Eunjae recently commented that she misses driving and I totally concur. It is difficult to go from driving daily to not at all; however, this will change in July when we purchase a Skoda Octavia, the leading contender. In the interim, to alleviate our pent-up wanderlust, we went to Belgrade (Serbia’s capital).
Burek – Breakfast of the Gods
Burek is another Serbian obsession. I know you are asking “how can a nation of only 7+ million have so much passions?” Everyone, and I mean everyone, has asked us if we have tried Burek. Burek is a savory breakfast dish, made of phyllo dough stuffed with pork or cheese. Good burek is light and flakey, never greasy, and is either eaten with a slightly salty yogurt or sour milk. Burek was brought to Serbia from Turkey and dates back to the late 1400s. On Tuesday, Boban, his wife and their new baby daughter took us to Burek Plus; the best Burek bakery in all of Novi Sad, according to Google and many locals. We were fortunate that it wasn’t too busy with only a minor line. Boban said it is normal to have a line stretching into the parking lot (see picture top right). Eunjae ordered Burek with Cheese and I, of course, ordered Burek with pork. We both agreed that Burek with pork is far superior than with cheese. After consuming 200 grams (7.0 oz) each, we lapsed into a food coma. Apparently, having strong coffee is required to offset the lethargy. Here are some pictures from our sojourn.
Belgrade Wanderlust
Saturday we decamped Novi Sad and rode the high speed rail to Belgrade. Our first adventure awaited us at Belgrade Station, where the taxi driver tried to charge us 3x the normal fare, claiming it is due to high fuel costs. We promptly shut him down and only paid the fair amount. This is the first we have encountered inhospitable treatment, and it was a good reminder that no matter what country you are in, there are unscrupulous people willing to take advantage of tourists. This incident failed to dampen our spirts, although the rain certainly tried, and we continued our adventure at the Nikola Tesla Museum, Republic Square and Restoran Istok.
Nikola Tesla Museum and Republic Square
This was our second visit to the museum, and once again we found it informative with lots of great exhibits and a compelling video history of Tesla’s accomplishments and life. Watching the Tesla coil discharge, and seeing all of the fluorescent bulbs light up, was definitely the highlight of the trip (see video below).
The pictures below are some of the artifacts on exhibit. The museum also has a complete library of original drawing and notes.
Following the museum, we wandered over to Republic Square where there are tons of local and global shops, restaurants and live performances. We watched a live performance that was very etherial. Click on the video below to have a listen.
Restaurant of the Week – Restoran ISTOK
Finding spicy Asian food in Novi Sad is a challenge. We have only a handful of Sushi, Chinese and Thai restaurants in all of Novi Sad (for some reason no Indian), so as you can imagine we are having other Asian food cravings. Part of the reason for the trip was to try Restoran Istok that specializes in Asian (mostly Vietnamese) cuisines. Overall, we were happy with the meal and realized that due to the scarcity of certain ethnic ingredients (like cellophane noodles, right kind of spices), restaurants must improvise with substitute ingredients to recreate the original dish.
Eunjae and I started with Summer Rolls, and then I had the Vietnamese Beef Pho soup and Eunjae had the Korean Bibimbap (“mother of the bowl dishes recently becoming popular”, per Eunjae). Summer rolls were a bit chewy and the vegetables crudely chopped. This took away from the texture and the flavor as the carrots were overwhelming; also the lack of mint and peanut sauce was noticed.
The Beef Pho was very good. The broth had hints of cinnamon and star anise and the beef flavor was deep and complex. The substitution of pasta for vermicelli noodles did take away from the authenticity, but not enough to be bothersome. Eunjae’s Bibimbap was also good but suffered from substitutions and poor kitchen technique. Restoran ISTOK is a solid choice for Asian cuisine, and considering the chefs are Serbians, and not Korean or Vietnamese, I give them props for creating satisfying dishes.
Final Thoughts
This past week we were reminded of the Rolling Stones Song lyrics “You can’t always get what you want… But if you try sometimes, well, you might find… You get what you need.” Our food cravings might not always have an easy answer, but with a little effort and creativity we are usually able to satisfy our needs. Speaking of unexpected needs, Eunjae found a delightful Serbian / Argentinian couple who sell homemade empanadas. This is what we find so interesting here, Serbians are not shy about creating a business to create a market. The empanadas were excellent and when I shared the feedback with the couple, they invited us to dinner next month at their camp. We are curious if they mean a real “camp” or if this is a “lost in translation moment” and they mean a home. We will find out and let you all know.