Yelp! Macedonia Style

Over the weekend, a few of my sitemates organized our first annual Tetovo Beer Tasting.  Basically, we went to the local grocery store and purchased 10 beers that we could purchase in bottles or cans.  We then randomly poured them into small dixie cups, from which we tasted blind and ranked based on our preferences.

I am providing my own ranking below (beers brewed in the Bakans are indicated with their country of origin in parantheses):

1    1. Skopsko (Macedonia)

2. Laško (Slovenia)

3. Starogradsko (Macedonia)

4. Becks

5. Amstel

6. Tuborg

7. Kamenitza (Bulgaria)

8. Heineken

9. Staropramen

10. Zlaten Dab (Macedonia)

Not only was I surprised that Skopsko ranked at #1 for me (it is brewed in Skopje), but I also feel very guilty that the Prilep-brewed Zlaten Dab ranked last.  Typically, when I go out for a beer in Macedonia, I prefer to order a Zlaten Dab over a Skopsko.  But this taste test was eye-opening.

Ready to be judged

Examining dat viscosity

Also, here are the averaged results of the entire taste test (ranks added and then divided by 3):

1. Laško (8.7)

2. Skopsko (8.3)

3. Starogradsko (6.7)

4. Staropramen (6.3)

5. Amstel (5.7)

6. Heineken (5.3)

7. Becks (4.7)

8. Zlaten Dab (3.3)

8. Kamenitza (3.3)

10. Tuborg (2.3)

Other Reviews of Macedonia

Given that I have lived here for almost three years now, I figure that I may also share my favorite places for different Balkan delicacies or other cuisines.  Of course, these reviews are all based on my opinion, but they are well weighed/ contemplated given the amount I have traveled and eaten during my time here.  And if you want a review of what each of these food items are, feel free to visit my previous post about Macedonian cuisine.

Best Burek- Beličev Bakery, Kochani

Burek is the basic fast food in Macedonia.  It is greasy, cheap, and prevalent.  The basic types are with ground meat, with cheese (sirenje), pizza, and with spinach.  So choosing the best burek is a complicated task, since there are so many dimensions from which to judge them.  But without a doubt, only once have I repeatedly praised the taste of a burek, and that was of the burek with leeks and cheese which I purchased in Kochani at the Beličev bakery.  The cheese was markedly fresh and creamy, the crust was crispy without being greasy.  It was heaven in a burek.

Best Kebabi- Baba Tsana, Kumanovo

Kebabi are also very difficult to judge, since they are very prevalent and seem pretty difficult to screw up.  In a way, judging kebabi is like judging breakfast sausages (minus the maple syrup taste), so a lot of the content for judgment comes down to the texture and consistency of the kebabi.  But in my opinion, the kebabi from Baba Tsana in Kumanovo ranks at the top.  The flavor is distinct and heavenly, and the texture is perfect (not at all spongy).  Baba Tsana is renowned in Macedonia for being a quality kafana overall, so do not limit yourself to the kebabi if you make it out to Kumanovo for a visit.

Best Shopska Salata- Berovo

Tomatoes, cucumbers, and white cheese (sirenje).  These three simple ingredients together make one of the most delicious and healthy meals you can eat in Macedonia.  As I mention multiple times through this blog, the tomatoes in Macedonia are heavenly (when they are ripe in the spring and summer).  The best are supposedly produced near Strumica, which gives Berovo an edge.  Berovo is also known for being very cold (given its elevation), so that makes for delicious, creamy cheese throughout the year.  It probably does not matter where in Berovo you eat a shopska salata.  Just know that the cheese and tomatoes will be out of this world.

Best Tavče Gravče- Žežo, Bitola

I mentioned in a previous post that tavče gravče is my favorite Macedonian dish.  There is nothing like a simple batch of baked beans siting in a clay pot (and sometimes topped with a kielbasa) that can fill you up for the night.  Anytime I eat tavče gravče, my stomach instantly becomes happy.  But Žežo has the best tavče gravče I have ever eaten.  And Žežo is also my favorite kafana throughout all of Macedonia (probably more due to the great nights I experienced there than anything else), so any visit to the Bitola restaurant is warranted.

Best Donër- Dajti Donër, Tetovo

Even more so than with kebabi, donërs are difficult to compare since they usually comprise of the same ingredients, and they are very difficult to screw up.  They are also the perfect night food (ie. helping to soak up some brews in the gut), so they are like the late-night tacos of Europe.  Donërs are very difficult to find outside of Albanian communities, so it's self-evident that my ranking for the best donër would be from Tetovo.  Nothing really sets Dajti's donër apart from others, besides that you can order one quickly, and it was the first donër which I have ever eaten here.  Nonetheless, it's always good.

Best Čorba- Makedonska Sofra, Ohrid

Čorba is like the McDonalds breakfast of Macedonia- if you can start your day early enough to eat it, you may have to Snapchat about it.  Basically it is just a simple soup, but it is heralded as one of the best hangover cures (if accompanied by a rakija) that one can eat in the morning.  Thus, čorba is difficult to find after 11AM each day, since most of the old Macedonian men finish the morning stock early in the morning so they can start the day of drinking anew.  Luckily, getting to Makedonska Sofra in Ohrid had never been an issue to many of us PCVs who were in the town for a weekend of fun.  They also typically have multiple čorbas on stock each morning, including čkembe (stomach lining, similar to menudo), chicken, beef, fish (their specialty), and jagneška (lamb, my favorite).  Don't forget to add the vinegar!

Best Topeno Sirenje- Castello's, Struga

As Ohrid's neighbor along the lake, Struga has the best topeno sirenje in the country.  Topeno sirenje is basically a clay pot filled with a medley of baked cheeses (saturated fats galore).  When we celebrated Vevčani in January 2014, we devoured many pots of this delicacy, which was easy since Castello's offers three different versions of the dish (including a pot with garlic).  And the baked bread with sesame that accompanies the cheese- glorious.

Best Pizza- Leone, Prilep

Sure, it may seem strange to include pizza on a list of cuisines within Macedonia.  But as I mentioned in previous posts, pizza in Macedonia is so different to those typically found in the USA since pizza here pretty much lacks pizza sauce.  Thus, many Macedonians top their pizza with mayonnaise and ketchup (which many PCVs see as barbaric).  I have personally adapted to topping my pizza with ketchup, especially since the component I find most crucial when judging pizza is the sauce.  If a Macedonian restaurant cooked a pizza with a delicious sauce, I would certainly give it my vote.  However, no pizzeria has diverged from the norm, so I have to give my vote to the most delicious pizza in Macedonia- in my former site of Prilep.  The pizzas here are cooked perfectly in what seems to be a wood-burning stove.  The best pizza is the Krali Marko pizza, which may not be on the menus anymore, but basically contain peppers, pepperoni, gorgonzola cheese, sour cream, and sesame seeds on the crust.  Pizza made for a king.

Best Rakija- Kruševo

It is a bit sacrilegious of me to claim that the best rakija in Macedonia is not made of grapes (Lozova rakija, the kind most people make at home), but rather of plums (Šlivka, which is more prevalent in Serbia).  Yet, whenever I want to buy a bottle of rakija, I always head straight for Kruševo, where they serve a glass of the plum elixir for only about 50 cents.  My love for this rakija may also be a result of great memories created while drinking it (one of which involved good company before our 2015 YMLP camp).  Note: I forgot the name of the restaurant that serves it, but once I rediscover it, I will share it on this blog.

Best Late-night Food- Kaj Vili, Skopje

I may have cheated with this category, since others on this list may also qualify for late-night food (donër, burek).  However, nothing has quite saved me on nights where the balance of alcohol-to-food ratio in my stomach was off like Kaj Vili (English translation: By Willie's).  Their grilled chicken sandwiches, stuffed with French fries and topped with curry sauce are the perfect weapons to pacify any bender in Skopje.  And they are located in many locations around the city, including near the Holiday Inn in the center and near the City Park.

Looking forward to my return to Macedonia in however many years, you can be sure that I will be visiting a handful of these places to satisfy my cravings for the epitome of Macedonian cuisine.