Drink

The pub, a British institution that has long passed its 1000th birthday, has found itself travelling further and further afield in the 21st century. Few modern capital cities are without one, and amongst the cafes, cajtores, bars and tavernas, Prishtina is now no exception. The latest is Cleo’s, a new watering hole keeping the pub tradition alive on Fehmi Agani following the sad demise of its premises’ previous incumbent, the Ninety One.

A public house, to use the name a pub’s mother would call it when she’s angry, can have a multitude of functions from dining to debate to darts playing. The core purpose of each is the same though, to provide anyone who needs it with a welcoming oasis that shelters and provides respite from the hardships of the outside world. Entering Cleo’s for the first time on a freezing Friday night in January, the main thing I needed solace from is sub zero temperatures which, fortunately, is provided in droves. A roaring stove and warm orange lighting provided the perfect welcome, dissolving the biting Kosovar winter into a distant icy glow outside the front window. Drinking draught beer from a traditional pint glass beside a fire in winter is one of the great traditional joys of a pub and one which Cleo’s provides to perfection, offering a wide range of European beers on tap, including Kosovar, German and Irish brands at between €2-4.

Globalisation and the modern world have contorted the pub into interesting new shapes on its travels abroad though, and Cleo’s is a particularly novel incarnation. The very notion of a pub in Kosovo owned by Americans is enough to send a pub-purists brain inside out and the idiosyncrasies of both nations are expressed through the prism of this bastion of Britishness. Drinks are served, in the typical Kosovar way, via a waiter with impeccable manners, as opposed to the frantic jostling at the bar so typical of most pubs. Initially this felt like an improvement, although the brief moments sitting with an empty glass later caused some mild consternation. Photos of early 20th century New York adorn the walls as does a chalkboard drawing of Homer Simpson making a toast to alcohol, which he suggests as being both the cause of, and solution to, all of life’s problems. A good point, well made. Mounted televisions have become a standard embellishment in pubs across the world, helpfully providing a conversation booster or distraction from a terrible date. Uniquely, Cleo’s has chosen to eschew the ubiquitous live football and muted music videos replacing them with coverage of monster-truck racing and hot-dog-eating contests, which provide an entertainingly brash spectacle.

Food is another common addition to the modern pub that Cleo’s has embraced and the American influence also permeates the menu, which features an array of burgers, chillies and hot dogs alongside more typical items on a menu in Prishtina such as salads, pasta and sandwiches. The vegetarian pasta (€3.80) I ordered also definitely had more of the Midwest than Milan about it, but is no worse off for that. The penne and vegetables were soaked in a rich and oily tomato sauce that was high in both fat and flavor. Some of my co-drinkers also elected to eat, ordering a vegetable risotto (€3.60) and a burger and fries (€2.60), which they reviewed as being much more than adequate stomach lining. Basking in the after effects of the food and a few more drinks, the idea of leaving our brief home to return to our cold reality becomes more and more difficult to contemplate, which is an admirable reflection on any pub.

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