birkirkara) are the Pakistani kitchens built around biryani, and both are halal-listed venues. Naan Bar in Valletta serves a lamb biryani in a more upscale setting. See our Lahori Dhaba restaurant page for ordering details.

Which Indian restaurant in Malta is best for a special dinner?
Naan Bar in Valletta: modern Indian food, a cocktail bar, halal-certified meats stated on its own site, a TripAdvisor Travellers’ Choice 2026 badge, and awards the restaurant lists on its own TripAdvisor description. Book ahead for weekends. Its sister concept MÉZ in St Julian’s covers Indian coastal seafood (per Jess Eats the World).

Are there Pakistani dhabas in Malta?
Yes — Lahori Dhaba (Fgura + St Julian’s) and Spicee Hutt (Birkirkara) are proper dhaba-style kitchens serving karak chai, nihari, halwa puri and biryani at budget prices. Both are listed as halal venues in HalalMalta’s directory.

Can I order Indian or Pakistani food for delivery in Malta?
Yes. Saffron lists on Wolt (9.4/10 from 20 ratings), Lahori Dhaba takes direct orders on its own order.site page, and Punjabi Tadka and Spicee Hutt are listed on delivery apps too. Delivery menus are usually shorter than the dine-in menu, so check before you order.

The bottom line

Malta’s Indian and Pakistani kitchens punch well above the island’s size: an award-winning modern Indian restaurant in Valletta, genuine dhaba cooking in Fgura and Birkirkara, a chef-led landmark in Paceville, and South Indian chai culture in St Paul’s Bay. Start with the venues whose halal claims are published in their own words — Naan Bar, Spicee Hutt and the Zabihah-listed Annapurna — and ask everywhere else.

Planning a wider food trip? See our guides to halal food in Valletta and the best halal restaurants in Sliema & St Julian’s, or check whether Malta is Muslim-friendly before you book. For the full island list, start with our 2026 guide to the best halal restaurants in Malta.

Featured photo: “Chicken Tikka Masala” by David Johnson, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.