You booked Ksamil and haven't booked a single table

Resto Editorial · 7 August 2026 · 4 min read

Ksamil in August is small, busy, and the good tables go days ahead. Seven places worth planning around, and what to order when you get there.

You sorted the flights in March. You found an apartment with a balcony. You have a photo of the water saved somewhere on your phone and you've shown it to at least four people.

And you have no idea where you're eating.

That's fine in November. In August it means standing on the main strip at nine in the evening with a hungry family behind you, reading laminated menus and choosing whichever place has a free table. Ksamil in high season is small, busy, and the good tables go days ahead.

Here are seven places worth planning around, and what to order when you get there.

1. Pōda

Ask what came in that morning instead of reading the menu. The catch gets brought out before it goes anywhere near the grill, which is either theatre or reassurance depending on how you feel about it, and either way you order better for having seen it.

The seafood mix grill is the safe order if you don't want to think about it. Sit on the deck side, above the bay. Close enough to the beach that you'll bring sand back to the table with you.

Good to know: Open 9am to 11:30pm, seven days. On SH81, north end of Ksamil.

2. Sole Mare

Some people eat here three nights in a row and stop pretending they'll try somewhere else. The fish is the reason. So is the pasta, which has no business being that good in a beach town.

It opens at two, so this is a late lunch or a dinner, not a breakfast plan. Prices sit slightly above the cheapest places nearby and it is worth the difference.

Good to know: Open 2pm to 11pm. Rruga Isadora. Bookable on Resto.

3. Ohana Beach Bar

This is the one you book when the table has a range of opinions. The menu is wide enough that nobody sulks, the kitchen is quick, and there are usually children around, which matters if yours are coming and matters just as much if you'd rather they weren't.

Not a party beach. A holiday one.

Good to know: Rruga Riviera, south side. Hours shift with the season, so check before you go late.

4. Museum Restaurant

The break in your week. Everywhere else on this list is looking at the sea. This one is looking inward, at a courtyard of carpets and cushions with an open kitchen along one side.

Order the Elbasan lamb or the Tirana beef casserole and let it fall apart on the fork. Watch them roll the lakror while you wait. If you're travelling with people who keep saying they want to try real Albanian food, this is where you stop them saying it.

Good to know: Open 9am to 11pm. Rruga Alida Hisku, a short walk from the centre.

5. Ostro

Sunset over Poda Bay from a table that's actually facing it, which sounds obvious until you've been seated with your back to a view you paid for.

Book the 8pm. Ask for the waterfront side when you book, not when you arrive. The kitchen does a proper dinner here rather than beach-bar food, so treat it as your one nice evening rather than a stop between the beach and bed.

Good to know: Open 9am to midnight. Rruga Gjiri Poda.

6. Restaurant Elite

Ask for upstairs when you arrive, not after you've sat down. Golden hour only happens once and the terrace is the whole point.

Metres from the water, generous portions, and the kind of place where the appetisers turn up before you've ordered them. Albanian wine by the glass rather than the bottle, which is either a small tragedy or a good excuse to try three.

Good to know: Open 10am to 10:30pm.

7. WG Restaurant

Whole fish, filleted at the table, no ceremony about it. Open from eight in the morning until half eleven at night, which makes it the one place on this list you can walk into at almost any hour and eat well.

The pasta is the sleeper order. Ask for something off-menu and there's a reasonable chance they'll make it.

Good to know: Open 8am to 11:30pm. Isadora Dunkan.

How to plan the week

A rough shape that works for most trips:

Sunsets go to Ostro and Elite. These are the two hardest tables to get on short notice and the two most worth planning. Pick your best evening and book one of them first.

Lunches go to Pōda, Ohana and WG. All three sit near the water, all three are easy with a group, and none of them require a plan more elaborate than turning up hungry.

Give Museum a night of its own. It's the only meal on this list that doesn't taste like the coast, and it lands better when it isn't sandwiched between two seafood dinners.

Sole Mare is the one you'll want twice. Book it early in the trip so you have time to go back.

One last thing. Book at least a few days ahead for August, and more than that for anything at sunset. The tables people fight over in Ksamil are not the ones with the best food. They're the ones facing west.

Sole Mare takes bookings on Resto free, no phone calls, done in a few seconds. More Ksamil tables are coming to resto.al through the season.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do you need to book restaurants in Ksamil in advance?

In July and August, yes. A few days ahead for dinner, and longer for anything at sunset. The waterfront tables at places like Ostro and Restaurant Elite are the first to go.

Where can you eat traditional Albanian food in Ksamil?

Museum Restaurant, a short walk from the centre on Rruga Alida Hisku. It is the one kitchen on this list that is not looking at the sea. Order the Elbasan lamb or the Tirana beef casserole.

Which Ksamil restaurant is best for a sunset dinner?

Ostro, over Poda Bay, and the upstairs terrace at Restaurant Elite. Book the 8pm slot and ask for the waterfront side when you book, not when you arrive.