Tirana Italian

Italy is Albania's closest neighbour across the Adriatic and its largest source of visitors, and Italian food in Tirana reads as local rather than foreign. Decades of television, trade and migration in both directions left the city with cooks who trained in Italy and menus written without translation. Trattorias and pasta kitchens run through Blloku and the streets off Rruga e Kavajes, with a smaller group near the Grand Park.

Expect handmade pasta, wood-fired ovens and Italian wine lists alongside Albanian bottles from Berat and Korca. Standards at the top end match what you would pay far more for in Bari or Bologna.