Era Vila — Restaurant in Tirana Municipality

My wife and I are currently staying at the Rogner Hotel, in Tirana, as part of our tour with Gate 1 Travel. I looked online for somewhere close by the hotel to have dinner.

We just got back from a restaurant, Era Vila, just a few minutes walk from here. I had read a number of reviews - mostly good - so we decided to check it out. We are so glad we did. The restaurant is centrally located and easy to find. The decor is understated and the ambience good.

We arrived about 430pm, so while busy they were not rushed and we had to wait only a few minutes to be seated. Our server, Klajdi, and the manager, Thimaq were friendly and attentive. Both of them are a credit to the restaurant .

We ordered just two dishes, the focaccia with Kosovo sausage and the linguine con gamberi, zucchine e pomodorini. They were both outstanding. The pasta was cooked to perfection, and the pomodorini sauce was infused with just the right hint of the flavor of the large shrimp. Until now we had considered the spaghetti a la vongole we had in Rome, many years ago, to be the best pasta dish we had ever had but this ranked right up there with it.

We were not sure what to expect from the focaccia with Kosovo sausage - maybe something akin to a flatbread with sausage on the side. It was more than anything we expected. Folded into a pita like pocket it was stuffed with feta cheese, olives and the sausage. The sausage tasted like lamb and blended in perfect harmony with the flavors of the cheese and olives. Both dishes were nicely complimented with a half liter carafe of Albanian Riesling. The focaccia was grilled with a slight char that added the right degree of smokiness and crunch

Although pretty much full we rounded out the meal with an order each of homemade ice cream and baklava. I chose the vanilla and my wife the hazelnut. The baklava was dense but not heavy, and sweet, but not cloyingly so. The vanilla was subtle but the hazelnut was the piece de resistance. Pure hazelnut and superior to any artificially flavored, mass produced product.

We cannot recommend Era Vila highly enough. It is a place not to miss if you are ever in Tirana. If we could rate it 11 out of 10 we would. You will not be disappointed. I can honestly say it was one of the best meals...

The food was honestly incredible and so was the seating. We had a few things to share including the COLD APPETIZER WITH SEASONED ROASTED VEGETABLES, the Ashkla and the BACARRE FROM PËRMETI as appetizers. All three were honestly really good with the Bacarre being something new, traditional and really tasty! For mains, we shared the Tave Kosi (my personal favourite) as well as the MEATBALLS WITH PISTACHIO AND YOGHURT. The food was honestly really good, some of the best I've had over the last week in Albania, and quite affordable. The menu is pretty extensive with options for vegetarians and vegans from what I've seen as well!

The service was okay, most of the staff was friendly and welcoming, however, the waiter that took our order didn't seem like he was ok the mood to be working... We had an idea of what we wanted but we're excited to see what a local would recommend, so we asked him for his idea of a good meal. The first response was "everything is good", after trying to probe a bit more, he told us to just tell him what we want, and when a friend jokingly asked "what would you recommend your mother have if you brought her here for a nice meal", his final response was "my mother would know what to order". It was a hot day and everyone has off days, but we're tourists trying something new in a foreign country, it would have been nice for him to share a few recommendations of his own. Otherwise, the rest of the staff, as mentioned earlier, was welcoming, friendly and efficient. The restaurant itself has a beautiful seating area both indoors and outdoor.

Definitely...

Strange experience. Had I not been so hungry & had more time, I'd have sent my food back because it was stone cold. It was served on a skillet, which usually means 'sizzling' but this had definitely been sat on the pass for quite some time. I thought this may have been due to waiting for my partner's food to be cooked, but his was only luke warm.

I had lamb sausage which would have been lovely hot.... or even warm. Accompanying were 'crispy potatoes' which comprised of 3 small, sorry looking, soggy, slices of potato which were.... yes, you guessed it, cold. The vegetable crush had way too much garlic which completely overpowered the lamb, and it was chilled. Was it meant to be chilled? Surely not? The bread rolls were amazing & the only warm thing I had, just a pity they didn't appear until I'd almost finished my meal.

We ended with a bit of a fiasco over the bill. We were very weary & wanted to get back to our hotel due to an early morning flight, so we requested the bill as soon as we'd finished eating. 15 minutes later, still no bill & staff didn't appear to be run off their feet. The bill finally arrived after asking again.

I honestly don't know if I'd go back again. Perhaps we just caught them on a bad night. If I do return, I'll make sure I've got plenty of time so I can keep returning things to the kitchen until they're up to standard.

I loathe giving bad reviews but I've honestly been served far more enjoyable food by level 2 students in...