Diners enjoying a meal at a restaurant at the Valletta Waterfront had to be rushed out of the establishment on Friday evening after a fire broke out in the kitchen. 

The fire, which started in the kitchen but then spread to other areas of Brown's, the popular Valletta Waterfront restaurant, was reported to the authorities at about 10.20pm, a police spokesman confirmed.

Diners who were at the restaurant at the time described how they were quickly rushed out of the establishment as soon as the fire broke. Nobody was injured, the police spokesman said. 

Diners at the restaurant said they were rushed out after hearing a loud noise from the restaurant's kitchen.

A couple who had just been served their main course when the fire broke out told Times of Malta that just after 10pm, they heard a loud noise coming from the kitchen at the far end of the building. 

"One of the waiting staff rushed out to speak to someone outside. All of a sudden, the lights went out and we were told to go outside quickly," the woman said. 

Two fire engines were dispatched to the Valletta Waterfront to extinguish the fire.

Members of the Civil Protection Department managed to extinguish the fire after about two hours. 

The cause of the fire is still unknown.