Balkanika positions itself as a haven for Modern European cuisines which espouses dishes from Italy to Bulgaria.
Our entry was greeted by a sign that invites us to sit anywhere in the restaurant and an inviting grocery stall that advertises Balkan ethnic delicacies for sale.
We sat down and ordered our food as well as accompanying wines.
Our appetizer was a dish called wolf bites which consisted of pork tenderloin slices sautéed with a healthy dose of lemon juice and white wine. The taste was mild sour and savory.
For our main entrees we tried Ćevapi or stylized as “chebapi”. This dish, popular in the balkan countries, consisted of small sausages, flatbread, and accompanied by sliced onions and sauce to use as we want. The sausages were well spiced and delicious while the flat bread provided the perfect amount of bite and structure to eat with. The onions provided a nice sharpness contrasting the mild flavor provided by the sauce.
Our other entree was called butcher’s meatballs, which seemed to be meatballs stuffed with mozzarella, pickles and onion. The meatballs came with potato wedges and a red sauce we suspected to be Ajvar, a roasted red pepper sauce. The meatballs were great, savory and filling and were great with the Ajvar sauce. The wedges didn’t go as great with the sauce but we can’t go wrong with potatoes.
Overall this experiment in our venture towards other cuisines panned out well and we hope to come back again soon.