Tirana Restaurants

Rumors has it that expats and visitors congregates at this restaurant. On the night I dined, there was one other non albanian couple seated close to my table. The menu is in English. There are traditional italian choices including pizza and pasta as well as antipasto and side dishes. The menu also included an extensive selection of Albanian food such as qofta, griiled meat, etc. I ordered vegetable risotto and qofta korce or Meatballs cooked on embers ala Korce (Korce is a city in Albania). Both were tasty and came in generous portion. There were 2 flattened juicy meatballs lightly seasoned and sauteed in a tomato and onion combination, flavored with laurel leaves and baked prior to serving. It was filling indeed !

Unlike moot cities where chinese restaurant is a regular fixture, Tirana has almost no great Chinese Restaurant to go to when the urge for fried noodles or rice suddenly hits you. Risotto, which is available anywhere in the city, just is not a substitute! In an earlier visit, s small chinese dining place housed in a cafe/bar provided a barely passable fried noodles. Da Shanghai is far better and offers traditional chinese restaurant fare cooked by chinese chef. I had a set menu consisting of sweet and sour pork on a bed of steamed japanese rice with complimentary leek and egg drop soup for 600 Lek or less than 10 USD. Taste was passable given that there was none to compare in Tirana.

Favorite Dish: Sweet and Sour Pork on Steamed Japanese Rice - the only dish I ordered so far.

The restaurant and a bar, one floor above the restautant, is located at the top floors of the Sky Tower building. An express elevator at the lobby will take guests directly to the restaurant after hitting one of 2 buttons, number 1. The restarant has both indoor dining, out door tables under awnings and also al fresco. The view is great either in daylight or in the evening-a view of Tirana from above. Food is typically Italian cuisine , tasty and comes in generous portions. The wait staff are attentive and the older ones can speak English. Albanian house wines are available by the carafe.

Favorite Dish: Baked sea salt encrusted whole sea bass. The waiter will fillet and serve the fish right by your table. Price is reasonable and unlike other restaurants in Tirana, price of the based fish is not by weight.

Another reasonably priced great Italian cuisine place to go in Tirana. The garden table and in door dining are great places to have lunch or dinner. In spring and early summer, the wisteria vines are heavy with flowers and provides a great sight. Pizza is baked in a wood fired oven that is visible in the garden and partly the indoor dining area. Food is great Italian cooking, house wine is okay and the wait staff is attentive but may not be able to speak English.

Favorite Dish: Mussel - fresh, tender and just about rightly seasoned !

Kitchen and cooks visible from the indoor dining area with tables covered with red and white checkered linen giving it somewhat a homey feel. Veranda dining is also available giving diners a great veiw of the park during the day and large screen TV projector football action. Waiters are attentive and some speak Engish. Food is traditional italian pasta and pizza and okay.

King House's great advantage is how easy it makes life for foreign business travelers. The waiters provide excellent service and are fluent in English and Italian, the food is very good, substantial and reasonably priced. Most helpful, it was the only restaurant in the area that I found which provided the above AND free reliable wireless internet. As a result, King House became my virtual office in Tirana.

Favorite Dish: The salads are excellent and fresh. I particularly enjoyed the mixed salad, which is a hearty meal by itself

With Tirana's lack of road signs and Lonely Planet's awful map, this place was a nightmare to find. It must have taken two hours. But it was well worth it. A cosy little wood panelled restaurant, with amazing home cooked food, and great service, it is one of the best restaurants I've been too anywhere in the world. They even have an English menu, and the place seems popular with expats in the capital.

One word of warning, however, despite the LP guide saying it has "vegetarian specialities", this restaurant is meat, meat, meat. Piglet in a pot, baked kid, lamb entrails, and live wolf in jar of egg white (ok I made that one up). All things Korcan, basically. However, with the help of the waiter, I managed to order something vegetarian, and it was fantastic. Albanian vegetables are wonderful anyway, being all organic, but here they made them sing.

Directions: From the National History Museum, walk out towards the square. Cross the first road, and then turn right at the second. Just after a pastel villa hidden in the trees, there's a right turn. Take it. You will pass Hotel California, and then Serenata is just a little further.

Owner Antonella came to Tirana from Cesena, Italy, in the early 1990s and claims that she introduced pasta fresca to Albania. Regardless of whether that is true, a grateful foreign community has been booking tables at this stylish restaurant ever since.

This slightly up-market Italian restaurant also has a "branch" in Pristina, Kosovo, which is also just as popular. All pasta is home-made and the waiters are well informed. Ask for the special of the day and enjoy a fabulous evening in this great restaurant. Sure to be an experience that you will not forget!

Open 12:00 -16:00, 19:00–23:00. Closed Sun

Favorite Dish: Just about anything on the menu