La Mère restaurant (“The Mother”) in Valletta, Malta was recommended to me by a friend whose brother lives in Malta after I asked my Facebook friends whether they had any suggestions on where to eat lunch on the island.  We checked out the website and ended up adding a lunch here as a registry item on our Honeyfund. Our friends ended up purchasing it for us as a wedding gift and it was fantastic!

This eclectic food haven is a bit difficult to find and is located in the middle of the walled city a few blocks tucked away from the more crowded, touristy areas. Admittedly, it took us a bit of wandering, iPhone map usage and some bickering to find this place.  We showed up right before they opened  for lunch, which was lucky because we were STARVING, hot, and ready to eat some spicy food.

A welcoming entrée…

We stepped inside into an adorable little restaurant adorned with jewel-toned glass lamps and lanterns with wooden tables and bright colored accents throughout. We had the place to ourselves and the service was prompt, but not annoyingly so. There was definitely no feeling like we were being watched like hawks because we were the only table in there.  About ten minutes into service, another table arrived and we had company – and the restaurant soon began to fill up slowly with hungry patrons in search of exotic spices and cold beverages.

Happy to be indoors in the air conditioning and ready to EAT.

The menu at La Mère is enormous, but it’s divided up into easy-to-find segments based on the type of cuisine you’re looking for.  We were both looking for some Indian curries, as we were about to eat Maltese and Italian food on the rest of our trip and we love us some curry.

A varied, but easy to read menu makes this place special.

I wasn’t toooo starving, so I opted for some good ol’ Chicken Tikka Masala and pilau rice, but Luke ended up getting a Thali – which is basically an Indian bento box.  The Thali came with rice, naan bread, salad, pickles, tadka dhal, raita and two curries to choose from – he opted for Beef Jalfrezi and Chicken Tikka.  The entrees were between €13 and €18 euros, with the Thali being about €18, at the high end.

Pilau rice

Delicious, creamy chicken tikka masala.

The Thali

The quality of the food was fantastic, especially for the price. The beer was also extra cold and extremely reasonable.

PRO-TIP: For an added cost savings, you can even BYO bottle of wine and pay a small corkage fee of €4.50.

Or, you can pick from their extensive wine list, which offers both local and European wines, as well as some offerings from the New World.

We really enjoyed our lunch at La Mère during a full day of seeing the sights of Valletta and the rest of the main island of Malta.  It packed great flavor and value and I would absolutely recommend it if you’re looking for something either traditionally Maltese or maybe something from a little bit farther east.

IMPORTANT INFO ABOUT LA MÈRE:

La Mère
174, Merchant Street  (Triq il-Merkanti)
Valletta, Malta
Phone: (+356) 2122 3256, (+356) 9949 4721
Hours: Mon-Sat 12pm-2:30pm, 7pm-10:30pm, Closed on Sundays