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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.

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.

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.

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.

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Cevapi

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Burek

Three of Tuzla's luxurious and expensive restaurants impressed NJ Wines: Restaurant City Steak House, Restaurant Hotel Mellain and Restaurant Mama Mia. Restaurant City Steak House is a very beautiful and modern restaurant on the 16th floor of Tuzla's most modern building. It got 5,0 NJP of 5,0 NJP for reception and service, 5,0 NJP of 5,0 NJP for cleanliness of the whole restaurant and 5,0 NJP of 5,0 NJP for the beautiful and modern interior. However, the taste and texture of the food varied greatly. From 0,0 NJP of 5,0 NJP for extremely fatty and extremely long fried prawns to 5,0 NJP of 5,0 NJP for a wonderful vegetarian soup, 5,0 NJP of 5,0 NJP for brilliant grilled chicken thigh fillets with perfectly grilled vegetables as well as 5,0 NJP of 5,0 NJP for fabulously creamy soup made with finely chopped veal meat and various vegetables. What lowered the restaurant's overall score was a warm white wine 0,0 NJP of 5,0 NJP, an old and dry bread that NJ Wines got with the above mentioned fabulous creamy soup and as well as the above mentioned extremely fatty and extremely long fried prawns. If we take into account everything mentioned above, the restaurant gets a final rating of 3,5 NJP of 5,0 NJP. Restaurant Hotel Mellain, which is located in the super modern Hotel Mellain, is a very beautiful and modern restaurant. It got 5,0 NJP of 5,0 NJP for reception and service, 5,0 NJP of 5,0 NJP for cleanliness of the whole restaurant and 5,0 NJP out of 5,0 NJP for the beautiful and modern decor. The food was really good, from the wonderful and creamy mushroom soup (5,0 NJP of 5,0 NJP) to the perfectly roasted veal fillet with perfectly roasted sliced potatoes and roasted vegetables (5,0 NJP of 5,0 NJP) to one of the Bosnia and Herzegovina’s favourite desserts, tulumba, which got 2,5 NJP of 5,0 NJP because it had a bit too loose texture. If we take into account everything mentioned above, the restaurant gets a final rating of 4,0 NJP of 5,0 NJP. If one has to be picky, NJ Wines must mention that it was very disturbing that the light in the hotel's toilet went out 10 seconds after one entered and did not move i.e. did not wave with hands, NJ Wines finds this extremely strange. Restaurant Mama Mia is a very beautiful restaurant decorated in a wonderful Italian style. It got 5,0 NJP of 5,0 NJP for reception and service, 5,0 NJP of 5,0 NJP for cleanliness of the whole restaurant and 5,0 NJP of 5,0 NJP for the beautiful and stylish Italian interior design. Here, NJ Wines always felt very welcome, almost the feeling of home. The restaurant's creamy mushroom soup (5,0 NJP of 5,0 NJP) is fabulous. However, the quality of the restaurant's food varied from 3,0 NJP to 5,0 NJP and far too often one could not order something one liked the day before. If we take into account everything mentioned above, the restaurant gets a final rating of 4,5 NJP of 5,0 NJP. What was not good, and this applies to all three restaurants mentioned above, was the extremely poor selection of both red and white wines and that there was only one very poor white wine per glass and the same for red wine.

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Restaurant City Steak House

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Restaurang Hotel Mellain

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Restaurant Mama Mia

Last but not least, NJ Wines must mention Restaurant Ječmište kod Tome for its fabulous mix of suđukice (small long spicy and juicy sausages), ćevapi, French fries and, lepina cut into 4 pieces and slightly grilled before serving, 5,0 NJP of 5,0 NJP. Apart from the aforementioned dish and 5,0 NJP of 5,0 NJP for reception and service, nothing else matched. But if you are looking to try the aforementioned brilliant dish and want to experience Bosnia and Herzegovina's live folk music with very enthusiastic and beautiful audiences, you should definitely visit the restaurant.

 

The best

 

1. Restaurant Sarajka (ćevapi) 5,0 NJP of 5,0 NJP,

2. Restaurant Saranda (burek) 4,0 NJP of 5,0 NJP,

3. Pizzeria Mozaik (pizza) 5,0 NJP of 5,0 NJP and

4. Restaurant Mama Mia (restaurant) 4,5 NJP of 5,0 NJP.

NJ Wines

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