Valletta eatery Risette was rated top overall restaurant for 2025 at the The Definitive(ly) Good Guide to Restaurants Awards Ceremony held at The Xara Lodge, Rabat, last Monday.

The awards celebrated the outstanding achievement of Malta and Gozo’s top survey rated restaurants as voted by diners out who participated in the Malta and Gozo Restaurant Survey online at www.restaurantsmalta.com in September.

Based on diner voting, only 150 restaurants make it to be included free in the The Definitive(ly) Good Guide to Restaurants in Malta & Gozo and on its official portal.

Following an address by Tourism Minister Ian Borg, the results were revealed by Lisa Grech, managing director of the Definitive(ly) Good Guide Co. and presented by Tanya Sultana for Malta Tourism Authority, Adrian Cachia from Global Payments, Justin Camilleri and Brian Vella for the Malta Food Agency, and Mark Ciantar of Continental Purchasing on behalf of Schonwald, Germany, who supplied the commemorative award plates for the occasion.

This year’s Malta & Gozo Restaurant Survey returned a high number of responses,  with 3,951 participants who dined out on average one to two times a week, equivalent to a total of 331,855 dining experiences in a year. The latest edition of the guide, which was launched during the evening, sees 33 new restaurants.

The top 40 award-winning restaurants were taken from the highest rated ones, taking into account their overall rating, the number of people rating, comments and other data from the survey.

The Verbena team, winners of the award for restaurant most dedicated to supporting local produce.

The restaurants winning award plates in order from most highly rated were: Risette; de Mondion; Rebekah’s; Sole by Tarragon; Da Luigi; Galea’s Kitchen; Ta’ Frenċ; Bastion Bar & Restaurant; Paranga; Tal-Familja; Mamacita; Ta’ Bertu’s Kitchen; Scala; Verbena Wine & Dine; Lovage Bistro; Sicilia Bella; Casa Gringo; Contessa; La Mer; ION Harbour; Step 15; MEZ; Palazzo Preca; Grotto Tavern; Caviar & Bull; Onella; Venus; Bacchus; Minoa Mediterranean Fusion; Ostrica; Adura; Village Fork; Country Terrace; The Villa Bologna; Naan Bar; The Aft Galley; Don Royale; Quadro; Chatterbox; and The Boathouse.

Additional awards in different categories were made:

• Best food (sponsored by American Express): Risette;

• Best ambience: de Mondion;

• Best service (sponsored by Spiteri Catering): Risette;

• Restaurant most dedicated to supporting local produce, best local fish restaurant and best local wine list (sponsored by Malta Food Agency): Verbena, Sole by Tarragon and Al Sale, respectively;

• Best restaurant in Gozo (sponsored by the Ministry for Gozo): Ta’ Frenċ;

• The best chef award (sponsored by Pentole Agnelli represented exclusively by The Catering Centre): Sheldon Sammut;

• Best newcomer (sponsored by Horeca): Mamacita;

• Restaurant most mentioned in survey (sponsored by Bookia): Ta’ Tona;

• Most children-friendly restaurant (sponsored by the Malta Baby & Kids Directory): Don Royale;

• Best Maltese restaurant (sponsored by Malta Tourism Authority): Tal-Familja;

• Restaurant most popular for business entertainment: Caviar & Bull;

• Best value for money restaurant (sponsored by Rummo represented by J. Calleja Ltd): The Aft Galley;

• Favourite Café (sponsored by Buondi represented by Nestlé Malta): Busy Bee;

• Most promising young chef of the year: Neil Peresso;

• Most promising F&B maître of the year: Jael Ellul.

The Definitive(ly) Good Guide to Restaurants in association with Abraham’s Supplies Co. Ltd Wine Awards were as follows:

• The People’s Choice Wine List (taken from the results of the survey): Caviar & Bull;

• Best overall wine list: ION;

• Best presented and designed wine list: Fernando’s;

• Best champagne wine list: ION;

• Best Italian selection wine list: Contessa;

• Best port wine list: Country Terrace.

The results of the Restaurant Survey can be found in the 2025 edition of The Definitive(ly) Good Guide to Restaurants in Malta and Gozo which is now available to purchase online for €8 at www.restaurantsmalta.com. It is also available at leading stationers and bookshops in Malta and Gozo.

The awards ceremony was sponsored by the Malta Tourism Authority, Global Payments and the Malta Food Agency.