Best Restaurants in Dhërmi: Where to Eat on the Albanian Riviera

How to choose between the promenade and the village

A beachfront table buys you the sea view and the convenience of stepping straight off the pebbles, which is why the promenade is where most first-time visitors eat. The old village sits higher up, with traditional houses, churches and narrow stone alleys, and the upper town has narrow streets where parking is difficult, so it suits a walk rather than a quick drive-up lunch.

Restaurants along Dhërmi Beach sit on the promenade or on cliffs above the northern section, and many of these beachfront places are seasonal, so a shoulder-season visit can find shutters down where a summer menu was. Check before you commit to a particular stretch of the promenade in May or October.

Seafront tables on Dhërmi Beach

The promenade along Dhërmi Beach is lined with restaurants and cafés, with boat taxis waiting under the cliffside bars and sun umbrellas covering most of the shoreline in summer. The setting is the point: you eat with the water a few steps away, and the northern stretch is dominated by beach bars and restaurants sitting above the pebbles.

Several places are well reviewed by diners, including Noah On The Beach, Platinium Dhërmi and Taverna Fevan, which appear among the better-rated restaurants in the area. Treat that as a starting point for names rather than a ranking: preferences differ, and a restaurant's standing changes with the season and the kitchen.

Luciano Dhërmi comes recommended for tender octopus and views, and the wider strip has plenty of places serving fresh seafood and traditional Albanian cooking. If you want a single criterion for picking a seafront table, make it whichever kitchen is doing fish that day.

Drymades side: beach clubs and quieter coves

Drymades Beach is the other dining zone, less developed than Dhërmi Beach but changing quickly, with resorts and sun umbrellas arriving each summer. On the southern end near Meguci Bay, Pepperon The Beach sets out thatched umbrellas and bean bags with bar service, and the atmosphere is lively by design; an umbrella with two sunbeds here can run as high as 2,500 lek.

The northern end of Drymades is the better bet for a quiet meal, where a sea arch stretches into the water and a small stairway from the Summer Dream restaurant leads through to a string of concealed inlets. The further inlets come without loungers, but reaching them involves scrambling over rock, so wear proper shoes or hardy sandals.

Drymades Village Restaurant is a budget-friendly option set back from the sand rather than on it, which makes it a sensible stop if you want to eat without paying for a sea view. The village itself is split between the coast at Drymades and the old settlement uphill, so decide which one you are heading for before you set out.

What to order

Fresh seafood is the obvious order along this coast, and it is what the seaside kitchens are set up for; the promenade restaurants also do coffee and lighter plates for a break from the sun. Traditional Albanian cooking appears alongside the fish on many menus, so a table can mix grilled catch with local dishes rather than committing to one style.

Menus are not published in any consistent form, so the safest approach is to look at what is on display or ask what came in that day before ordering. Dish prices are not listed here because they shift with the season and the kitchen.

Practicalities: sunbeds, summer crowds and timings

A meal on the beach often comes with a side cost: sunbeds and umbrellas on Dhërmi Beach can cost up to 1,000 lek, and the beach is theoretically public, so you can find a free spot on the pebbles instead of renting. On Drymades, expect the beach-club pitches to be higher, with an umbrella and two sunbeds reaching 2,500 lek at the southern end.

Summer fills the promenade and the beach clubs, and the village is quieter in the shoulder months when part of the seafront closes. Dhërmi sits about 16 km from Himarë and roughly 50 km from Vlorë, with the Llogara Pass around a 25-minute drive away, so it works as a lunch stop on a Riviera drive as well as a base.

Boat trips run from Dhërmi Beach to the Pirate Cave, Grama Bay and the beaches near Himarë, and some operators sell online while others take bookings in person on the day. If you plan a boat and a long lunch, book the boat first and eat afterwards.

Getting between the beach and the old village

The two halves of Dhërmi are close but not level: the old town sits on the hillside above the coast, and the lanes up there are narrow enough that parking becomes a chore. Leave the car near the beach and walk up if you are eating in the village, and wear shoes that cope with stone alleys.

Above the coast you also have the churches of the old settlement, including St. Mary's Church and All Saints Church on the hill, which gives a village lunch a natural walk to follow; the Dhërmi Old Town guide covers the lanes in more detail. Allow time for the climb back down before dark if you are on foot.

Which Dhërmi table suits your day?

Choose the promenade if you want sea views, a quick lunch between swims and the buzz of the beach; choose Drymades if you want beach-club atmosphere, accepting the higher sunbed charges that come with it. Pick the old village when you would rather walk narrow stone lanes and eat away from the sand.

Whatever you choose, confirm the day's opening and the sunbed charge on arrival, since beachfront places open and close with the season. The safest plan is a flexible one: a promenade table for lunch and a village walk afterwards.