Late Night Snacking at Balkan Express

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This is one reason why Paul and I love San Juan. As years go by, more and more interesting food spots would come out making it very accessible for us to grab a quick bite. Whether we're in the mood for Chinese, Mexican or some Taiwanese Milk Tea, we can easily satisfy our craving with just a short drive around the neighborhood.

Recently, a new restaurant opened at the corner of J. Abad Santos and Mons streets. This time it specializes in Eastern European Home Cooking. At first glance, I had zero idea what dishes are from the eastern European side. My first guess is that it has a lot of sausages as Europe is known for this delicious deli meat.

Finally, after finding ourselves in the mood for some late night snacks, we decided to visit Balkan Express to educate ourselves about this particular type of cuisine.

I like the bright yellow interiors that showcases photos of some of their best-sellers. The system is for you to order and pay before heading to your table to wait for your food to be served. We didn't want to sleep with a heavy stomach so we agreed to share that evening. Going through the menu, we zeroed in on the Cevapcici (P180) which, as the menu describes to be is, an all time favorite Balkan dish made of grilled minced meat served on a burger bun with their homemade sauce, fresh tomatoes, lettuce, onions and a generous serving of fries.

We made a special request, instead of serving it in a bun, we asked if it was possible to serve it with Jasmine rice instead. The owner and server said yes and this made me even more excited to try the Cevapcici.

After a couple of minutes, out came our order and I love the tangy tartar sauce served with it. Paul is a tomato ketchup fan so this dish was just perfect for us. We both took a small bite of the sausage and agreed that it was very flavorful. No need to dip it in sauce actually. How we wish they can serve more sausage pieces next time or at least offer the option to add more sausages.

What a surprise! When we asked that our bun be changed to rice, we didn't know that they still retained the french fries as siding. We love the freshly cook fries that wasn't salty at all. A healthy alternative to our fast food favorites.

Browsing their menu, I am curious about their Musaka. However this one has to be ordered a day in advance. It's a good thing I live so close to the Balkan Express that I can order this in advance and pick it up the next day.

After indulging in all the Asian food stops here in San Juan, it's about time European cuisine comes in and join the interesting mix. We'll definitely be back for more!

Welcome to San Juan, Balkan Express!

Balkan Express is located at 87 Jose Abad Santos cor Mons Street, Little Baguio, San Juan City. Call them at 33-00-945.

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