The eating scene in Durrës is better than you might expect for a city best known as a beach resort and ferry port. The beachfront has the usual row of tourist-oriented restaurants serving grilled fish and standard Balkan fare, but the city centre has better options — small Albanian restaurants where the cooking is more interesting and the prices more honest.
Albanian cuisine in coastal cities tends to lean on fresh seafood: grilled fish, calamari, mussels. But inland influences are also strong — lamb, offal, and roasted vegetables prepared in the Ottoman-influenced style common across the Balkans. Byrek (flaky pastry filled with spinach, cheese, or meat) makes a cheap and filling breakfast.