The Broke Student's Guide to Eating Like a Maltese Local

Give me €40 and I'll show you how to eat your way through Malta like a local. I should probably introduce myself first. I'm Ree, I'm 23, I live in Malta, and I'm trying to enjoy my twenties on a broke-girl budget. Scroll through TikTok and you'll see Malta through the same handful of restaurants: everyone tries a pastizz, but not everyone knows where to get the one locals will actually argue about. I want to show that eating your way through Malta doesn't have to mean expensive waterfront restaurants or tourist menus. With €40, I'll take readers from a ricotta pastizz in Rabat to a Maltese ftira in Mġarr, a supermarket snack haul of Twistees, galletti and ġbejna, before ending the day over dinner and a Valletta sunset all while experiencing the Malta I actually know. The day starts in Rabat, a village steeped in history, at Is-Serkin a tiny, snack bar where Maltese seniors start their mornings over a cup of tea and, of course, the iconic pastizz. You can eat your ricotta pastizz there or take the five-minute walk to the Silent City of Mdina and enjoy it overlooking the island. From there, we'll head north to Mġarr, where I'll pick up a traditional Maltese ftira from a small local shop and take it down to Ġnejna Bay, just a short drive away, for lunch by the sea. For an afternoon snack, forget the restaurants altogether. Walk into almost any Maltese supermarket and grab a packet of galletti tal-forn, a ġbejna with plenty of flavours and seasonings to choose from—and, obviously, a packet of Twistees. Add a Cisk, Malta's local beer, if you fancy one. Finally, we'll head to Valletta for a classic pizza as the sun disappears beneath the horizon. The best part? The entire day can be done for less than €40. As a 23-year-old Maltese local, I want to show readers the Malta I know rather than the version of the island that repeatedly appears on their TikTok feeds. I’m proposing a 500–600-word first-person food guide that combines practical recommendations with the stories and culture behind what we eat, showing that experiencing Malta like a local doesn't require a luxury travel budget. I write personal essays about travel, everyday life and my twenties.