Lisa's Restaurant — Restaurant in Pristina

I arrived at an almost empty but cosy restaurant. One other couple was more or less finished as I sat down.

Let’s start with the Risotto Milanese – a dish I last had at the excellent Trattoria Madonnina in Milan.

It shouldn’t be basmati rice. It should be Arborio rice, cooked in stock and white wine, and it should include saffron and parmesan. What I got was an oily mess of yellow turmeric rice with dry chicken. If cost is an issue, serve a portion a third of the size – and skip the chicken altogether.

Next up was the Mixed Beef, which I ordered medium (the waiter actually asked). What arrived was one piece of chicken (?), a burger patty or something similar, and a well done (grey), incredibly dry piece of beef.

When I complained, the waiter said the chicken is meant to be well-done. I replied that I certainly hope so – unless they’re trying to kill someone. He agreed that the beef was way overcooked and took the plate back.

I then waited 30 minutes for a new one. What I got was a medium-well piece of very tough meat. In addition the same well done slab of beef, which he now tells me is cooked. This time - no chicken.

I was offered a beer on the house, but it didn’t make up for it. We came to an agreement, and I left – still hungry, and now trusting Google Maps a little less. This was...

What a gem! The food was delicious- I can recommend the brushchetta (we got the mixed sampler) and the fried mushrooms for starters, and I had the Orado fish - it was darn near perfect, light flaky, moist, crusty in the right places, seasoned perfectly. We had two bottles of cabernet, a nice wine sampling. For dessert, we shared a panna cotta (perfect) and a chocolate souffle. It was all so delicious, and the service was great. On a side note, the bathroom was clean! I will definitely be back on my next trip...

1. friendly staff
2. limited menu choices
3. not all menu items are available; i.e. they didn’t have T-bone steak.
4. I ordered from their specialty dishes: a) the Lisa Salad was good but overrated to be special in any sense. b) the burger was horrible; the meat was dry, the bun was glazed and broke into bits and pieces and the fries tasted as bad as it looked.

I wouldn’t...