Mingles

Mingles Lounge & Bistro is the kind of place that changes character as the day goes on. On Triq ix-Xatt, the promenade that runs along the Gżira waterfront, it starts the morning with coffee and cooked breakfasts, turns to ftira and salads at lunchtime, and by evening is serving steaks, pizza and cocktails to a crowd watching the match on its screens. The tone is a friendly pub with a bistro kitchen, dogs are welcome, and a happy hour runs every day from 9am to 9pm. Our guide to restaurants in Gżira lists the other places along this stretch of seafront.

Breakfast and brunch

Breakfast is served daily from 8:30am to noon, and the prices are among the gentlest on the menu. The English Breakfast of two fried eggs, bacon, two sausages, tomato, mushrooms, beans and toast is €6.50, with poached or scrambled eggs €1.50 extra, and the bigger Bistro Breakfast adds hash browns and chips for €10.50. A vegetarian plate with poached eggs, feta, avocado, hummus and hash browns costs €11.50. Eggs Benedict on brioche is €10.95 and Eggs Royale, with smoked salmon and smashed avocado, €11.95.

Five omelettes, all served with fries, cost from €6.95 for a plain three-egg version to €11.50 for smoked salmon with cream cheese and dill, with Greek, spicy chorizo and garden versions at €10.50. For something sweeter before noon, there are pancakes with egg, bacon and maple syrup or with peanut butter, berries and honey, both €11.50, two kinds of French toast at €12.50 and an acai bowl at €14.00. Filled croissants cost €2.80 for chocolate, cream, forest fruit or pistachio, and €4.50 for the Morta Mia with mortadella, burrata and pesto.

Lunchtime ftira and quick bites

Until 3pm, a list of quick bites covers lighter lunches. The Maltese ftira is the star here, served with crisps: a tuna ftira with capers, olives, bigilla and goat cheese costs €4.95, the breakfast and classic deli ftira €6.95, and the beef brisket, spicy chicken and prosciutto with burrata versions €7.95. A club sandwich is €6.95, chicken and smoked salmon wraps €8.95 and €9.95, and bangers and mash, a chilled fusilli with pesto and burrata, and a tuna pasta salad all cost €10.95.

Starters run through the day. Classic bruschetta and garlic bread cost €5.50, shrimp bruschetta on avocado €8.95, oven-baked Brie with rosemary, chilli and honey €10.50, and fried local goat cheese with bean paste €12.95. Calamari fritti, cheeseburger sliders and slow-cooked pork belly bites are all €13.50. For a group, the Taste of Malta Platter at €21.50 gathers Maltese sausage, peppered goat cheese, bigilla, butter beans, kunserva and water biscuits, and the American Platter of mini burgers, wings, ribs and onion rings costs €28.50.

Pasta, pizza and burgers

Pasta covers Italian classics and a couple of Maltese ones. Local cheese ravioli in tomato sauce is €12.50, cacio e pepe €13.90 and carbonara with guanciale €14.90. Maltese Pasta, rigatoni with local sausage, sundried tomatoes, olives and goat cheese in cream, costs €16.50, and spaghetti with traditional Maltese rabbit sauce €16.95. Lobster ravioli with shrimps and bisque and a creamy prawn spaghetti are both €16.50, and gluten-free pasta can be swapped in for €2.50. From the rice list, mushroom and truffle risotto is €14.75 and risotto frutti di mare €16.50.

Pizzas run from €9.50 for a margherita to €14.50 for the frutti di mare, with extra toppings at €1.50. The Maltese pizza with local sausage, goat cheese and capers costs €13.50, as does a mortadella and burrata version with pesto and walnuts. Every burger comes with fries, and gluten-free buns are €2.50 extra. The Dirty Chick, a crispy chicken burger, is the cheapest at €15.50 and The Farm, a beef patty topped with chicken and bacon, the dearest at €18.50; most sit at €16.50, including The Local with a pork and beef patty and peppered goat cheese sauce, while the Veggie Stack and the Holy Brie cost €17.50.

Grills, Maltese mains and fish

The grill section is where dinner gets serious. Three 300g steaks are on offer: a tagliata with rocket and Parmesan at €27.95, a ribeye with thyme jus at €29.95 and a beef fillet at €32.50. A full rack of barbecue pork ribs costs €24.50 and lamb shank with mint sauce €26.50. Two Maltese favourites appear: bragioli, the beef olives filled with bacon, egg and cheese and braised in red wine, at €23.50, and Maltese rabbit cooked in garlic and white wine at €21.50. Duck breast with orange sauce is €24.50 and the Parma Royale Chicken, stuffed with spinach and feta, €22.50.

From the sea, fish and chips costs €19.50, grilled or baked sea bass and grilled swordfish €23.95 each, and impeppata di cozze, peppered mussels with chips and bread, also €23.95. King prawns on seafood rice top the list at €28.50. The dessert list, headed by chocolate and hazelnut at €5.50, runs through tiramisu, profiteroles, apple pie, cheesecakes, tartufo and local dates, and ice cream is €1.50 a scoop. Children have their own menu with pasta, chicken chunks or breaded fish at €7.50 and a mini burger at €9.50, and every dish on the menu carries allergen codes.

Cocktails, beer and wine

Drinks are a big part of the Mingles offer. Classic cocktails such as the Mojito, Margarita, Negroni and Aperol Spritz cost €8.50, an Espresso Martini or Porn Star Martini €9.50, and the house Maltese Mojito, made with spiced rum and Kinnie, €11.50. Three mocktails cost €7.50 and homemade lemonades €4.00. Cisk and Carlsberg are on draught at €2.90 for 25cl and €5.00 for 50cl, and the bottled list stretches to Huskie craft ales at €5.50 and Proper Job Cornish IPA at €6.00. Groups can order a bottle of spirits with mixers for €55.00.

The wine list leans local. Maltese whites and reds from Ziffa, Medina and The Falcon start at €17.50, and the Gran Cavalier reserve bottles reach €33.50, with Medina half bottles at €12.50. The foreign list ranges across Italy, France, Spain, Chile, South Africa, Argentina and Australia, with Prosecco at €6.00 a glass, a Chablis at €34.50 and a Saint-Émilion Grand Cru at €35.50.

Christmas parties and private events

Mingles caters for parties, corporate gatherings and private celebrations, and its festive packages are published in full. Set Menu A, at €26.50 per person, opens with salmon and classic bruschetta to share, offers rabbit in garlic, brisket, chicken cacciatore or swordfish, and ends with local dates and helwa tat-Tork. Set Menu B, at €38.50, adds shared pastas, coffee and half a bottle of wine per person, and Set Menu C, at €70, brings deli and Maltese platters, three pastas, fish and meat platters and two hours of free-flowing wine, beer and soft drinks.

For larger groups, two open bar packages give exclusive use of the venue for a minimum of 50 people: €40 per person for three hours with 12 finger food items, or €60 for four hours with 18. Staff and the in-house sound system are included, and a DJ can be accommodated with separately rented equipment.

On the Gżira seafront

Gżira takes its name from the Maltese word for island, after Manoel Island just offshore, and its seafront looks across the yacht marina towards Valletta, which is lit up after dark. Once a working-class neighbourhood of Sliema known for its bars, the town is now busy with offices, hotels and restaurants. Fawwara Gate, a late 18th-century archway built under the Order of St John to mark the new road from Msida to Sliema, is about 450 metres away, and the Orpheum Theatre, a 1932 cinema with a painting of Orpheus on its ceiling, is about 250 metres away. Fort Manoel, the 18th-century star fort on Manoel Island named after Grand Master António Manoel de Vilhena, is about 900 metres away, and Marsamxett Harbour, the leisure harbour north of the Grand Harbour, about 1.2 km away. Across the water, our Valletta guide and our page on the Upper Barrakka Gardens cover the capital.

Hours, booking and nearby

The bar opens every day from 8:30 am until late. On weekdays the kitchen serves from 8:30 am to 3:00 pm and again from 5:30 pm to 10:30 pm, and at weekends it stays open all day. Tables are booked through the form on the website: give the date, time, number of guests and a contact number, and the booking is confirmed once the team replies. If you are staying nearby, our guide to hotels in Sliema and Gżira has options within reach. Close by on the same seafront are Mamma Mariella and Pulcinella for Italian cooking, the Crew Cafe' Bar for another casual stop and Balance Bowl for vegan food. To ask about a table, a party package or a private event, use the VisitMalta.co.uk enquiry form on this page and we will pass your message to the restaurant.