Even seasoned Maltese diners will be surprised by the range and quality of dishes on offer at Rubino in Valletta.

Proprietor Julian Sammut has made it his mission to unearth the best of local cuisine and serve it at exceptional standards.

The soups, pastas, meat and bakes at the converted confectionary make it especially bustling during lunch hours, but Tuesday to Friday evenings offer more time to savour gorgeous specials like fettucini with snails and saffron or boiled gammon with stewed apple mustard.

The pasta with rabbit sauce (fenkata) and ricotta-based dessert cassata also come highly recommended.

Maltese cuisine is generally quite similar to Italian food, but incorporates aspects of other Mediterranean countries too.

On Sundays even further-flung influences can be found, with many locals professing a penchant for the British roast since times of colonial rule!