Opt for some rare choices.
Head down to the Valletta Waterfront for some charcoal grilled steak by the shore. The Marina Club VW has made this sizzling style of cooking the cornerstone of their kitchen, carefully selecting prime cuts of meat, and cooking them to specification. Argentinian rib-eye, young bull rib-eye; New Zealand beef fillet medallions and beef tagliata can all be thrown onto the grill, but if you’re really hungry, you can also go for a beef-based starter such as the tartar raw beef, served with gherkins, capers, shallots, toasted bread, pickled cucumber, and – for the more adventurous and protein-conscious - raw egg yolk.
Tiffany's Bistro / Facebook
Across the harbour, in a town which has seen restaurants sprout up in every nook and cranny, Tiffany’s Bistro, on the Sliema front, has proven to have a loyal following. Perhaps it’s the grilled double beef patty, served with crispy streaky bacon (keep an ear out for the crunch), the rack of pork ribs (a feat, no matter how large the appetite) or, simply, a quality cut, which is big, beefy and flavoursome.
Wood & Coal
Steak and pizza. Why didn’t anyone come up with this combination before? What may seem like an obvious partnership took its time to come into its own, and now it has at Wood & Coal in Attard. Specialising in prime cuts of Scottona (a young female cow which has never borne young) which possesses similarities to the famed Waygu beef, the variety on offer is also hard to beat: fillet, tagliata, T-Bone, ribeye, sirloin and rump steak sit side by side on the menu with cuts of veal. And they all come in two sizes, fitting for a range of appetites. You may even be lucky enough to experience the eatery's weekly specials - the Tomahawk, for example, has been known to make an appearance.
Fluid / Facebook
In the heart of St Julian’s, down the road from the heaving clubs and heady nightlife, Fluid Steak House aims to fill your belly when you might need some sustenance to keep your evening going. You can start your meal as you mean to go on, with beef on your garlic focaccia, but carnivores will truly delight in the meat platters on offer, as well as the tomahawk and the not-often-seen Brazilian pichana. Chef Dilshod knows a thing or two about how to cook a juicy steak – having come from five years at the Angus Steak House in London – though there is a selection of less meat-based dishes for those who would like a little more variety.
Patrick's Lounge Steakhouse / Facebook
This welcoming, warm-toned eatery in one of the side streets of Gozo’s capital of Victoria is well-known to locals and to the Maltese - some of whom make the trek to the island simply to get a lip-licking taste of Patrick’s creations or extensive wine list. There’s only one thing required: hunger. With steaks measuring up to 900g in size (the bone-in tomahawk ribeye), fillets of rare Wagyu beef (100g) which you can cook yourself on a cast iron plate at the table, and the hefty Chateaubriand (500g), you might need to book a night’s stay nearby to save you the hassle of getting back home.