14 Dec2022
To be honest, Albania is not very vegan-friendly yet. Finding vegan food in Tirana was a challenge but not extremely difficult though. I decided to make it easier for you and recommend you some places where to get top Tirana vegan meals.
Unfortunately, in other parts of Albania vegan diet is still not very popular.
The best Tirana vegan meals
What should you taste while in Tirana? Which meals and where to get them? Get inspired by my list:
1. fresh fruit
Albania is a great country to get fresh high quality fruit. Believe it or not, fruit is the best food for us humans.
I will always advise you to taste local and seasonal fruit above anything else. It depends on in which month you visit Tirana. The good thing is that fresh seasonal and local fruit is cheap in Albania.
When I was there in the beginning of November, Tirana was full of persimmons, pomegranates and mandarines. They were all delicious! Just walk around town and find a small market or a shop, buy some ripe fruit and then you can sit in a park or by the lake and enjoy it there. The best!
fresh fruit in Tirana
2. Gjelber
As far as I know, Gjelber used to be a vegan restaurant but it’s not any more. As I was told, they could not survive being 100% vegan. Such a shame! Now they still offer some vegan meals but it’s better to ask the waiter which ones are vegan.
The Avo 1 buddha bowl I was recommended was really worth it. Not dry at all. The sauce and avocado made the salad very interesting. Finger-licking! I usually don’t like ordering salads at restaurants as they don’t usually know how to make a good salad but this one was really a great choice.
Their address: Rruga Brigada VIII (in front of Conad supermarket), Tirana
Gjelber Avo 1 buddha bowl
3. Green & protein
They have many different vegan meals, salads, bowls, smoothies, burgers etc. I went there on my first evening in Tirana and as it was just 30 minutes till they would close, I asked the waiter for advice which vegan meal to get. She said I could try wabi-sabi bowl so I trusted her recommendation.
Wabi-sabi has nothing to do with wasabi. It actually means something like ”accepting the imperfection”.
To be honest, I was very happy it was not wasabi but wabi-sabi as I am not a fan of spicy wasabi horseradish.
The salad was very fresh and delicious. A nice surprise 🙂
And their wifi is great, too!
Their address: Rruga Nikolla Tupe, Tirana
Green & protein wabi-sabi bowl
Green & protein menu
4. Happy Belly
Happy Belly is a tiny juice bar right in the city center of Tirana. They do have 3 tables there but you can also order for take away. They specialize on juices, smoothies and vegan cakes. The ladies working there were nice to me.
I tried a red smoothie, a carrot cake, and a cacao cake with persimmons which were in season at the time. All of them were delicious and vegan, of course.
”Eat smart” is their motto 🙂
The only downside is no toilet for customers there. And adding hemp seeds to a fruit smoothie is not the best combination for digestion, in my opinion.
Their address: Ibrahim Rugova Ne Hyrje Te Bllokut, Perballe Sky Tower, Tirana
Happy Belly Tirana
Happy Belly smoothie and cakes
5. Ciocolattitaliano
Ciocolattitaliano is a remarkable ice cream, chocolate and pastry shop and it seems to be always crowded. When I saw it, I had to walk in to ask for something vegan to try and see why there’s so many people.
As it was still rather hot on that day, I ordered vegan ice cream and it was delish. Really good for non-vegan friendly Albania! I was told that their dark chocolate and fruit ice cream flavors are vegan but check it with the employee before ordering.
Their address:
1 Ciocolattitaliano: Rruga Ibrahim Rugova in the Bllok area, Tirana
2 Ciocolattitaliano: Shëtitorja Murat Toptani, Kalaja, Tirana
PS: There was a really cute waiter there 🙂 However, generally speaking, the service should improve there as sometimes it takes them ages to order/pay.
Ciocolattitaliano Tirana ice cream
Ciocolattitaliano Tirana
TIP 1: If you are interested in health, check my ebook How to be fit (not only) when traveling. The ebook is a collection of tips from different people on how they stay fit on the road. A big part of the ebook focuses on food, mostly on raw vegan diet which is the diet I follow and has helped me to get rid of all my health problems.
TIP 2: If you are in Albania, go to the North to relax on the Velipoje beach as well. Here’s everything you need to know about Velipoje beach before visiting.
Which of these Tirana vegan delicacies would you like to try and why? Tell me in the comments below 🙂
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