I booked a table for me and my husband to celebrate his birthday in Tirana. We love good food. I work in the coffee industry in a cafe that is also a part of a fine dining fish restaurant and natural wine bar. We enjoy good food and not afraid to try things that are unusual. So we were looking forward to this place.

Upon arrival, it was very hectic. We were seated and given the tasting menu. Before we arrived, I sent them two emails asking if I could have a vegetarian/pescatarian menu. They never responded. So I thought I could just order from their A La Carte menu that is advertised.

My husband ordered the tasting menu, and we asked to see the a la carte menu. The waiter seemed a little annoyed and gave me the menu reluctantly.

I felt super uncomfortable and un-welcomed right away. My husband assured me that it would get better.

The waiter came back after 2 minutes and said I needed to order my food straight away and that he didn't have time to wait. I panicked ordered three food items. A salad, roasted veg, and trout.

My husband received his first course. He was given a salad but the waiter didn't say anything about the food. He just dropped it off and said enjoy. He then panic ran to the other side of the dining room to help more customers.

The salad flavors seemed odd and quite sour, but we shrugged it off knowing that we were here to try different kind of food which can sometimes be a risk... He enjoyed the soup with veal, and the 3rd course. Nothing mind blowing but it was ok.

Then he received the beef cheeks. They unfortunately had a rancid odor. It did not smell right. I work with natural coffee beans and natural wine and those drinks can produce a fermented farmy like smell. But this... this was different.

He had maybe a few bites before having to stop. They paired it with a fli pastry which was sweet with honey, yet the richness from the meat and smell just put us off.

He then received the fermented grain dish. This was veggie so we were going to share this... We cannot really explain it, but the food was so strong and everything tasted unbalanced. It was unpleasant to eat.

The 6th course cracked us up at this point. The menu said quail with polenta in a plum sauce. However, the waiter informed us that they ran out of quail so now my husband was going to be served baby goat. Not our first choice but ok.

I received my trout dish. It was cut up trout placed in a bowl with some broth. It looked as if it had been taken from the freezer, boiled, and slapped in a bowl. It was not pleasant at all. I had a few bites before leaving it to the side. I wasn’t going to take a chance eating bad fish. The smell was not great.

My husband was told once again by the waiter that now, they've ran out of goat. So now he was getting a “surprise” Just what we wanted at this point.

He was given veal next to polenta. The veal was cooked well and he really enjoyed that. However, the polenta was bland and there was nothing that made the dish pop. There was just veal and plain polenta. No sauce and we could not taste the plum. Seemed like a rushed option as they had run out of everything else.

The only thing that could save us at this point was the dessert.

Finally, the waiter brought us a small milk cake with honey and ice cream. It was tiny but we both enjoyed it very much.

We quickly paid and left soon after. We weren’t sure if we should laugh or cry at the experience. The service was bad. The trout was unpleasant. And my husband truly only enjoyed about 3 out of 7 dishes. And even then, the few he did like were not mind blowing.

This place lacks passion and care. As a foodie and hospitality worker, please do better Mullixhiu.