Albania : What to eat ? culinary specialties and gastronomy

Albania : Enjoying yourself

Timetable Albania

While some "chic" restaurants offer two services (between midday and 3pm and from 7pm), it has to be said that most restaurants serve practically non-stop, and it's generally possible to eat at any time of the day. What's more, every town and village abounds in stalls where you can eat kebab sandwiches, pizzas or bureks on the go at ridiculously low prices. Many cafés also offer an à la carte menu, or even a "formula" that usually includes soup and a grilled dish accompanied by French fries or vegetables.

Budget & Tips Albania

Here again, restaurant bills are particularly light for the pockets of French tourists. A dish, salad and drink often cost around €5. In the most expensive restaurants, the bill rarely exceeds €15. Tipping is not compulsory, but always welcome. Count on 10% of the total bill. As for the burek, a kind of national hamburger, it will cost you around 40 lek, or €0.25.

What costs extra Albania

If the water in carafe is free and of source, we recommend to take a bottle of mineral water (which will sometimes be served to you of service). The water is drinkable, but old pipes can sometimes pollute it. This is not a big expense, but it is better to know this before disputing the bill, which is never very expensive! Finally, when paying, it is a good idea to leave a tip.

The local way Albania

At the risk of surprising some Western tourists, local establishments sometimes don't display the menu at the entrance, but don't worry. Close to its Greek cousin, Albanian cuisine is a blend of Western and Eastern flavors. There's as much Turkish influence (grilled meats, bureks, baklava) as that of southern Italy and its summer vegetable-based sauces. More country than refined, it uses fresh, high-quality produce typical of Mediterranean countries (tomatoes, eggplants, olive oil, peppers). In restaurants, soups and grilled meats are the mainstay of meals: here, we eat a lot of kebabs(shishqebap), meatballs(qofte) and meat pies(romstek). In towns close to rivers, fish is also very popular.

Albanians rarely end their meals with a dessert. They do, however, include sheqerpare (small balls of dough cooked in butter), tullumba (cylindrical pieces of dough fried and bathed in syrup), baklava (nut and oil puff pastries), hoshaf(a fig-based specialty from Gjirokastra) and ballakume (large cookies). Sytlijash is vanilla rice pudding to which a beaten and sweetened egg yolk is added.

To be avoided Albania

Don't carry too many - or at least not too many - large-denomination notes. Although euros are often accepted for "big" expenses, you'll be paying in lek, Albania's national currency, on the spot. Knowing that a snack will generally cost you between 30 and 500 lek, it's important to keep coins and small denominations for everyday payments. In a poor country, taking out a 1,000 or 5,000 lek bill is not necessarily welcome.

Card payments should be avoided for several reasons. Firstly, bill amounts are often modest, and outside the euro zone, you'll undoubtedly pay a tax sometimes similar to the price of the meal. What's more, as our readers often confirm, it's not uncommon for cards to be refused (altogether) or not to work in certain establishments..

Kids Albania

As with their Greek neighbours, children are kings, or at least perfectly tolerated in Albania. The advantage is that they are welcome everywhere and well received. Here, there is no separation of generations, no attempt to silence noisy children or to force them to remain seated.

Smokers Albania

Theoretically, since 2007, smoking in enclosed spaces has been banned in Albania. The law even provides for fines of up to 50,000 lek (€400). In practice, we have noted that the legislation is being followed rather well. Even though almost a third of Albanians smoke, they avoid doing so in bars and restaurants.

Tourist traps Albania

This is not strictly speaking a "tourist trap", as it can be a real misunderstanding. In some seaside restaurants, as in Greece, fish is sold by the kilo. So be sure to have the fish weighed before you cook it. You'll never end up with an astronomical bill, but it can be surprisingly high. The price is often justified (for lobster, for example), but it's better to know!

Albania : Take a break

Timetable Albania

Coffee is drunk all day long, from 8am in the morning. But the terraces can be busy for a long time. In Tirana, the summer months offer urban scenes that are a pleasure to observe. Keeping up with the locals, strolling the avenues, parks and café terraces from 7pm when the heat dies down, you'll share in the Mediterranean activity of strolling and chatting in the evening. Younger people call these convivial evenings Xhiro.

Budget & Tips Albania

An espresso, often very good thanks to the Italian influence, will cost you between 70 and 90 lek, or less than €1. A pint of local Birra Tirana fluctuates between €2 and €3, and a bottle of local wine remains in the same price range.

Another tip we often repeat: there are coins in denominations of 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 and bills in denominations of 100, 200, 500, 1,000 and 5,000 lek, but it's important to keep small denominations for everyday payments. You need to keep a few "large" bills for paying at restaurants or hotels, and don't forget that many establishments don't (or don't prefer to) take credit cards.

Age restrictions Albania

Alcohol, as elsewhere, is still prohibited for those under 18, although in practice it is a little more flexible.

What's very local Albania

As in neighboring Balkan countries, you may be invited to drink raki, either in establishments or in local homes. Distilled from grapes, plums and even blackberries, commercial raki contains around 40% alcohol... although you may find stronger, homemade versions. Much lower in alcohol content, beer(birra) production in Albania is dominated by the two national brands Birra Tirana and Birra Korça, brown or amber lagers that are not bad without being exceptional.

Watch your consumption, however. This is another local custom that's not to be trifled with. While alcohol consumption is not a problem in this Muslim-majority country, alcoholism is frowned upon and little tolerated. In fact, it's rare to see Albanians inebriated on the streets. Self-control is the rule everywhere.

Kids Albania

Children are accepted and tolerated in cafes and some bars in Tirana and throughout the country.