Tuzla's restaurants, Bosnia and Herzegovina (26-12-2022 and 15-02-2024 by Nenad Jelisic)

 

NJ Wines visited many of Tuzla's restaurants during June and July 2022 and June and July 2023. The restaurants, which were visited, ranged from those specializing in just one dish to those that had a wide selection of dishes and could be opened in any city in Europe. As Bosnia and Herzegovina was occupied by many different empires, mostly by the Ottoman Empire (just over 400 years) and then by the Austro-Hungarian Empire, its food tradition has been greatly influenced by it. Furthermore, Bosnia and Herzegovina consists of three major religions, Muslims, Orthodox and Catholics, each of which has its own food traditions. All this makes Bosnia and Herzegovina a unique culinary place when it comes to food. And therefore, if you get the opportunity, you should definitely visit and try different cuisines in some of Bosnia and Herzegovina's cities such as Banja Luka, Mostar, Sarajevo or Tuzla. Also, people in Bosnia and Herzegovina are very nice and helpful.

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When it comes to one of Bosnia and Herzegovina's food specialties, in the first place comes ćevapčići. Ćevapčići or ćevapi is a meat dish that is served in lepina (very airy pita bread). Ćevapi looks like small sausages and not like Italian and Swedish meatballs, which are round. Ćevapi are made in different ways and with different side dishes in different parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina. As for Tuzla, they should be grilled on embers and not grilled with the help of electricity or gas. Furthermore, their broth/sauce should be made from long-cooked beef bones with lots of different spices. The end result is grilled ćevapi with finely chopped yellow onions in lepina soaked in it the aforementioned broth/sauce. To the two best restaurants when it comes to ćevapi belong Restaurant Sarajka and Restaurant Sezam Tenis. Restaurant Sarajka on Jevrejska 6 got 5,0 NJP of 5,0 NJP for its ćevapi. That the restaurant got 5,0 NJP of 5,0 NJP is due to perfectly grilled, perfectly juicy and perfectly smoky ćevapi with perfect meat texture. The interior of the restaurant is simple (5,0 NJP of 5,0 NJP), only wooden furniture, but that is usually the case in this type of restaurants in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The reception and service were brilliant (5,0 NJP of 5,0 NJP). The same applies to the cleanliness of the restaurant (5,0 NJP of 5,0 NJP). The restaurant gets a final rating of 5,0 NJP of 5,0 NJP. Restaurant Sezam Tenis, which got 4,5 NJP of 5,0 NJP for its ćevapi, also had perfectly grilled, perfectly juicy and perfectly smoky ćevapi with perfect meat texture. That the restaurant got 4,5 NJP of 5,0 NJP for their ćevapi is because they were a little too salty. However, if NJ Wines takes into account the restaurant's hospitality and service (0,0 NJP of 5,0 NJP) as well as the cleanliness of the restaurant and the condition of the toilets (0,0 NJP of 5,0 NJP), the restaurant gets a final rating of 1,5 NJP of 5,0 NJP.

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When it comes to another of Bosnia and Herzegovina's food specialties, in the second place comes burek. In this case so-called savijeni (bent) burek. Burek is a pastry that is filled with finely ground beef, very finely chopped yellow onion and a good spice mix. Of the visited restaurants that have burek on the menu, the absolute best was Restaurant Saranda. The restaurant's burek got 4,0 NJP out of 5,0 NJP, the most of any other restaurant visited by NJ Wines, which has burek on its menu list. That the restaurant's burek did not get more than 4,0 NJP is because NJ Wines felt it was a little too fatty and that it lacked a little more finely ground beef. The interior of the restaurant is beautiful (5,0 NJP of 5,0 NJP), and reception and service were brilliant (5,0 NJP of 5,0 NJP). The same applies to the cleanliness of the restaurant (5,0 NJP of 5,0 NJP). If everything mentioned above is taken into account, the restaurant gets a final rating of 4,0 NJP of 5,0 NJP.

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There are only two of Tuzla's pizzerias worth mentioning in this article and they are: Pizzeria/Bakery Hukic and Pizzeria Mozaik. For religious reasons, both pizzerias use turkey ham instead of the real pork ham. If we start with Pizzeria Mozaik. It got 5,0 NJP of 5,0 NJP for reception and service, 5,0 NJP of 5,0 NJP for cleanliness of the entire pizzeria, 5,0 NJP of 5,0 NJP for the modern and frugal interior and 5,0 NJP of 5,0 NJP for its perfect pizzas in terms of the pizza's ingredients, taste, dough and crispy bottom. If everything mentioned above is taken into account, the restaurant gets a final rating of 5,0 NJP of 5,0 NJP. Pizzeria/Bakery Hukic got 5,0 NJP of 5,0 NJP for reception and service, 5,0 NJP of 5,0 NJP for cleanliness of the entire pizzeria/bakery and 5,0 NJP of 5,0 NJP for the modern interior. However, for the most important for a pizzeria, Pizzeria/ Bakery Hukic got 4,5 NJP of 5,0 NJP for its pizzas. The reason for that is that Pizzeria/Bakery Hukic uses far too little cheese and ham for its pizzas. If everything mentioned above is taken into account, the pizzeria gets a final rating of 4,5 NJP of 5,0 NJP.