Tenen

Usually, when one spots a restaurant featured on Groupon, there are a few assumptions made - either it is new and trying to get the word out or they are not doing very well.  I'm sure there are other reasons too, but those are 2 of the most prevalent that I've seen.  So when I saw the Groupon for Tenan Restaurant in South Burnaby, I was mildly interested.  I just wasn't sure if it was worth a try.  However, at a recent wedding, someone at my table raved about the place and that prompted me to buy the Groupon.

I headed out with the family and kicked things off with the Traditional Meze Platter for 2.  Served attractively on a wooden plate (like an actual tree trunk one), there was more than enough for 2 people.  It included smoked pork loin, kulen, pork neck, katchkaval cheese, corn bread, ushtipci, kajmak and urnebes.  The best part of this was the fry bread as it was fluffy and light.  Eaten with the kajmak (cream cheese) and boom, it was all gone making us wanting for more.  Can't believe this was only $11.95.

Onto our mains, my son had the Pork Schnitzel with fries and coleslaw.  This gigantic hunk of pork was thick, yet at the same time, juicy and tender.  It was fried up crispy while not being greasy.  This was served with tartar sauce and lemon, where it was simple, but tasted great.  Underneath, the ample amount of fries were hot and crispy.  I can't imagine anyone finishing this and not feeling completely stuffed.  He gave it a try but came up short, only finishing 3/4 of it.  For my daughter, she had the Cabbage Rolls which were not the most attractive to look at.  However, they ate well with a tender cabbage exterior that still had some texture.  Inside, the pork filling was tender and mildly spiced.  I personally would've liked to see more sauce though.

Viv had one of their signature items being the Chicken Roulade stuffed with spinach and cheese while being wrapped with bacon.  I cannot stress enough how perfect the bacon was cooked as it adhered tightly to the chicken and was super crispy (no flabby bacon here).  This gave a salty smokiness to the otherwise mild-tasting chicken.  It was on the drier side, but was still good due to the cheesy filling.  For myself, I had the Serbian Signature BBQ with chevapi, chicken shish kebab, pork cutlet, chicken thigh, thick cut bacon and sausage with fries, kajmak and coleslaw.  Other than the pork cutlet and bacon, most of the other meats were rather dry.  However, I'm not surprised as most Eastern European meats I've encountered are not exactly juicy.  With that being said, I still enjoyed the plate as it was truly filling and hey, I love meat!  Now would I say the food was mind-blowing at Tenen?  Well no, but it was well-made and a good value with great service.  Let's just say I'll be back.

The Good:
- Large portions
- Well-priced
- Friendly service

The Bad:
- Meats a bit dry (but par for the course with Eastern European cuisine)
- Not a big place, must make a rez

A Taste of Ukraine

As I have said over and over again, for such a diverse city, Vancouver is pretty much dominated by Asian cuisine. Although there are many Italian and Greek restaurants to choose from, there is little else in terms of diversity. And let's not include North American food in this mix. It almost seems like other ethnic cuisine are under-represented. In a city as large as Vancouver, those "other" cuisines are indeed not very prevalent, even when there is a significant population of certain ethnic groups. For instance, according to the statistics for Vancouver, there are over 200,000 people of Eastern European origin. But then when one looks at the available restaurants that serve Eastern European food, there aren't many. If we break it down even further and focus on Ukrainian food, it gets even smaller. Heck, the most recent Ukrainian eating experience I had was from a co-worker who made authentic borscht. And no, it's not like what a Hong Kong style cafe serves. Now, I'm not going to profess that I know much about Ukrainian food. Heck, look at the options we have here. Other than perogies, cabbage rolls, borscht and kovbasa (kielbasa) sausage, I haven't had much "Ukrainian" eats. The last time I even had such food was from Hunky Bill's at the PNE (which I've done for many, many years...).

Since last year, a little shop that opened up on St. John in Port Moody has piqued my interest. A Taste of Ukraine didn't look like much; but there was some good words from reliable friends. Seeing how I was hungry and with no one to eat with, it seemed like as good of a time to grab some take out. Now, if one wanted to eat in, there are 2 tables available. For me, I grabbed a few items and headed home anxiously. Naturally, I got some Perogies with Kielbasa. There were 2 kinds of perogies - cheddar cheese & potato and sausage & potato). The first thing I noticed about the perogies was the ample filling which was not dense. I found that the cheese perogi was simple in taste while flavourful at the same time. The fat from the pan fried kielbasa provided a certain level of smokiness and flavour as well. As for the sausage itself, it was meaty with a nice sear. There was not too much sausage in the other perogi; hence it was not as flavourful. I much preferred the cheese one.

Continuing on with my "tourist" approach to Ukrainian food, I had one each of the Pork Cabbage Roll and Beef Cabbage Roll. Due to the nature of the meat, the pork roll was more tightly packed than the beef. As for the filling as a whole, there was lots of it and it held together. This could be a bit dense for some people; but I liked how it didn't fall apart while I was eating it. I found that the rice was cooked just right where it was not mushy nor too hard. With the sour cabbage combined with the tart tomato sauce, there was a level of zing as well as a hint of pepper. I thought these were good and well-priced (they were huge!).

Lastly, as I was paying, I noticed a tray of various Piroshki. I ended up getting a Meat Piroshki just to try. I found the bottom of the piroshki a little overcooked but it didn't affect the taste nor texture very much. It was okay, I found the meat to be a bit dry and tasteless. Maybe if this was a fried piroshki, it would've been more interesting. However, other than that, the perogies and cabbage rolls were fantastic. I'm definitely going to hit them up again to try some other items.

The Good:
- Well-priced
- Large cabbage rolls

The Bad:
- Not really a bad; but it's most take out, don't plan to eat-in

Balkan House

Once again, we were meeting with MagMagMug for some eats. TS and Donna Chang were not able to meet up with us at Rodney's, so we set up another rendezvous. Trying something a bit different this time, we settled on the Balkan House. TS was not exactly pleased since that would mean she would have to drive all the way out to Edmonds. I think there is an imaginary line around Fraser Street in Vancouver that she never crosses. Next time, I'm going to setup a dinner in Langley just to spite her. We really don't eat Eastern European food that often and didn't know what to expect. Thankfully, days prior, Jessica (Yum-O-Rama) had visited the Balkan House and blogged about it. Since we were going on a Sunday, we had the opportunity to try the buffet which runs from 4:00pm - 8:00pm. Vandelay, Donna Chang and myself arrived relatively on time after navigating through the street closure on Edmonds. It's part of the Sunday street closures in the GVRD.

Now, if you are ever in a restaurant with a buffet, it's hard not to look at it and wanting to try it while waiting. We gave TS half-an-hour to arrive before we decided to attack the food. Among the items at the buffet included Coleslaw, Bread, Scalloped? Potatoes, Rice, Roasted Potatoes, Veggies, Pork with Mushroom Sauce, Roast Pork, Vienna Schnitzel, Veal & Pork Sausage, Roast Chicken and cake. For $15.99, the price was reasonable since most of the dishes were around that price already. Because the food at Balkan House is predominantly heavy meats, don't expect to go back too many times to refill your plate. I only made it back twice and the second plate was modest. By virtue of being a buffet, I found most of the meats a bit overcooked. Thus, it was not the best indicator of how good the food should be. The meats were conservatively seasoned except for the roast pork, which was a bit salty. However, that was probably the best meat at the buffet since it was really tender. It reminded me of the Kintaro fatty pork.

The service at the Balkan House was quite friendly and attentive. The servers did their best to make us comfortable. In terms of ambiance, I found the restaurant to be stuck in a 70's time warp. It has the 70's lounge type decor and atmosphere. Either they are trying to be retro or they have no intentions of renovating. The clientele was predominantly European which indicates authenticity and popularity. The place was bustling with activity throughout our dinner. The buffet provided a good sampling of the various dishes at the Balkan House. I'm looking forward to trying some of the other dishes on a non-buffet night. I'm not sure if TS is going to join us though since New Westminster is like another world to her.

The Good:
- Really good service
- Unique cuisine, especially in the GVRD
- Great for carnivores

The Bad:
- You're not going there for the decor
- Food can be a bit heavy (if you do not like meat, but I do!)