Odas Garden — Restaurant in Tirana Municipality

Where do I even start... First off, after two dining experiences at this place, I’m seriously questioning the countless positive reviews here. I first came because of the high ratings on Google. I liked the look of the garden- it was pretty, and it happened to be the first restaurant I stepped into in Albania. Because of its authentic charm, I brought friends over a week later, but this time, things went south very quickly.

Our food was terrible. Both the red and white meat were dry and pitiful. But beyond the disappointing food, what happened next made me decide never to recommend this place to anyone.

While we were eating, a little Roma girl and her brother were going from table to table asking for money. She approached ours and we declined politely, but she kept coming back repeatedly, begging. Then, in a flash, she grabbed my vape from the table and started using it. One of us quickly snatched it back, and I shouted at her- she looked about 11 years old. Moments later, her slightly older brother came towards us, begging for the vape! It became quite a commotion, and we instinctively grabbed our bags and phones. Other nearby diners- mostly tourists- did the same.

Here’s the shocking part: there were so many staff at the restaurant, yet not a single one appeared. Were they all hiding inside? Impossible, right?

I asked one staff member for the manager, who just kept repeating that he didn’t know where he was. One of us then went to two servers to inform them of what had happened. It’s hard to believe none of them saw or heard the commotion. To us, it felt more like they didn’t want to get involved. One server did apologise, but that was the extent of their response.

When we finished eating, I asked another staff member again for the manager. I felt this incident needed to be personally conveyed so they could take steps to ensure the safety of their customers.

Again, I was told the manager wasn’t around. So, I asked for the assistant manager. Suddenly, the same staff member we had spoken to earlier reappeared. When we brought up the incident again, he seemed frustrated and annoyed. His exact words were: “What can we do??”

Fantastic attitude, right? I told him off for his blasé and unprofessional response, and said he should be thinking of ways to prevent this from happening to other guests. I also suggested that staff should be stationed in the garden area at all times- it’s hard to believe no one noticed anything. Instead of acting like a professional, he behaved like a sulky child who had never been taught manners.

If a restaurant is this indifferent to the safety and well-being of its customers, you’re better off eating anywhere else. Tirana is filled with amazing restaurants offering quality food and warm, genuine service. No reason to waste your time or money on a place that doesn’t...

It was among the worst restaurant experiences of my life. If you don't want to eat food heated in the microwave and be subjected to rude behavior, this is a restaurant you should definitely not go to.

We went for lunch based on the comments. There weren't many tables and people were sitting comfortably at large tables. The waiter who greeted us was rude. Even though we asked politely, he rudely showed us that we could only sit at the small and cramped tables.

We chose a table and sat down. He rudely left the menus. We waited a long time to order and at one point I thought the waiter would never come to take the order. We considered staying and wished we had.

We placed our orders. Even the salad arrived late, if you look at the photo you will see that it is not salad but only vegetable pieces. It is shameful to call it a salad in Balkan countries.

After a long time our food arrived. The lamb dish my wife ordered looked like microwaved frozen food. The piece of aluminum foil inside was proof of how right we were! The Albanian liver I ordered looked more like Albanian cheese. I was taking a piece from the corner with my fork to taste it, when the oil in the casserole suddenly exploded. My fork fell out of my hand. Hot oil was on my hands and face and I was burning. Everyone around suddenly turned towards us, except the waiters of course!

I went to the sink to run some cold water and calmed down. The burn on my hand was painful. When I returned, I called a waiter and asked for a fork. Despite the oil and food marks on the table and the redness on my face, he didn't even ask what happened. Our food was very tasteless, so we decided to leave without finishing it.

We politely asked for the bill. Since they did not ask why we did not finish our meals, we understood that this was a normal thing for them. Since it took a long time for them to bring the bill, we did not want to wait any longer. I went out because I was very disturbed by his indifferent and rude behavior. My wife went to the cash register to pay the bill. When she arrived she said they expected a tip and were clearly rude for not giving it due to what we had experienced.

In addition, the photos of the restaurant on the internet were carefully selected and do not reflect the normal state of the place at all. Don't be fooled by...

I have been here twice now…the first time by myself and felt very awkward as a solo diner. They sat me in a back corner in a makeshift table where plant water was dripping on me and most of the dishes are for 2 people. The waiter was wonderful and helped me pick out the yogurt and lamb dish, which he said would be great for one person and he was right! The food was great (this time) and the service was wonderful. I went before the horrible live music started. I enjoyed it enough to bring a friend about a week later and that was a HUGE mistake! I made a reservation the day before, we showed up 5 min early. The horrible host ignored us for the first ten minutes, then when she asked what we wanted, I said I made a reservation for 8pm (in a kind way) and she, no joke, mocked what I said in my American accent. I was shocked! She told me it didn’t matter and that they were full. I insisted we made a reservation the day before and she refused to check. She ended up trying to seat us (30 min later) in a tiny table by the bar where we couldn’t see the live music and right next to a speaker. I told her I made this reservation to be special and I was hoping we could move to the open table in the middle. She was so utterly rude and tried to sell me on how this table was better to get drunk at as it was close to the bar and that if we wanted to wait we would have to wait for everyone else in the queue to go first. We decided to wait. About ten minutes go by and we get seated, we wait forever to even get a menu after asking for one multiple times. Finally we ordered and waited ages for the food to come (dry dry meatballs with yogurt and the liver cheese dip, which was fine, and the dry stuffed peppers that I could make much better at home). The saving grace of the meal was the free bread BECAUSE the music was so annoyingly loud to the point where my ears actually hurt (we were at the very back too) and we could not have any sort of conversation. Then on the bill (waited ten years for it to come) we were CHARGED €2.50 each for the music that we couldn’t stand! It was such a bad place, we went to Era the next day and had the most amazing experience. Save your money, time, ears, sanity, and stomach and go to...