Restaurant Sarajevo - Carnivore Delight

This restaurant has several scattered references on LTH. Time to give it a dedicated spot.

I had dinner here last night with my wife and a friend of ours. Our friend picked this spot as she saw the review on Check Please. We had a 6:00 reservation and our table was ready when we arrived. The restaurant was maybe half full when we arrived. By the time we left at 7:30, it was full. This is a dark wood, tablecloth-type joint, but not fancy.

Our server was the owner's son. Very attentive and humorous.

Warning - the basket of bread and accompanying spread is highly addictive. I could slurp the herb infused olive oil with a straw.

We started out with two appetizers - Grilled fresh mushrooms and an off-menu "just out of the oven" spinach pie. The mushrooms were good - but didn't have the wow factor of the advertised garlic that I expected. The spinach pie was quite tasty and the pieces were cut into cigar shapes rather than the usual pie shape.

Our entrees consisted of the Bosnian Cevapcici (skinless sausages), Bosnian Beef Sausage (grilled sausages stuffed into pita bread), and Pljeskavica (beef patty made from a mixture of ground beef and lamb filled with mozzarella cheese.) All were very good.

The owner came out of the kitchen periodically to schmooze the room. Very friendly.

All in - a very good meal. I've never had Bosnian food before. This is a very good start. As an esteemed LTH'r says - "count me a fan."

Restaurant Sarajevo - BYOB
2701 W Lawrence Ave.
Chicago, IL 60625
(773) 275-5310
http://RestaurantSarajevo.com

I agree with the sentiments on the bread and spread. It's like a hybrid of butter/sour cream, but very light and with a unique subtle flavor. I had a sampler of many of the grilled meats available, they were all pretty delicious. This place is also super reasonable in terms of price and BYOB as well. When we dined there, the owner was having a private party with a few of his friends where they were eating a deer that one of them had slain themselves, it looked delicious. I asked if I could order that, the waiter laughed at me.

Suiname wrote:I asked if I could order that, the waiter laughed at me.

Oh, surely not! I am confident that was laughing with you. Sounds like a good call, though.

Imortant update here, GB, thanks. This used to be the more typical smoky, dingy, unwelcoming Balkan storefront that makes restaurants from this tough but beautiful and interesting corner of Europe often difficult to crack.

I printed the menu to show the hubby last night. While reading through the descriptions of the menu items I can across this:

Bosnian Feta Cheese
Fresh Cold-Cut White Brine Cheese. It Has a Smooth Solid Texture, Sliceable Body, Tarty Taste, Salty and Slightly RANCID (my caps) Taste.

Rancid? Something lost in translation?

Also the prices are pretty wild. Appetizer prices are $8.16, $7.26, $8.16, $6.35 and $7.26.

All in all though, we are definitely going to check this place out.

Beverator wrote:Also the prices are pretty wild. Appetizer prices are $8.16, $7.26, $8.16, $6.35 and $7.26.

Pretty sure they'll all add up to a round number after tax.

gleam wrote:

Beverator wrote:Also the prices are pretty wild. Appetizer prices are $8.16, $7.26, $8.16, $6.35 and $7.26.

Pretty sure they'll all add up to a round number after tax.

They do.

Beverator wrote:I printed the menu to show the hubby last night. While reading through the descriptions of the menu items I can across this:

Bosnian Feta Cheese
Fresh Cold-Cut White Brine Cheese. It Has a Smooth Solid Texture, Sliceable Body, Tarty Taste, Salty and Slightly RANCID (my caps) Taste.

Rancid? Something lost in translation?

.

Perhaps they meant bitter?

Personally i have never been to Restaurant Sarajevo, but my parents were here years and years ago when it was just Cafe Sarajevo (I think unless I am getting it confused with another restaurant with Sarajevo in the title) and they liked it alot. Pretty sure there was no mention made of rancid feta cheese.

I was thinking that they might mean funky, a term beloved by foodies but otherwise implies something to be avoided.

I will third the tastiness of the spread that comes with the bread. IIRC, it's KajmacJohnson's namesake: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaymak. Shortly after having it at Restaurant Sarajevo, I was happy to find that Marketplace Oakton stocks a couple different varieties.

grack wrote:I will third the tastiness of the spread that comes with the bread. IIRC, it's KajmacJohnson's namesake: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaymak. Shortly after having it at Restaurant Sarajevo, I was happy to find that Marketplace Oakton stocks a couple different varieties.

You can also pick it up at a few groceries on the north side, all different varieties as well as Fresh Farms in Niles. Here's a list:

Andy's Fruit Ranch
4733 N Kedzie Ave
Chicago, IL 60625
(773) 583-2322

City Fresh Market
3201 W Devon Ave
Chicago, IL 60659
(773) 681-8600

Devon Market
1440 W Devon Ave
Chicago, IL 60660
773-338-2572

Fresh Farms
5740 West Touhy Avenue,
Niles, IL 60714
(847) 779-7343

Closed per signs in windows and Open Table. Coming soon: Himalayan Sherpa Kitchen.