Djerdan Burek Brooklyn

BOSNIA HERZEGOVINA 🇧🇦

If you were to dial 1-888-GO-BUREK right now, it would take you to the city's most famous purveyor of the savory (and sometimes sweet) Balkan pies, a 22 year old business built by a Bosnian family that arrived in the early 90's. A recent article in Culinary Backstreets was a good reminder that the Brooklyn location has been sitting on this author's to do list for many years, and served as inspiration for a visit.

Burek, when done right, is a simple and humble pleasure. There is nothing fancy about the finished product, but the skill involved in its creation translates directly to how tasty the end result will be. While differences do exist, the main idea of a burek is shared between the people throughout the Balkans, and thus enjoyed universally here in New York City. While this shop is Bosnian-owned, the customers in this part of Bensonhurst and Gravesend are primarily Albanian.

The menu could not be more simple. Unlike the original branch in Astoria, here Djerdan does not offer other Balkan items like ćevapi and keeps the focus on a mainly takeout business. A few tables are available in the space for dining in though.

A $5 burek slice (above and below) is available in cheese, beef, or spinach. Make sure to grab a cup of their traditional yogurt drink ($2) which is actually more for dipping than sipping, its sourness lending itself perfectly to savory flaky bites.

Both slices were enjoyed, although the cheese as usual is the winner. All three of these versions can be bought as a full pie for $18 if you bring a few friends along, or if you prefer more of the flaky crust in your ratios try the burek individual roll ($5, not shown), the same ingredients in a snake-like assembly that can also be enjoyed with potatoes or cabbage inside.

A big focus of the Djerdan business these days is right in the fridge as you walk in. They make all of their pies in frozen format, and you are likely to see a few customers coming in to pick these up to take home.

Save some room for their desserts as well, like the delicious čupavac ($2.75, left) and bombica ($3, right). The former is a sponge-like cake similar to the Australian lamington, while the latter is more dense, mostly chocolate, and more nutty. Both are covered in shredded coconut and excellent.

A meal here without at least one of them could never be imagined after this introduction.

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BENSONHURST Brooklyn
2283 65th Street

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