My next favorite entrée was scallops ($19.95), highly flavored and sautéed with a touch of breading. A well-seasoned filet of sole ($21.95), prepared the same way, offered more to eat, but the edges were dry. As with the barbounia, ask for this dish to be served immediately. Roast chicken ($19.95) was nicely seasoned, but the white meat was overdone, while the dark-meat quarter was much better. Pappardelle e panna ($13.95) had pasta so soft that it reminded me of eating “ribbon macaroni and (ricotta) cheese.”
All entrées come with a choice of a dozen side dishes, many of which could also double as bar snacks. I particularly recommend the French fries ($3.95), made from fresh-tasting potatoes and served with a bit of skin in a paper cone. There’s nothing wrong with the pasticcio ($4.40), a pasta-potato cube, or the cabbage Vlora style ($5.25), either, which is cold and slightly pickled. More familiar to most diners will be roasted cauliflower ($6.50) and carrots ($5.75), both of which are excellent, as is a side of sautéed green beans ($5.95). Lemon potatoes ($5.75) are slightly tart and have the color of orange slices. Sautéed mushrooms ($6.50) benefit from lots of onion. And Italian rice pilaf ($4.25) has some bits of vegetable and capers. It was unusual and surprising, albeit more weird than good. Our night, blue-cheese spinach ($4.75) tasted more like feta-cheese spinach, but was still a nice variation.
Vlora has a nice selection of wines from throughout the world, with some interesting obscurities, especially from Hungary. A glass of 2002 Ferenc Takler Kekfrankos ($10/glass; $40/bottle) was a blend of red grapes from France with a backbone of Hungarian kadarka — altogether, it was as complex as a pretty good Chateauneuf. A bottle of 2005 Catamayor tannat ($9.50/$38) is another example of a minor grape from France that turned into something really terrific in South America (in this case, Uruguay). The French versions of this wine are wicked tannic, but this one was jammy and full of fruit with only soft tannins. It made for a fine food wine. Coffee ($2.95) is very good; decaf ($2.95) was clean but thin.
Desserts are notoriously a soft spot in both Italian and Mediterranean menus, so take your pick. Kasata ($6.50) is not the Sicilian cheesecake you might expect, but a kind of mascarpone ice cream: mostly vanilla with a layer of chocolate and caramel decorations. It was odd-textured but rather tangy and tasty. Tiramisu ($6.75) is served in a martini glass and tastes like flavored whipped cream. And panna cotta ($6.50), served like crème brûlée with burnt-sugar crust, lacked solidity. Looking east, baklava ($6.25) is large and is served with ice cream. Want to sample another old Balkan tradition? You’ll be disappointed. Macedonia of fruit ($6.50) was just fruit salad, with unripe melon and strawberries, decent grapes, and a creamy sauce.
