Oda e Babës - Authentic Traditional Restaurant Saranda — Restaurant in Bashkia Sarandë

Absolute SCAM, tourist trap. AVOID THIS PLACE! Its compulsory to take the tasting plate of "starters" for 1400LEK, its basically just tiny portions of raw ingredients that the chef is too lazy to make into an actual meal. If I wanted a bunch of cold vegetables I could go to the store and chop them myself.

The menu is misleading, it just has the starters listed at 100LEK which is confusing, turn out that's each so you need to calculate x14, they also bring out 2 more small plates of cheese and put it on the table without asking, which you assume is part of the starters because you didn't actually order it but its not included, so you are forceably charged an extra 500LEK.

You are not allowed to order what you want, too bad if you have any dietary requirements, you will pay for food you don't eat. Even if you do want to order anything afterwards, the menu is very basic and vague, I think on purpose, it just has "main meal" listed for 600LEK, what does that even mean? We got the heck out of there after the forced starters and scam extras. The bread is also cheap and stale.

The menu says "stay positive". They obviously need to say this because this restaurant and the scammers that run it put you in a very bad mood.

There are other reviews saying the same thing, unfortunately we didn't read them until afterwards.

Putting on costumes doesn't make you authentic, it makes you a clown. There is nothing authentic about this place, they play zorba the Greek on repeat and everyone in there is a tourist, if it was authentic, locals would go there but they don't and for good...

I see many good reviews and totally understand why people like it. But there are different people and different views. Personally, I disliked this approach where you are forced to pay 14 euros for tiny appetizers and you don't have any other choice. There is even no menu! There are rules at the entrance but they are very invisible and very unclear. I read them 10 times and I didn't get it. Use printed writing (not handwriting) and write short but specific rules! For example, we serve only 14 traditional appetizers for 14 euros. Simple and clear, no confusion, no waste of time and no unpleasant emotions.

P.S. I don't get why the onwer gets so defensive and offended, takes it personally and totally denies the experience people had (and I am not the only one with this experience). Instead of justifying yourself and denying people's experiences work on the customer-oriented service, listen to recommendations and improve. Those reviews are written not to destroy your business or reputation, but to make your business more customer-oriented. Otherwise other people will get into this trap of negative experience, and you just will not care because you will not have public criticism. BTW, the wife/girlfriend of the owner wrote to me personally and asked me to remove my review or edit it justifying it with the fact that she is also Ukranian and "let's support...

The ambience and music were truly outstanding. The atmosphere was warm, elegant, and gave a great first impression. My friend and I decided to eat here because it seemed like an authentic way to experience Albanian culture, and the waiter was such a convincing salesman that we decided to give it a try.

However, the overall experience didn’t quite live up to the first impression. Making the starter mandatory as a way to enlarge the basket is an interesting business idea, and I wouldn’t have minded if the dish itself had been worth it. Unfortunately, it tasted rather bland and uninspired, and for 1400 Lek it felt quite overpriced compared to what you usually get in Sarande.

To be completely transparent, I can’t say anything about the main courses as we didn’t try them. We decided to leave after the starter, especially since the waiter reacted quite disrespectfully and visibly annoyed when my friend politely asked if it was possible to pay by card.

It’s really a pity that our experience turned out this way, because the place itself has so much potential. I still wish the restaurant all the best and hope others have a better experience. I just wanted to share my honest impression for anyone considering eating here, kowing that taste is always subjective and my feedback reflects only my...