Kosovo: Chapter 6, Scene 4 Attention Foodies

 One of the biggest fears people have when asked to move half way around the world centers around eating. “What if I don’t like the food?” I understand. When I visited Italy I knew I would like the food. When I visited India I knew I would eat Indian food. I knew it was spicy. I wasn’t as sure how I would handle it. But those were short trips so any fears I had were short lived.

When I moved to Kosovo, I brought a few packages of Ramen noodles and some dried soup mixes with me. Okay, that would last about a week. I was here for ten months minimum so I have no idea what I was thinking. I guess the dried mixes were a stopgap measure until I figured out where the market was located.

I’ve shared in earlier posts that my fears were unfounded. There is a market on every street corner filled with fresh fruits, vegetables, and eggs.  Fresh baked bread abounds. And my school cafeteria is above excellent with freshly cooked meals made from scratch.

This "casserole" is like a pot pie X4!

So today I decided it was time to let you in on the biggest and best kept secret of living in Prishtina. The restaurants.

Like most cosmopolitan areas, Prishtina has an abundance of coffee shops and specialty bakeries. But it is the restaurant scene that is amazing.

When my daughter visited me I took her to three of my favorite restaurants in the city. The first, Liburnia serves delicious traditional Albanian fare. The atmosphere is incredible and the service is wonderful. I’m starting to sound like a travel show host. Sorry. I can’t help it. This was my fourth time there. We started with a traditional dish of grilled peppers and cream. It is outstanding. We pulled apart pieces of the warm crusty bread we had just watch come out of the brick oven and dipped it in the cream sauce.  We ordered a meat and vegetable casserole for one and split it. We couldn’t eat it all.

"Old House" is a great place
if you want a sandwich...or steak!.

Another of my favorites in Prishtina is the “Old House.” The atmosphere again is wonderful and the food is great. One of the best steaks I’ve ever eaten was at Old House. They have really good sandwiches as well. This is the place my friend Kuma and I went to practice my Albanian language skills. I did the ordering so now you can also guess the servers are extremely patient and kind.

When I’m in the mood for Italian, my favorite place is called Restaurant Pinocchio. They serve the best Italian dishes with a little Albanian flair. I’ve been there three or four times and I’ve never been disappointed. I try something different every time and love it. Part of what I love about this restaurant, too, is its location. If you sit upstairs you have a spectacular view of the city. 

I love the food at Pinocchio's!

My daughter enjoyed all three. But there's more. 

The best Thai food I’ve ever eaten is at the Thai restaurant…no other name…on what we call restaurant row. The family that runs it knows what they’re doing. It is a favorite for many of the Prishtina High School teachers. On that same street is the Spanish restaurant and an international restaurant called Princessa Gresa.

I’ve enjoyed grilled fish at the Greek restaurant, meat and potatoes at a sweet place called Home restaurant, and I ate the best Indian food I’ve had in a long time at a tucked away place known as the Himalayan.

It’s not that I eat out that much, but when I want to enjoy something delicious, I don’t have to dream about it. It is a taxi ride or bus ride away from my apartment. Of course if I need an American “fix,” There’s always KFC.

Join me in Kosova (the Albanian pronunciation for Kosovo) in Southeastern Europe. Each week I share my experiences. Leave your comments and questions below. I’ll try to address each as best I can. And if you don't want to miss a post, simply add your email address in the box on the right where it says "Follow by email."