Bohemian like you

This is the second time that I write a post about burgers, and that is not because I am crazy about burgers, but because I like to explore and find cool new places in Tirana.

Bohemian Burgers is located in the Myslym Shyri Street, apart from the Blloku area, but very easy to find. The comfy atmosphere makes you feel like home, with nice books to read while you wait (a little bit longer) for your burger. The open kitchen is a very good idea that suggests transparency and trust, and the kid’s corner is a simple good idea that is generally missing in bars and restaurants (even though I don’t really know why).

© Bohemian Burgers Facebook Page

© Bohemian Burgers Facebook Page

The Menu at Bohemian Burgers is very nice, with an extended choice of burgers, including vegetarian and vegan ones. The used ingredients and the combinations are very creative and not easy to find in other places. 

For starters we ordered the soup of the day made with coconut milk and bananas and homemade lemonade, both very tasty.

Then we ordered the Persian Burger and the Bohemian Deluxe Cheese Burger. The Persian Burger made with the chickpea patty, goat cheese and salad, vas overall nice but, I was expecting it to be a little more flavored, with more spices and a little bit moister. The Bohemian Deluxe Cheese Burger was good, but I would have preferred it medium cooked. I liked the idea of homemade pickles but they weren’t that sour as they are supposed to be and both burgers were missing that kind of tanginess. The bread on both burgers wasn’t the sweet bun that I would have preferred, but I’m OK with that, as processed bread is not a healthy choice.

Bohemian Deluxe Cheeseburger 

Persian Burger

The price range is between 440-640 Leke (3-4.5 Euros) for the burgers, which is fair price especially because everything was homemade and the ingredients were chosen with care.

For sure I will be back for more: Sweet!

Places I Love in Tirana: Hemingway Bar Tirana

I don’t know exactly how many bars there are in Tirana, but I know for sure that many of them are boring and do not have any clear style and/or ‘temper’.

I imagine that the idea of having your own bar is exhilarating (especially the idea of being the boss), but generally it doesn’t work like that. It takes much more than some money to invest; it takes a lot of passion, enthusiasm, ideas, love and devotion to make it all happen. Beside that, the market in Tirana is totally unbalanced by informality and unfair competition.

So if you are in the business you can distinguish who is doing it professionally or driven by passion and love, and who is doing it just for the sake of having a bar.

I generally like those small, cozy places with lots of personality and taste, and Hemingway Bar Tirana, is exactly one of the kind. Hemingway is a great place where every detail is well thought.  

© Courtesy FB Hemingway Bar Tirana

There is a very large choice of drinks, from long drinks, cocktails, beers, wine but the real highlight is the collection of Rums from different origins. So many flavors to taste, all of them served with so much care, that only someone like Rudi (the owner) can manage to do.

It is curious how the best places always attract the best people. Hemingway Bar Tirana has the greatest community of special people who have their own passions, styles and beliefs, and this is something you can hardly find elsewhere in Tirana.

I can go on writing about everything I like about Hemingway, but I really think that if you just pass by that old narrow street in the very heart of Tirana, and have a drink in the street, you can feel the true essence of Tirana.

Jazz & Bossa Nova Night @ Heminway Bar Tirana

The only one thing that I would have loved to add to Hemingway is a kitchen! First because I always like to have something to eat while having a drink and secondly because I know that Rudi can prepare the most surprising dishes from all over the world, but I know that the place is so tiny that we will have to get used to order out (which is totally fine @Hemingway).

Super Sweet!

"Traditional" Sundays

Sunday is that day of the week when everyone seem to have that same great idea: go for a lunch somewhere near Tirana. Well, the idea is not that bad after all, but every time I receive such an invitation I tent to avoid it.

Not that I don’t like those great sunny days and the feel of the fresh air of the suburbs but because I learnt the hard way that something can go wrong and the entire experience might not be pleasant at all.

 I’ve heard of Nano Resort through friends, and I was so curios to go and try it. The first time I went, was fully booked and we had to go back. The second time we booked in advance and the gentleman at the telephone very kindly explained that the timeframe between 13.00-14.00 was generally very busy and was better to be avoided, so we postponed our booking for 14.30-15.00.

While we were waiting for our table to be prepared we had the chance to go a little bit around the garden and see all the fruits and vegetables that were actually grown there. This obviously raised our expectations.

The garden

Cherry tomatoes at the garden

Salad and herbs at the garden

When we finally sat into one of the not cleaned yet tables, we realized that that would have been a very long Sunday lunch. The clients sitting around us were still waiting for their table to be cleaned or the check to arrive. It took about 30 minutes to clean the table, 10 to change the tablecloth, 10 others to actually order and at the end other 40 to get the check.

The patio and the view from it were very nice but there were so many tables and clients were really giving a hard time to the service staff.

Needless to say that we didn’t dare to ask for a Menu, or have normal courses following any kind of etiquette, because the waiters were running up and down the stairs and the situation was so out of control, so we just wanted to order as soon as possible.  

The order came in a reasonable time (prepping is OK when dealing with such volumes) and the food was very good and very well plated. Personally I am not a big fan of traditional food but this time I really enjoyed it, because all the dishes had something more that the simplicity (read: dullness) of the traditional overcooked food.

Appetizers (Olives, herb butter, yogurt sauce etc) 

Salad with several leafy greens and different types of tomatoes

Baked Goat meat with "pershesh" (bread baked with the meat juice) 

Baked white cheese wrapped in Phyllo pastry and sesame seeds

Baked (free range) chicken with rice 

The check at the end was somehow fair for the quality of the food, the presentation and the fact that that everything was so different from the other restaurants in that area. We paid around 1500-1700 Leke  (10-12 Euros) for appetizers for 4 and two main dishes for 4.

© Photo courtesy: Isi Topçiu

© Photo courtesy: Isi Topçiu

Will I go back again?

 I don’t know for sure actually. Maybe I will avoid busy days like Saturdays and especially Sundays, because I think that the weekend is the real problem of all those restaurants in that area, which of course is a problem in terms of management.

Anyway this story made me think and evaluate which one is the most important thing in this business: Food quality or Service quality? This is one of the cases when even though the core of the business (Food) is actually OK, the bad service makes you never go back, which is such e pity as generally the problem is in fact Food quality.

I would define this experience, with me being super patient: Sweet!

I would recommend it as a nice traditional place in the open but always taking into account the long waiting time.