Tirana is not very far from the Adriatic Sea, which from a culinary point of view makes it a crossroad of different influences and different touches, geographical and historical. Thus, wandering in the streets I can easily find oriental-inspired type of salted pastry in little takeaway shops, but I can also stumble upon interesting restaurants that are more fish-oriented. And that is what Arditi Fisherman sounds like. Discovering it was a pleasant surprise, since the location is outside the famous “Blloku” and close to my grandmother’s house, which is maybe why I like it so much.

Anyway, without being biased from this little peculiarity, I have to stress that I really like the food at Arditi Fisherman. They receive fresh fish from the Adriatic daily that I can actually witness on the iced tray table (sometimes moving — not for the faint-hearted!). Therefore, their menu is based on the recent catch, which makes this culinary adventure even more interesting. That said, seafood, mussels, clams (a variety thereof) and shrimps are almost always on the table. Now, it is a little bit of an expensive restaurant, but that is justifiable if I had to take a look at the quality offered. So all in all Arditi Fisherman is what I would call a fresh escapade from the mess of Blloku, enriched with some Adriatic air.