Albania - Alba Restaurant, NW6

Restaurant: Alba

Location: 5 Malvern Road, Maida Vale, NW6

Date of visit: 6 February 2010

Time of visit: 9pm

Steve and Elle ate: A selection of meat including chicken, mini kebabs, steaklets and spicy sausages, served with a variety of vegetables including cabbage, tomato, mushrooms and onions topped with a light cream cheese dressing. All served with warm bread.

We continued our A to Z of London restaurants with a visit to Alba (formerly Lisi) in Maida Vale. This being our second attempt at eating there (we failed to book the previous week and were unable to get a table due to a private party) we knew exactly how to get there and where to park. The restaurant has the great advantage of having on-street parking right outside that is free after 7pm.

As we walked into the restaurant we noticed how quiet it was and we ended up with the whole of the downstairs area to ourselves. The dining area was clean and tidy and, although it has more of a 'cafe' feel to it than a restaurant, some authentic music gave it an Albanian feel. Although due to the lack of people in the restaurant, there was a lack ot atmosphere overall.

Shortly after we were seated, a pleasent gentleman came up with a notepad and nodded at us to take our order. This took us by surprised as we had not seen a menu and were not too knowledgable on what to order in an Albanian restuarant. I asked for a menu and he promptly produced one. However he only showed us a small specialities section on the back of the menu and explained what the items were. It consisted of about five or six different meat dishes and he recommended we go for the one particular dish, designed for two people, which included a selection of all the meats from the other dishes. Our confusion at not getting a full menu soon diminished as our meat-loving eyes lit up at the prospect of a huge plate of all our favourite meats. Although vegetarians beware - we are really not sure what, if any, meals would have been available for non-meat eaters.

Whilst we waited for the meal Steve drank a Budwieser and Elle a can of Diet Coke. Both were fine and not too badly priced for a restaurant although we did notice that both had "Part of a multipack - Not to be sold seperately" disclaimer written on them!
The food came after a reasonable wait of around twenty minutes and did not dissapoint. The portion was huge and posed an interesting challenge. The selection of meat and vegetables was fantastic, all cooked perfectly and the bread was a perfect accompainment to the meal. The 'steak pieces' did appear to be 'reformed' rather than cuts but we had no problems with this and still wondered how they could afford to pile up so much meat for us (the meal was approximately £17 without drinks).

Eating so much meat is thirsty work and more Diet Coke and Bud was drafted in. However we noticed that after the food was served we were left well alone and I had to go upstairs to fetch more drinks myself. The staff were very pleasent which made the trek upstairs worth it. After the meat-eating challenge of our lives (some of which was left due to us reaching capacity!) we went upstairs to pay. We had found out earlier that cards were not accepted, or at least cash was preferred (the actual situation wasn't made particularly clear) so we paid with cash.
The total for the meal and drinks was appoximately £25. We were pleased to see no service charge was added however we tipped 10-15% anyway (very much worth it due to the amount of meat on-hand). Very much fed, watered and satisfied, we headed back to the car.

Overall, it was a postive experience and the food made up for any confusion with the menus and slight lack of service. I do feel they are probably much more geared at large parties than small orders but we would recommend a visit for the meat eaters out there. Although veggies should probably call and check their requirements can be catered for in advance .

Good: Fantastic food, great value for money, good location in Maida Vale with free on-street parking (off peak times) and service charge left to our discretion

Bad: Full menu not offered, lacking a little on the service side, credit & debit cards not accepted (or at least particularly welcomed)

Cost of meal: Approx £17 (excluding drinks)