The best restaurants Albania

This restaurant, very popular with locals, is worth a visit for its atmosphere on summer evenings. Situated on a noisy street close to Boulevard Zhan d'Ark, just off the Tanneurs Bridge, it boasts a large, shady terrace where families flock at all hours of the day for a drink or a bite to eat. On certain evenings, a singer covering international classics adds to the popular atmosphere. When it comes to cuisine, there's a wide choice of pasta, pizza, Turkish and Greek dishes.

Located in the Old Korça district, this restaurant opened in 2023 and is run by Parisian chef Jean-Pierre Chavanon, who came through the Ardennes and has been based here since 2015. The menu mixes Albanian and French recipes: trout from Lake Ohrid with almonds, tave koci, boeuf bourguignon, vegetarian dishes... Seasonal menu, tidy and copious plates accompanied by local wines such as Mavrud and French wines. We also love the little terraces where you can enjoy breakfast with authentic croissants and pains au chocolat.

Situated between the villages of Melgush and Velaj, this farmhouse inn serves up delicious local specialties. On the menu: stuffed vegetables, salads, all kinds of mezzés, flia (a kind of salted "pancake cake"), fresh cheeses, well-cooked meats and wines. All products come from the family estate. Vegetarian options are plentiful, as are seasonal mushrooms. A warm welcome awaits you, and you can eat either on the terrace in the garden, or in the large dining room with its wooden ceiling and fireplace.

The "grenouilles crapauds" restaurant offers an extensive menu featuring salads, pizzas, grilled meats, sausages and qofte, pastas, risottos, seafood, cheeses and, as the name suggests, frogs, a specialty of southern Albania and northern Greece. Frog legs(kembe zhabe) are served fried here. You'll also find snails(kemill) sautéed in butter, garlic and white wine, or in a tomato and bell pepper sauce. Meticulously presented, with a modern, wood-panelled dining room and friendly, efficient staff.

Since 2018, this gourmet restaurant has been housed in a 1940s Italian villa. Chef Dritan Piti worked for many years in Greece and Switzerland. He prepares his own foie gras, which he serves as a starter with polenta or fish, or with a superb rack of lamb. Italian and French-inspired, his cuisine is refined, with an emphasis on seafood: smoked shrimp with pancetta, octopus with brie and peppers, sea bass with lemongrass and olives. Excellent wine list.

Piazza is a charming restaurant, best appreciated for its terrace overlooking Spile beach. The à la carte menu features Greek specialties such as saganki: shrimp or seafood cooked in an earthenware dish with cheese and vegetables. The fresh fish, which you choose yourself from the sparkling kitchen, is perfectly grilled. Professional service. The owner also offers three cosy rooms in a beautiful neighboring house with a sea view, the Guesthouse 1932, which is the oldest hotel in town.

With its garden shaded by tall trees, this elegant house with red walls is a salutary shelter when the sun hits. It is the former home of Themistokli Gërmënji, the man who in 1916 established the Republic of Korça with the French... before the French shot him. Traditional cuisine, concerts in the evenings, pleasant terrace for coffee during the day (excellent cappuccino). We only regret that the restaurant room is confined to the mezzanine. Accommodation comes with a very good breakfast.

This small restaurant does not pay any mine with its room in basement and its mini-terrace installed in front of the carpark of the main square. Athina and her husband, however, offer very good family cuisine, i.e. gourmet, cheap and authentic. Some Greek-Turkish recipes (stuffed vegetables, Greek salad, etc.), but also Gjirokastra specialities such as qahi (sweet cheese tart) and qifqi (rice balls with eggs and mint) or vegetable soups, grilled vegetables, accompanied by the owners' merlot

A big advantage of Shëgjin is that good, very fresh fish is eaten here, directly from the fishing port. Well, okay, there is nothing romantic about the environment, since this establishment is stuck between the Rozafa cooperative/creek (which supplies the whole country with fish) and the fishing port (about twenty trawlers). But we love the quality of the seafood and the low prices. Mostly frequented by the locals and the Kosovar clientele of the seaside resort, this establishment is also a hotel (large apartments with kitchen for 3-4 people).

This is the restaurant at Hotel Jaroal. It offers mainly Albanian cuisine. Our Italian friends do not recommend pizzas, but fresh fish are unanimous. The service is slow but cordial.

This restaurant housed in an attractive restaurant located just behind the cathedral, is a good place to discover the Albanian specialties and suitable for the region of Korça. The salads are copious and the qofte and grilled meat is excellent.

There are four restaurants in the heart of the fortress, three of which were opened when we went. The largest and most frequented is this, the Bradhi. Like others, it has a terrace overlooking the impressive Massif massif. But his cuisine has better reputation than his competitors. Prices are reasonable and the menu varied, with both salads (200-300 lek), pasta and rizottos (200-600 lek), pizzas (250-800 lek) and meat dishes (500-2 000 lek). Very friendly with the groups.

Under a porch in front of the Edith Durham School, this popular restaurant has a pleasant, quiet room. It serves modern cuisine (quinoa with truffles, vegan dishes, steamed food, etc.) as well as slightly revisited traditional specialities. Good local products and magnificent extra-virgin olive oil. You will find a professional service and a neat decor. For your information (or to go further), the management has also opened a second restaurant called À la Santé Zoo in the zoo area, opposite the lake

5 km east of downtown, you will find it in the Drilon Park, on the right bank after the footbridge. In our opinion, it is probably one of the most pleasant restaurants in the city, located under the trees by the springs of the Drilon. Local specialties such as koran, a typical fish from Lake Ohrid, which is either fried or baked in a tavë (a terracotta dish) with a spicy sauce, are served here. The wine list gives pride of place to wines from Northern Macedonia (generally better than those from Albania).

In the traditional street of fish restaurants, this is now the most prominent. You can choose from a selection of 30 different fish from the Adriatic, Aegean and Atlantic. Small sardines and squid are deep-fried, while sea bass is cooked in a salt crust. There are also shrimps and mussel soup, as well as, in the more expensive categories, langoustines and the slightly more expensive wild toothfish. And also: some meats, desserts, Albanian, Italian and French wines.

The restaurant, which looks like a tourist attraction, serves authentic local cuisine based on grilled meat and fish, with the main dishes being spit-roasted mutton/lamb and a very good kokorec (pronounced "kokorets", mutton/lamb offal also cooked on the spit). Good signs: the place is open all year round, even in winter, and is very popular with the local clientele. Pleasant shaded terrace along the road but facing the beach. Sanitary facilities summary but clean. Possibility of accommodation. Staff speaking some English and Italian.

This restaurant-pizzeria is a landmark in the country's history, since it was in this beautiful stone-vaulted house that the "Gjirokastra Assembly" was held on July 23, 1880, which saw Albania's nationalists lend their support to the insurgents of the Prizren League in Kosovo. On the plate, you'll find homemade pizzas from the wood-fired oven. The owners are warm and welcoming, the service attentive and the location pleasant, at the entrance to the old bazaar. Recommended, even just for a coffee.