After visiting my “Beloved Papa” last Saturday morning, I brought my family out for lunch at Balkan Express.
I’ve been hearing quite a buzz about Balkan Express from foodie friends.
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It’s a stone throw away from my place so when I finally found the time to check it out, that’s where we headed. Balkan Express is situated almost at the corner of Mon and J. Abad Santos streets.
If you’re not familiar with the Little Baguio area, the easiest route is to take Wilson Street from Greenhills and turn right to P. Guevarra. Drive along the street past the SKY Cable office and turn right when you see Mon St., where you will turn right again. I’m sure you won’t miss the yellow Balkan Express signage with two cute Balkan icons (?) with moustache.
Parking can be a setback but fortunately, we were able to find one near the entrance door. The restaurant, with yellow and orange walls and jar-like lowlights, is quite small with limited number of matching brown tables and chairs. There were 6 of us so we had to merge another table to fit our party.
Order should be placed by the counter (or even at the table but I decided to go to the counter anyway) where Serbian owner Marko Batricevic courteously helped me with the choices.
Marko Batricevic is a fellow La Sallian who was part of the DLSU team that took home the 2007 UAAP Basketball Championship trophy. Balkan Express is his and his brother Martin’s venture into bringing Eastern European Home Cooking to Filipino palettes.
On the Table
Chicken Batak PHP 290
Grilled boneless chicken thigh stuffed with mozzarella cheese served with Jasmine rice
I’ve heard “hit and miss” reviews about their chicken batak. My first try was not a letdown. The boneless chicken thigh was grilled perfectly without losing its moisture and the stuffing of mozzarella cheese was generous giving the chicken enough saltiness from the cheese to season the meat.
Goulash PHP 230
Internationally popular stew made of lean beef, onions, and paprika served with noodles, 150g of lean meat
The brown stew had tender chunks of lean beef and interestingly swirls of pasta noodles. The lean meat breaks apart easily without the effort of chewing. The goulash gravy was smooth and quite tasty with Serbian spices and touch of ground paprika powder and onions. The meat is coated well with the flavor of the goulash.
Stuffed Pljeskavica PHP 320
Grilled Serbian meat served with homemade sauce, tomato, lettuce, onion and French fries
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The semi-thick slab of meat is grilled evenly with visible grill marks that always looked appetizing to me. Cut into it delicately and the cheese stuffed inside oozes out daintily. The Serbian meat sprinkled probably in Serbian spices was flavorful but on the salty side –which might turn off some people but it was okay to me.
Musaka PHP 195
Layered oven casserole dish made with shredded potato, ground beef, eggs, yogurt, milk, and onions. Made to order
This is supposed to be a made-to-order dish which is usually ordered at least a day before, but Marko checked with the kitchen and since somebody ordered ahead of time, they can pull of another serving to accommodate our order of Musaka.
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The Musaka crumbles easily barely anything that holds the minced meat together except for the partial yogurt, egg, milk and shredded potato mixture on top. Texture is interesting with softness of the minced meat in contrast with the semi-crunch of the upper layer.
Balkanski Kebab PHP 330
Serbian barbecued chicken kebab (320g) wrapped in bacon served with Jasmin rice
Barbecued in my dictionary meant it must be grilled or smoked even just a tad bit –this doesn’t give that notion at all. The chicken cuts tasted like it was boiled instead of grilled without probably any type of seasoning because it’s flat out bland –that not even the shade of saltiness from the bacon could save. Fascinatingly, my sister Joanne seemed to like it and finished this. I couldn’t even finish half a bite.
Cevapcici PHP 180 (2)
All time favorite Balkan dish made of grilled minced meat served on a burger bun with homemade sauce, tomato, lettuce, onion, and French fries
Appearance is close to a hamburger except that the patty inside is actually three pieces of sausage-looking grilled meat. In terms of price and taste plus consistency in quality, the Cevapcici takes the crown. I ordered another Cevapcici to go so I could bring it to Dihia for his snack in the office and for him to try.
Service was handled well with minimal staff, even Marko was helping out in serving water and attending to the tables. I find the price a bit steep for the overall combination of taste/serving, service and ambience.
What I guess really turned me off the place was a noisy group at the far end of the dining room. My patience can usually stretch for noise (but maybe I did mind that time since I just came from a solemn place and still had a lot of unidentified emotions) but this particular lady in the group was obnoxiously loud with no courtesy for the other diners. Her booming voice can be heard audibly and painfully like she was just sitting right next to your EAR. I see a Chinese family next to us and they too seemed to be distressed. I recognize that the place is small and noise may resonate easily within the room –but my practical mind does know that if she could have unselfishly toned it down a bit, everyone would have had a more pleasing Saturday lunch there.
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Fat and Thin
My Reason to Breathe
If it’s going to be like that every time, I don’t think I’d be happy to bring my family back. My mom enjoyed the food despite the noise but I personally could barely think, much less eat with all the harping. If we do pay a return visit, it’s probably just going to be Bubba and me or with the Foodie Club.
If you’re interested in trying out Eastern European home cooking in Manila, Balkan Express can actually dish out that experience for you. The stuffed Pljeskavica, Chicken Batak and Cevapcici were the more popular choices for me and the rest on the table.
Balkan Express
Eastern European Home Cooking
87 J. Abad Santos., Cor. Mons St.
Little Baguio, San Juan City 1500
(632) 330 0945
Photo Credit:
Carlos of FoodieManila.com
Richard of TalesfromtheTummy.com
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Recent Table Guest