This Mediterranean harbour city is a surprise package

Waking up quayside in Valletta is something of a revelation. In place of the soulless surrounds of many larger ports, our view comprises a row of amber 19th-century warehouses with brightly painted wooden shutters, which sit below the walled city’s fortifications. Boats bob on the water in front. It’s the first of many unexpected pleasures we discover in the Maltese capital, Europe’s smallest and a UNESCO world-heritage site.

We have cruised here from Rome for Oceania Vista’s naming ceremony, a smart affair that involves a gala dinner in the ship’s Grand Dining Room followed by official proceedings on the dramatically lit waterfront and a performance by Harry Connick Jnr, who has been flown in specially.

Our visit also coincides with the publication of Melbourne photographer Simon Bajada’s cookbook, Malta, and a catch-up with Good Weekend recipe writer Julia Busuttil Nishimura, another Melbourne resident with Maltese heritage who happens to be visiting family on the island at the same time. For someone whose travel trips revolve around food, this is a very happy trio of coincidences.

We meet Julia for coffee on our first morning at Caffe Cordina, an elegant bar with elaborate ceilings, marble floors and waistcoated staff where the motto is “Serving happiness since 1837”. It’s tight inside - this is a popular meeting place – but there are plenty of outdoor tables in Republic Square and Julia’s cousin Joanna is excellent, entertaining company over coffee and cannoli (Sicily is only 190km to the north).

After much heated discussion about what we must see with only two days in Malta, Joanna anoints herself our unofficial tour guide, taking us around Valletta’s compact centre with its pedestrianised streets, colonial British red phone boxes and honeyed limestone houses with traditional wooden balconies. We check out the Renzo Piano-designed parliament building; the beautiful MUZA national art gallery and St John’s Co-Cathedral, built by the Order of the Knights of St John in 1577 and with dazzling baroque interiors. Malta had not been on my radar until this cruise, but with more than 8000 years of history, a succession of conquerors and a crossroads location between southern Italy and North Africa, it could rightfully be called a hidden gem (were that cliched phrase not banned from publication in Traveller).

But we’re here for the food, so it’s off to Palazzo Preca, a family-run restaurant that specialises in fresh seafood. This former palace with its stone arches, chandeliers and patterned, tiled floor serves many local dishes including aljotta (fish soup), shellfish and braised rabbit. We try gbejniet, sheep’s milk cheeselets that are a mix of French and Syrian influences and – after much interrogation of the waiter who brings that day’s catch to the table for us to choose – seabass al sale (baked in a salt shell to keep it from drying out). A Maltese white is light and delicate.

After lunch, Joanna recommends a visit to Casa Rocca Piccola, the 17th-century home of the Marquis and Marchioness de Piro, who’ve opened some of the rooms to the public. There’s a leafy internal garden courtyard – a common feature in this citadel city, where residents could relax outdoors without feeling anxious about marauding invaders – and an impressive art, furniture and book collection to browse.