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.
