Tucked out of sight, just a few steps down an alleyway, awaits a cozy restaurant serving traditional Albanian dishes.

We started the meal with Pasha soup with Meatballs - this soup is rich and creamy, essentially a bechemel broth with a touch of lemon. Absolutely fantastic and something we want learn to cook. We also enjoyed a large appetizer of “stuffed grape leaves”; these rice filled treats were possibly the best we’ve ever had!

Next was the “Lamb cooked in woodenstove”, three different cuts of lamb, we think parts of shank, shoulder and rib. The shank was a little on the dry side but flavourful. The other two cuts were more joint and tasty. It’s a very, very simple meat dish with minimal spices, served with a basic yellow boiled potato - naturally sweet and creamy but naked as is often the tradition in this part of the world. While this dish was enjoyed, we probably wouldn’t repeat it.

Last, we had the Head of Lamb - 100% an “I dare you” order. It is, in fact, the skull of a lamb split in half, with the accompanying meats, tongue, brain and eyeballs. This is a dish for people who like the taste of offal (liver, kidney, etc). The brain imparts a bit of flavour on the whole thing. There isn’t a lot of meat and it’s a good bit of work to scrape it off the various parts of the skull, the interesting part being how different the meat is in flavour and texture - for example the jaw versus the cheek. We’ve always wanted to try it, because we have a firm rule of trying everything once. And once was probably all it needed!

We are eager to return and try other dishes. The vegetable dishes are particularly popular here and look very rich tasting, filling and interesting. It was a wonderful night of being food voyeurs!

There’s a large back patio with a stone floor and lots of trees growing out of the ground, providing a nice cooling shade, and a good amount of spacing between tables. There are also charming crochet umbrellas and lights hung among the trees creating a festive and attractive atmosphere. On our particular visit, there was live music - a band of talented singers and musicians filled the space with lively folksy tunes. Every now and then a couple could no longer fight the urge to dance and let themselves have a little fun!

If you don’t have a reservation a table will be hard to find at peak hours. We got lucky, because the two of us agrees to share a table for 4 with two other strangers if another pair walked in without a reservation. We were seated with a couple of very nice Italian ladies and the table was large enough we each had our private conversations and evening.