Pirate's Galley

Pirate's Galley is a family-run restaurant on the left-hand side of Xlendi Bay, the deep, cliff-backed inlet on the south-west coast of Gozo. It cooks local and Mediterranean food every day, from Maltese dishes and seafood to pasta, grills and pizza. For the other places to eat around the bay, see our guide to restaurants in Xlendi.

Tables on the edge of the bay

The family behind Pirate's Galley aim for an easy-going, intimate meal that feels a little different, whether you live on the islands or are visiting for a week, and they want each visit to be one you remember. The photos show tables lined up along the waterfront, with diners eating beside the water as the light fades and the cliffs of the bay behind them, and fresh fish laid out on a table on the terrace. The website also offers a 360-degree virtual tour, so you can look around before you go.

From the grill, the sea and the pizza oven

The menu is grouped under five headings: Maltese dishes, seafood, pasta, grills and pizza. The food gallery on the website, photographed in August 2019, gives a good idea of what arrives at the table. There are whole red fish, some baked in foil, grilled prawns on salad leaves, bowls of mussels with rocket and squid cooked over open flames. Meat eaters get a tomahawk steak carved on a board and burgers with fries, and the pasta plates include ravioli in a tomato cream sauce and ribbons of pasta in a creamy sauce, both finished with shaved cheese.

Pizzas come in several styles, among them one with tomato, olives and herbs and another topped with mussels and basil. One shot from the kitchen shows a cook working over high flames at the range. Menus are published on the website, which is the place to check dishes before you sit down. For more kitchens with a similar mix, browse our list of seafood and pizza restaurants.

Xlendi's long history

Xlendi is an urban village run by the Munxar Local Council, with its own coat of arms and, since 2010, a small council of its own. Its name is thought to come from a Byzantine galley, the Shilandi, wrecked near the mouth of the bay and found again in the 1960s; the wreck is now a dive site. The Romans used the inlet as a sheltered port, and a reef has claimed so many ships that Roman amphorae still lie on the seabed. Punic and Byzantine tombs have turned up at St Simon Point and along Xlendi Valley.

Xlendi Tower, about 450 metres from Pirate's Galley, was put up by Grand Master Lascaris in 1650 to keep pirates and Ottoman raiders out of the bay. It is the oldest of Gozo's four surviving watchtowers and has been under restoration since 2020.

Around the bay and inland

The rocks on the left side of the bay are popular for sunbathing and diving, and caves line both shores, including the clear-watered Catherine of Siena Cave just outside the bay. The church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel was consecrated in 1974, and its feast on the first Sunday of September brings water games and the gostra, a greasy-pole contest over the sea. Inland, Santa Lucia's Church, about 1.4 km away, is a small rural chapel that named its hamlet, and the Annunciation Chapel, about 1.9 km away, is built into a cave in the Lunzjata Valley. Our Gozo guide and pick of the best beaches in Malta help plan the rest of the day.

Planning your visit

Opening hours are not published on the website, so check them before you travel. If you would like to compare other waterfront tables, Churchill and MobyDick are close by, and our guide to hotels in Gozo covers places to stay. To ask about a table or anything else, use the VisitMalta.co.uk enquiry form on this page and we will pass your message to the restaurant.