Bernie’s Balkan Kitchen
7340 Kingsway
Burnaby, BC
In the last couple of weeks, I have been going to Edmonds area for some errands. It is both good and bad – if you go a bit past Highgate to the east, there isn’t much to see. If you go the other ways, specially north east and west, there are some interesting places to go, like Lhy Thai. On one of these errands, I decided to stop in a place that I have meant to go for some time: Bernie’s Balkan Kitchen. However, due to their odd schedule, it has been in to go list for a while. But, one day… 
Of course it begs the question: Why I wanted to go there. As I have been making reference to for some time, I have been trying to have cuisines from different parts of the world and, in this case, it goes Eastern European/Middle Eastern. However, rather than cabbage rolls and similar somewhat stereotypical dishes, I wanted to come here for something else: Burek
Of course, the first question is: what is burek? According to Wikipedia, it is baked or fried filled pastry, usually made of thin dough of phyllo. But, then again, that is a somewhat generic description: An empanada or a turnover can fit this description as well. So, rather than scratching my head, I just went there and order one. And, in the picture above, my full order with a small goulash.
As a reminder, goulash is a soup/stew made with beef. Since I have only one yardstick – Danube Restaurant – the comparison would have been pretty straight forward, right? Well, not necessary; it was partially apples to oranges. In this case, it was almost a stew and the chunks here were larger than those from Danube. However, the broth/soup itself was slightly below par compared to the one in Danube, as it did not feel as spiced as the other one. However, it is possible that, since it is “on display” rather than in a kitchen, there will be some compromises. Regardless, it was a good soup… Errr… Stew…
The burek… There were two options: beef or cheese. Sorry, beef for me! Before I continue, I did not intend to order this much food. When I was told “a slice”, I thought it would be something akin to a pizza slice; nope, not here. I found afterwards that it is supposed to be almost a meal by itself and since I ordered soup… Argh…. When I found out it was made of phyllo, I was under the impression of something similar to baklava, i.e., really thin “leaves” and somewhat crispy. That was true for the top layers. However, as seen in the picture above, the middle layers was thicker, as if it was dough rather than phyllo. I guess that still falls inside that definition. Tastewise, I was torned. It had an interesting chewiness but I found it lacked some meaty taste. Don’t get me wrong, you knew the beef was there, but the flavour was on the unidimensional side. Had it been made with some veggies, similar to anb empanada filling, I think I would have liked it more.
When I arrived and was looking around, the owner was waiting for my decision and suggested me to try a chevapee (or cevapi). Think one of those breakfast sausages (in fact looked like one!) but darker. Fortunately, looks were deceiving. It was really juicy and had an intense meaty taste. Yummm! Another item I noticed I noticed was their burgers. Sizewise, it would be something larger than a quarter pounder (or a “Royale”). It had the same colour/description as the chevapee so I can safely assume it taste similar. However, c’mon, I am not here for burgers!
While eating my order, there were several customers walking in and, more interestingly, some of them (including an elder couple) were speaking in another language (not English for certain). I guess it has its own share of customers. As for me, the burek was a bit of a coin toss. I would share it with somebody, though not necessarily would eat it by myself. On that note, you can purchase it frozen and bake it at home, which can work if you have a small party. Would I come back… Despite it had its share of ups, in the end, I am not completely convinced. I guess after I visit it with somebody else? Until then, I will put it on hold.
 |
 |
{ 17 comments… read them below or add one }
Ah… you tried Bernie’s. I’ve been eying this place as well. Thanks for the info. Seems like decent food. Not anything spectacular; but worth giving it a try at least. You’re right, the pasty below the initial phyllo looks a bit thick. You know what? What is odd is that I’ve heard about their burgers as well. But something seems wrong about eating a burger there without trying their other stuff first.
Hey, how come I didn’t know about this place?! I didn’t realize that there was a place you could get burek in Vancouver. I always make my own. Too bad you weren’t too impressed, Kim. A good burek is divine, but I bet this one was made with store-bought phyllo, which is awful compared to an authentic homemade kind.
Whoa, I can’t imagine how heavy that burek would have been with cheese. Definitely a harder meal.
Eastern European Delis…one here in Calgary is my favorite for lunch.
Always fresh, always home made style foods.
People are always misinformed about phyllo, and there is actually 3 times. I have no idea what balkin food is though…
Seems like someone’s gotta try the burger…
Karl, as in you?
Darina, does that mean next time you make burek you will save me a piece?
The burek at Bernie’s Balkan Kitchen is the best. You have to drink down a bottle of Kefir (akin to buttermilk) to make the experience authentic. Cheese burek isn’t heavy. My husband and I buy one meat and one cheese and cut them in half so we can have some of each. The also sell it frozen so you can take it home and make it for breakfast! Oh yes!!! The woman in Hungarian from Serbia and the cook is Albanian. My husband says Albanians make the best burek. I can’t be bothered making burek when I can buy it here. Had some today.
Mary, welcome and thanks for your thoughts. Does that mean I should go back?
hi there…
as i am coming from that part of the world i can give you somewhat closer info regarding bernie’s balkan kitchen…
1>
burek at bernies is home made pastry filled with meat or cheesse.
that is one of the better items here and i would agree with the author of the article on that one, but only would like to tell you that burek is a sort of breakfast food and should be eaten with a glass /cup of yoghurt/kefir
2>
cevapi (chevapee) are as good as you are capable to add enough flavour to it adding onions, ajvar(roasted red peppers spread) etc.
3>
so the only thing that i can not agree on are “burgers” as you think.
that kind of burger is very authentic and very, very tasty
it should be tasted because that is something you have never tried before.
it is some sort of meat mix that is 70%beef and the rest is pork with some onions and secret spices(crushed red hot peppers) abd it has nothing to do with any burger in this city. it is totally uncomparable…
best regards
Balkan boy, welcome! Thanks for your input. I won’t comment about the other items, as you seem to know them better than me; however, as for burgers… Well, let’s just say I have my own personal preference. However, you might want to refer to this post.
I go there about twice a year for their cheese burek, I quite like it and I agree that it goes really well with a kefir. I’ll have to try the other stuff on the menu – too bad I’m always at work when they’re open.
If you look at the pics, this place really, really, and I mean REALLY skimps out on the filling. Traditional burek has tonnes of filling whether it’s cheese or meat. These guys are making a killing because they can. Having said that, they did for a [short] while add more filling but they went back to having very little and highly salty filling.
If people know of any other place in town that is a Serbian, Croatian, Bosnia, or Balkan Bakery please post. We all would like to know. Please and thank you
Bugar, welcome and thanks for your comments! Does Danube count? Otherwise, sorry, I will leave it to Darina, our Eastern Europe expert!
Of course Bernie’s is RIGHT by my house and I’ve been curious to try it, but they were always closed when I went by. Finally, today, they were open. I had a cabbage roll on top of mashed potatoes. It was REALLY good. The meat filling kind of tasted like corned beef hash the way my mom used to make it, so I really liked it. Plus the lady put a bunch of the cabbage roll sauce and extra cabbage pieces on it, so it nice and saucy. I love wet food and this certainly fit the bill. I reached into my purse to grab my camera and realized I left it at home, so no post. I tried the cheese burek too, but didn’t really care for it. I’ll be back to get more cabbage rolls though.
Everyone should know that this is NOT authentic “Burek” aka Bosnian “Pita.” In Serbia this version is called “naslagaca” literally meaning “layered on”. It’s a fast and unauthentic way of making Burek. The proper way is to roll up the filling into a tube, like a thick rope, then roll it into a circle like princess Leia braids. Because these have a maybe 2-3 finger thickness (less than a standard size sausage) the burek bakes better ane has a crispy crust, not a soft doughy oily one like at Bernie’s. For my Chinese friends, this is like saying sweet and sour pork is Chinese food. You just can’t compare the authentic stuff to this. I also suggested Bernie’s owner lady to heat up each quarter slice of Burek in the oven after people order it, because Canadians like the crunchiness of phillo, but she insisted it would taste dry – I think she still doesn’t get it. Burek is not supposed to taste like a lukewarm goopy mess (her alternative was to microwave it). A better place to try the same kind of ‘naslagaca’ (not authentic) is Duffin’s Doughtnuts just up the street on Edmonds, but ask him to stick it into the oven for a few minutes (he’ll do it). There is nowhere in Vancouver where they serve the authentic rolled Burek. In reality, only the meat versions are called “Burek”, the authentic stuff is called ‘pita’ but that might be confusing to a Canadian as it brings up ideas of Greek flat pita. Although the Greeks have a version of this too (what do you think spanakopita is). The authentic Bosnian stuff is made with cheese, there’s a potato version, pumpkin, and desert style would have apples.
Stevo, welcome! I will leave it to other of the commenters who are more used to the cuisine in regards of the authenticity part. Sweet and sour pork? Technically, there is a Chinese sweet and sour pork dish!
You must log in to post a comment.
{ 1 trackback }