Çka Ka Qëllue — Restaurant in New York

So I typically don’t like to leave less than stellar reviews for an establishment, however, I felt this one was worthy of mention, & may provide management with some insight that can be applied in the future. I recently visited the 31st st. location on my birthday. Seeing as though we aren’t particularly familiar with Albanian dishes, I had anticipated that we might have some difficulty understanding what we were ordering by simply reading thru a menu without photos, so to simplify matters, I had downloaded their menu from Seamless (or a similar ordering site) because photos were included next to the name so we had a better idea of how the dish was presented. This was just to make things easier while deciding. When it came time to order, I presented the server with a photo of an oval shaped bowl with veal sausage on top of something. The name next to the photo said “Suxhuk” (traditional veal sausage). When the dish arrived however, it was simply a plate with a big hunk of meat on it- nothing like the photo. So as it turns out, while they were both traditional veal sausage, the name & the photo were different versions. I was a little confused when we received the order but simply expressed to the server that I believe we were given the wrong order. Upon reviewing the photo again, he told us that the dish in front of us was indeed called “Suxhuk” & that the photo was another dish with veal sausage, so essentially there was some discrepancy between the name & the photo. Not a big deal, but I said “I’m sorry but I think we’re going to need the dish that the order was intended to be” (the photo). Here’s where things went south. He took the dish back only to return a few minutes later with the same dish. We were told that because we had showed him the name “Suxhuk”, that it’s what we ordered & well, there’s nothing they can do. I was absolutely flabbergasted to be honest. Granted, there may have been some confusion on our part, but granted we had also shown the photo, so I don’t blame the server- it was simply a misunderstanding. But I could absolutely not believe that the route an establishment would choose would be to essentially tell the customer- “too bad, deal with it”. There is a concept called “opportunity loss”, & by choosing to respond in this manner, now they’ve lost a customer, receive a lukewarm review, staff received no tip & I’m sure I’ll tell the story, so possibly the loss of potential customers- all to avoid changing a measly piece of meat. Doesn’t sound like a great trade off. Now to be fair, the food was very good, & we did eat some of the Suxhuk which was also tasty, but the whole experience really put a damper on the evening, put everyone in a bad mood & just made things uncomfortable. Not how I planned on...

Before the temperature gets really heated, I decided to try some Albanian cuisine. My friend said he mistakenly thought it was Turkish (fair, since they got lots of influences from there). Exotic, and quite heartfelt food offered.

Apps: Hot pita (complimentary) Steaming hot, out of the oven. Thin but very marshmallow pillowy interior. It got that nice bread gumminess and gluten-stretch to it .

Ajvar Roasted pepper + eggplant dip. If you ever had the Trader Joe version of the pepper/eggplant dip, you kinda have the idea of the taste profile. Not spicy, sweet and smoky and roasty and topped with some feta cheese with some creaminess. Paired super well with pita.

Main: Tava Kosi Lamb 🐑 + rice 🍚 in a clay pot baked with yogurt, egg + roux (essentially a egg+rice custard mixture, slightly separated). The custard itself is tangy, not very eggy. The lambness was kinda soaked in so the custard also tasted meaty. Quite addictive if you keep eating, feels like a savory Greek yogurt cheesecake. The lamb is fall off the bone tender. You taste the flavor of the meat itself as I don’t taste much seasoning in it. The custard is the star of the show.

Tradita grilled platter Qebaqa, Qofte, sausage (Suxhuk), chicken, and liver with squash, potatoes, and cabbage salad.

Kudos to the cabbage salad on there. It is refreshing, very peppery, and has a veg sweetness to it. Not your typical pickled sour sour cabbage styled. It got some crunchy texture and very flavorful. On the same level are the grilled summer squashes. Not mushy and seasoned right with that added smokiness. Potatoes are also good. Loved that slightly mushy-mochi texture. Warning to the grilled green pepper. Don’t take it unless you can handle taste-bud killer spicy.

With regards to meat department, sausages (Suxhuk) are the best because they retained the fat inside. The other meats Qebaqa and Qofte are salted slightly over and are kinda dried after being grilled. My second favorites would be the liver and the chicken, for different reasons. The liver got good char and seasoning just enough to supplement the original organ flavor yet had quite a bouncy texture, not like a mashed/pate/choking texture. I liked it. Chicken is stringy as it is pounded so thin, but it got enough flavor to save it. Also it is not overly salty.

Their decor and hospitality are also bonus. I wished I had brought more friends to try more dips, savory baked item, and more tava dishes. These are homey dishes, so don’t expected Michelin star finesses. They are just comfortable. And the amount of the food that you are presented with what you pay is amazing (by NYC...

90% of my decision to come here was because this is Dua Lipa’s favorite restaurant in NYC, the other 10% because it’s one of the only Albanian restaurants here and Ive never had Albanian food so I was very excited to try. I’m happy to say it was DEEEELISH!!!

Starting off with the vibe, very very cozy and rustic. Had such old medieval tavern vibes and was so well decorated and lighted that I forgot I was in a city let alone new york city lol. Workers were dressed in traditional Albanian attire and they had Albanian music playing like it was perfect.

Food was great and it was all presented on theme too, I especially loved the rustic silverware.

Started off with two dips and one appetizer:

First, the sausage dip which was bombasticcccc y’all like a perfect cheesy and meaty dip with veal sausage that was very tender. Flavor was rich but without being too oily.

Second, the tarator dip which was this yogurt, garlic, cucumber dip. Super light and refreshing, like a palate cleanser. It contrasted to the sausage dip so well so I’m glad I tried those two together.

Also, the bread provided with these two dips was divine. Similar to a pita but much thicker and fluffier!

The appetizer was the leçenik which I could NOT get enough of despite how heavy it was. It was a custard-like cornbread that was really dense and had a nice creamy spinach flavor. YUMMMM AFFFFFFFF

Got two mains:

First was the Tava Kosi: roasted lamb on top of a rice, yogurt, egg mixture. OMFG y’all that rice was FIREEEEE y’all know i love my rices. It was so interesting too bc it was like fluffy eggs but with rice like wow. Lamb was fine they couldve added a bit more tho bc it was like 50% bone and 50% actual lamb.

Second dish was the Tradita Mixed Grill Platter which came with various meats such as Quebapa, Qofte, Sausage, Chicken, and Liver plus a few sides. This was a great sample platter to try all their traditional meats. Loved the chicken and the quebapa. Qofte was good, sausage was a bit salty, and liver was not for me lol but my parents loved it bc they grew up with liver. This came with these little potato wedges too that were so freaking good tho.

Had to finish off with a dessert while i’m already here:

They had an Albanian Trilece which is similar to the Mexican Tres Leches. I died and resurrected three times while consuming this cake y’all it had this wonderful caramel on top, WOW!!!

Thank you Dua for recommending this restaurant to me and after eating and LOVING Albanian food I am now ready to have dinner with your family and meet...