The View Bar and Kitchen

The View Bar and Kitchen stands on Pjazza l-Assunta, the square at the heart of Żebbuġ, a hilltop village in the north of Gozo. From the street it looks like a smart village restaurant, but walk through the dining room and the windows open onto farmland and a long strip of sea. The family who run it pair a Mediterranean menu with daily local specials, a well-stocked cocktail bar and a wine list that leans on Maltese and Italian labels. For other tables in the village, see our round-up of restaurants in Żebbuġ.

A dining room built around the view

The name is no exaggeration. The restaurant faces north over land and sea, and the horizon is the only limit to what you can see from the tables. The fields below change colour and shape through the year, so a winter lunch and a summer dinner look quite different, and the Giordan Lighthouse, which inspired the restaurant's logo, is part of the scene.

Inside, the style is modern and calm, with simple furnishings, patterned floor tiles and a long bar lined with bottles. The photos show white tablecloths, plants by the windows and small tables set right against the railing outside, which is where most people want to be around sunset. Service is personal because the business is run by a family, and they take care over small details. It works as well for a drink at the bar as for a long dinner, and a group can take over one of the long tables laid out in the main room.

What the kitchen cooks

The cooking mixes Mediterranean classics with dishes that follow the local seasons, using produce grown on Gozo where possible. The kitchen aims to please both diners who want a long, careful meal and those after something quick and light, so a plate of pasta at the bar is as welcome as three courses with wine.

Three dishes from the recent highlights show the style. The salmon tartare starts with wild salmon cut into even pieces and dressed with soy and basil, then served over orange slices with lumpfish caviar, sesame seeds, spring onions from local growers and toasted local bread. The Pistachio Guanciale takes its cue from southern Italy: fresh colonna pompeiana, a tube-shaped pasta, is tossed in butter, Calabrian pistachio cream, local basil and aged pecorino, then finished with crushed pistachios and crisp pork cheek. The house classic is the ribs, pork loin ribs baked slowly in the oven in a homemade honey and barbecue sauce, with more of the sticky sauce spooned over at the end.

If anyone in your party has an allergy, mention it before you order. The team will do what they can, but peanuts, dairy, shellfish and other allergens are handled in the same kitchen.

Desserts with a bit of theatre

Puddings are made in house and get serious attention. The signature is The View Chocolate Praline Bar, which plays salt against chocolate: a filling of peanuts, salted caramel and almond praline sits with a mousse made from Chocolaterie de l'Opéra chocolate, and the whole bar is coated in milk chocolate and finished with salted peanuts, dacquoise and vanilla chantilly.

The Baked Alaska is the one that turns heads. Its centre is a gianduja and vanilla semifreddo inside a dome of Callebaut milk chocolate with Piedmont hazelnuts, all covered in Italian meringue. A server then flambés it with sambuca at your table, so order it if you want a small show to end the evening.

Cocktails and the wine list

The bar is treated as seriously as the kitchen, with premium gins, whiskeys, rums, bourbons and vodkas behind the counter. The mojito keeps to the classic mix of white rum, lime, sugar, mint and soda, but you can ask for dark rum instead. The house signature is the Amaretto Sour, made with Italian amaretto, a measure of bourbon, fresh lime, Angostura bitters and a foam of egg white, which makes a sweet but sharp aperitif before dinner.

The 2025 wine list runs to 54 bottles. Gozo is well represented: Tal-Massar's Tanit Vermentino, Manzara rosé and San Mitri red are each €19.50, and Marsovin's Ulysses white and red from the island are €25.00 each. Among the other local bottles, Meridiana's ISIS Chardonnay costs €36.00 and its Melqart red €40.00. Italy supplies the longest section, with choices such as a Sicilian Grillo at €22.00, a Gavi di Gavi from Piedmont at €24.00 and a Barbera d'Asti at €30.00, and there are bottles from France, Spain, Portugal, Germany, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand too. The Estrella de Murviedro frizzante rosé is the cheapest full bottle at €18.00, a Chablis from Domaine Servin is €40.00, and the Amos Cuvée from Alto Adige tops the list at €48.00. A few wines, among them the Pinot Grigio at €14.50, also come as half bottles.

Set menus for groups

Seated groups of ten or more can choose from set menus for 2026 and 2027. Set Menu A costs €34 per person for two courses or €39.50 per person for three. Starters are beef tartare with capers, shallots and a cheese tuile, mushroom arancini with truffle mascarpone, or mussels and clams cooked with garlic, mint, chilli, lime and white wine. Mains are braised lamb shank with mash and gravy, a vegan chickpea curry with sultanas, apple and coconut milk over pilau rice, pan-fried calamari with cherry tomatoes and basil, or teriyaki chicken thighs with sticky rice. The three-course version ends with cheesecake with a fruit topping or imqaret, the local fried date pastries, served with vanilla ice cream.

Set Menu B costs €39 per person for two courses. It brings Maltese sausage balls with raisins, pine nuts, pumpkin purée and blue cheese, a fried pumpkin salad, a 300g char-grilled ribeye with mushroom or pepper sauce and oven-baked salmon with leek purée, alongside the curry and teriyaki chicken. Its three-course version adds a chocolate lava cake or ricotta and pistachio cannoli. Every main on both menus comes with roast potatoes, seasonal vegetables, seasoned fries and mixed salad, and you can also build your own menu around dietary needs.

Private functions and parties

A dedicated indoor area takes larger private parties, and the team host holy communion lunches, birthdays, engagements, anniversaries, company dinners, reunions and wedding receptions, either seated or standing. They can also help with planning, from setting up meetings to putting you in touch with other suppliers.

For standing receptions of 20 or more, the finger food package costs €22.50 per adult and €10.00 per child, with children ordering from the kids' menu, drinks included. It covers ten savoury items, such as bruschetta, meatballs with Gorgonzola sauce, mushroom risotto, fried local cheese ravioli, barbecue pork ribs, lamb shish with Greek yoghurt and vegetable spring rolls, plus three mini desserts including cannoli and fruit tartlets. Drinks packages add €5.00, €9.50 or €15.00 per person, the top one with free-flowing wine and local beer, and a three-hour open bar with a private bar set-up costs €22.50 per person, with each extra hour €5 per person. Group bookings need a non-refundable 25% deposit, and final numbers are due three days ahead. Gift vouchers, valid for six months, can be spent on meals or takeaway orders, and the team suggest them as a festive thank-you for staff.

Planning your visit

Opening hours are not listed on the website, so check them before you set out, and book ahead, as the restaurant recommends reservations. Żebbuġ makes an easy stop on a day exploring the north of the island, and the restaurant sits right on the village square, so it is simple to find, and our Gozo guide and list of hotels in Gozo will help with the rest of the trip, while the Malta weather guide shows which months suit dinner outside. If you are crossing from Malta, our Blue Lagoon guide covers the boat trips that call at Gozo. For more choice nearby, browse restaurants across Gozo, including Horizon in Żebbuġ, seafood at Kartell, Italian cooking at The Pierre's and fine dining at Ta' Frenċ in Xagħra. To ask about a table, a party or a gift voucher, use the VisitMalta.co.uk enquiry form on this page and we will pass your message to the restaurant.