Where to Eat in Korce: Restaurants & Street Food
Like everything else in Korce, the food scene completely surprised me. French restaurants and creperies, food trucks and beer gardens. Was I still in Albania? If you’re wondering where to eat in Korce, here are the places I tried and genuinely enjoyed.
Where to Eat in Korce
For a small city, Korce has a lot of great places to eat. Even more surprising are the French restaurants and creperies. There’s even a restaurant that specializes in frog legs (I didn’t eat there).
The food scene rivals Tirana in terms of variety, and is one of the best reasons to visit Korce.
These are the places I ate at in Korce and really enjoyed. I include a lot of them in my Korce 2 or 3 day itinerary.
1. Le Paris
My favourite restaurant in Korce. I would have eaten here every day if I could have. The food is excellent French homestyle with some Albanian influences.
The chef/owner is from France (he married an Albanian woman from Korce) and prepares everything himself, even the bread and pastries. The space is small but charming, and it feels like you’ve been welcomed into someone’s home.
I loved everything I had here: cappuccino with Chantilly cream, salad with homemade sausage and lemon vinaigrette, pumpkin soup, and a creme caramel pumpkin flan. It was October when I visited, so lots of pumpkin!
It was all delicious – and very reasonably priced. It’s closed on Mondays.
Rruga Gavril Pepo, Korce
2. Bar Restaurant Mesonjetorja
I came here on my first day in Korce because it had good reviews and it was close to my Airbnb. The open space, brick walls and paintings everywhere won me over before I even tasted the food.
If you’re exploring the sites of Korce, this is the perfect place to eat lunch or dinner. It’s on the main pedestrian promenade a couple of minutes walk from the Ministry of Education Museum and the Gjon Mili Museum. Across the street is the majestic Resurrection of Christ Cathedral.
There’s lots of traditional Albanian dishes, plus a great selection of salads on the menu. My vegetable soup was spectacular, the bean salad very good, but the fergese was dry. So avoid the fergese, unless that’s the way you like it.
Bulevardi Shen Gjergji, Korce
If you’re wondering where to stay in Korce, here’s a detailed guide.
3. Birra Korca Factory
I knew about the Korca beer factory before I arrived in Korce. The free beer tour was on my list of things to do. What I didn’t know is that the giant beer garden has a great restaurant.
When I asked my free walking tour guide (Mario of Explore Korca Tour Guide, very good by the way) where locals like to eat, this is the place he told me about.
I decided to give it a try even though I was a bit skeptical. But he was right – the food was excellent, especially the grilled sausages. I don’t even usually eat meat, but they were so good I ordered a second plate.
And beer? You can’t go wrong at 80 lek ($1 USD) per mug on tap. They had blonde and ‘black’ on tap – but I think the server meant ‘dark’. There’s a really nice beer garden that sometimes has live traditional music.
Bulevardi Fani Noli, Korce
4. Pula Kernace
Korce is famous for kernace, a spiced sausage shaped meatball, and this is the best place to get them. Kernace is the Korce version of qofte.
The restaurant doesn’t even have a proper name, I asked my waitress. Pula Kernace means Chicken Meatball in English. But it was packed with locals – a very good sign!
Simple restaurant, but the food was great, cheap, fast and very friendly service. It’s just a few minutes walk to the Korce Old Bazaar.
Rruga Floresha Myteveli 502, Korce
If you’d like to know more about visiting Korce, read my Korce travel guide.
5. La Creperia
This creperie was around the corner from my Airbnb, so I came here a few times. If you want something fast, fresh and budget friendly, it’s a great spot.
There’s a vast selection of sweet and savoury crepes, the menu is actually a bit daunting – too many choices! But they cook them to order, so they’re super fresh. It’s also very clean. I tried several different savoury crepes, and they were all good.
There’s a large eat in area with tables, and bar stools in front of the window.
Korce is very popular with French tourists, which might explain the number of creperies in the centre.
Rruga Pandeli Cale, Korce
6. Mik Mak
Mik Mak is the most famous lakror shop in Korce. By a very happy coincidence it was a 5 minute walk from my Airbnb. The lakror is so good, I incorporated it into Watson’s morning dog walk so I could visit daily.
Lakror is a savoury pie, made with layers of thin, flaky dough and stuffed with a variety of fillings. At Mik Mak they cook lakror the traditional way, over embers under a giant iron dome, called a ‘sac.’
At Mik Mak you can buy lakror by the slice or order a whole pie. Flavours are seasonal, and when I was there in October they were making leek, pumpkin, onion-tomato, and of course the standard cheese. At 100 lek ($1.20 USD) per piece, it’s a great bargain snack or breakfast.
The ladies were super friendly and never complained when I had my dog with me. Take out only.
Bulevardi Republika, Korce
7. Kantina Katalia Fast Food
Amazing sandwiches at this food truck, like Michelin star worthy. They serve grilled meat sandwiches (so skip it if you’re vegetarian). My leek sausage sandwich was so good, I couldn’t resist trying the qofte sandwich right after.
I adore street food, so I guess I’m a little biased to begin with, but this was honestly some of the best food I’ve eaten in Albania. A steady stream of locals eating here too, even at 10:00 am.
Service was friendly, fast and there were a couple of tables set up by the sidewalk. At 130 lek ($1.60 USD) for a giant sandwich you really can’t go wrong.
Closed Sundays and at 5 or 6:00 pm each day.
Rruga Kico Greco, Korce
8. Cegora Bakery & Pastry
I tried a few pastry shops in Korce and this was by far the best. It was recommended by a local, otherwise I wouldn’t have found it since it’s tucked away in a residential neighbourhood away from all the tourist stuff.
The selection is excellent: pastries, cakes, cookies, fresh bread, traditional Albanian desserts, chocolates – they have everything. They also have a large assortment of pasteli (seed and nut bars made with honey).
I bought 5 or 6 different desserts and pasteli which were all excellent. It’s probably a good thing Cegora Bakery was not close to my Airbnb, because I would have been there every day.
Rruga 1 Maj, Korce
Special Foods of Korce & Where to Eat Them
Each region in Albania has their own local specialties, and these are the foods Korce is famous for, and what you should try:
Lakror
Lakror is a traditional Albanian pie. It’s made different ways, but in Korce it’s usually made with a top and bottom crust of phyllo like pastry. It’s very similar to byrek. It is made with a variety of fillings, and the most common ones in Korce are leek, spinach, cheese and tomato-onion.
Korce is famous for lakror ‘sac’, which is lakror cooked over hot embers and covered in a heavy iron dome, called a sac. The best place for lakror in Korce is Mik Mak.
Kernace
Kernace are Korce’s version of qofte – the seasoned meatball that is shaped like a sausage and grilled. Every local I talked to told me to try the kernace in Korce. One of the best places for kernace is Pula Kernace.
Pasteli
Pasteli is a traditional Greek sweet made of sesame seeds and honey. The Albanian version has lots of dried fruit and nuts – it’s basically a gourmet granola or energy bar.
Many bakeries in Korce and Pogradec sell pasteli, which makes sense since they’re both close to the Greek border. The ones at Cegora Bakery & Pastry in Korce are excellent (and addictive).
Korca Beer
Obviously not a food, but Korca beer is one of Albania’s best beers, and it’s made right in Korce. So yes, while in Korce you should definitely try Korca beer! The best place to get it is right at the Birra Korka factory, in the restaurant. Only 80 lek (less than $1 USD) for a mug of beer on tap.
Last Words on Where to Eat in Korce: Restaurants & Street Food
Korce is definitely my favourite foodie city in Albania. Not even Tirana has such a great cross section of places to eat like Korce.
Korce isn’t big, so in a compact area you’ll find food trucks, creperies, traditional Albanian and French food restaurants, shops selling only lakror sac and beer gardens! Just another reason to visit this hidden gem of Albania.
