"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.