This review is for their catering. This place came highly recommended by a colleague and after she won a gold star for her recommendation of an Indian place we let her pick our staff social club lunch menu. The food was so good. We ordered for about 45 people for our lunch today. Free delivery to Richmond from Burnaby. They arrived on time and the food was nice and hot. For $15 per person there was 5 different meats, two salads, mashed potatoes, rice, veg, and bread. Be nice and tip the driver. Got lots of rave reviews from a normally picky group. Even our vegetarians were happy with their selection. But this is a very meat heavy meal. Comfort food at its finest. They ask that you order 2 days prior to your event. I am going to have to make a trip to their restaurant soon, but I know our office will be ordering from them again. Yum! read more

This place is awesome. Where else can you get such portion with such great price. Food is satisfying. Service is kind and pleasant. I highly recommend this place read more

Well I guess if you're a fan of huge piles of meat this would be the place for you but it really wasn't my thing. The rest of my family ordered meat platters (or should I say mountains?) but looking for a less meaty option i ordered the "Muckalicka" - a chicken and vegetable stew. Chicken was tough, and it was supposed to be served in a "spicy sauce" but there was no spice at all and the whole thing was pretty much flavorless (I was dying to drown it all in sriracha!). To their credit I did like their mashed potatoes and they had really good bread. Service was terrible though - we had to wait like 10 minutes after being seated for menus and the waitstaff were almost nonexistent. read more

Balkan House - My dinner dates ordered the platter for 2 (which could probably feed a small village in the former Yugoslavia) - Modern European Near Me - Burnaby, British Columbia

Wow! So yummy! We went on a Sunday afternoon and it was meat and potato heaven... with a creamy homestyle cake for dessert! I was looking for a "family style" restaurant in the Edmonds/Burnaby/New West area, where we could linger and talk and eat for a couple of hours, and this was a fantastic choice. We had a very leisurely lunch, buffet, yummy food and coffee. Very reasonably priced! There were quite a few tables of Slavic families out for a Sunday brunch, and the atmosphere was quiet but busy. So very enjoyable! Best of the buffet were: * potatoes... scalloped and roasted... soooooo good! * homemade sausages... bet you can't eat just one * light and tasty cole slaw * Greek salad with creamy feta * roast pork, roast chicken, fried meats too... :) While we were leaving there were quite a few 'take out' orders being paid for, so I guess that's another idea for a future event. PS, while you're there, head next door to Butcher Boy meats... another fantastic experience... http://www.yelp.ca/biz/europian-butcher-boy-bby-burnaby#hrid:VDK_gQ6fGJRj2uZj9ylSoQ read more

I took my (non Eastern European) wife here on a lark. We did notice that most everyone here spoke Serbian, even the customers. The server was rather aloof, but attentive enough without being bad. The Balkan Platter is supposedly for 2 people, but it can easily feed 4 or more. We were absolutely stuffed, and had lots to take home. A good value for the money. The atmosphere is rather dark and a bit dreary. It would be easy to feel out of place if you aren't Slavic, and I figure this place could try to be a bit more welcoming to the non Slavs. read more

I had Karadjordjeva and Vesalica here. Karadjordjeva was delicious, exactly the same taste as one you can get in Serbia. Vesalica was not that good, I think that they used different piece of meat than one that is used for original Vesalica. Atmosphere was totally authentic with some Serbian music playing in the background. Overall, really good experience, there are very few restaurants around with authentic food from ex Yugoslavian region. I'll be definitely visiting again!! read more

Balkan House - Karadjordjeva, Vesalica and Sopska. Karadjordjeva was absolutely perfect! - Modern European Near Me - Burnaby, British Columbia

Hrmmm. Came here last weekend for a large family dinner, and I was pretty excited because of the positive reviews boasting a nice, cozy home-like atmosphere. We came inside, and were greeted right away by a really friendly staff member, who ended up being our server. Our table was a pretty large group, but most of our group opted for the buffet, so it wasn't really overwhelming. It took quite a while for our drink orders to be taken, and all around things were slow. the entire evening. The buffet was mediocre, and nobody really commented on their meal being super tasty or anything. There was schnitzel, a roasted pepper dish, various types of potatoes and some rather yucky rice. All in all it was just a bland experience, our waitress was super friendly, but it got to the point where we'd finished up and got really, really tired of waiting for our bills. read more

I went here a while ago and it was a solid 3. We ordered a meat platter for 2 and the portion was very generous. I'm pretty sure 4 people can share this platter and still be full. Taste-wise, the meat platter was OK. Not as much seasoning as I would have liked but at least the meat was grilled right. read more

Balkan House - Meat platter for 2 - Modern European Near Me - Burnaby, British Columbia

People think bologna is the bees knees until they've had steak, but not this steak. Any decent review of the platter they serve is a joke. We felt like we went to someone's house and had their leftovers served to us. Nothing but dry meat and salt. No juices flowing, no HP sauce or any condiments present or offered. If this is how they eat in Yugoslavia, I feel sorry for them. Patties of tough dry steak, with bacon, sausage and some sorta excuse of a kebab, which really was the same steak, cut in pieces put on skewers. Any vegetable on those skewers? Hell no. Rice was like over boiled, and what was told to us was scalloped potatoes was just simply mashed. Cabbage salad was exactly that, just cabbage and oil. "Greek salad" with, hold on to your horse, 1 olive, don't break the bank there pal! We couldn't finish it and thought it would be ok to take the rest home. When we paid the bill and left, we noticed we forgot the "doggy bag", but guess what, it wasn't worth going back in for, and I wouldn't have fed it to a dog. Get real people, a place like this shouldn't be in business. I really hope that Yelp serves a purpose here. You would have been happier, believe it or not, going to McDonalds...at 3am. read more

Food was ok. Prices was not bad. Probably would not come back. This place did not have a warm vibe at all. I would not recommend any one going here who is not from the same region as the owners. Did not feel welcome. read more

Really run down on the outside. Looks awful. Inside better but long overdue for renovations. Food pretty good, not quite traditional Slavic style but ok. Again, portion size vs price is an issue. Might come back for the Sunday buffet of the place doesn't close down for good due to financial difficulties. read more

Balkan House - Old worn naked sign - Modern European Near Me - Burnaby, British Columbia

I have to admit, having spent several months in the Balkans, I was a bit disappointing not to see a bare bulb lighting hanging off the ceiling, and a burly waiter sporting a mustache that makes Hulk Hogan green with envy The place is clean, well lit, and the seating is a comfortable luxurious-diner-half-circle style (I think I just made up a new style in interior design). All in all the experience was great, although the food is a bit Americanized version of the true Serbian cuisine. I don't recall ever being served rice with cevapcici or pljeskavica before, but this place seems to have it in abundance. Also, the parking is a bit shabby, so all in all 4 stars for this place read more

Went here for dinner tonight with high expectations ...since my son's father my ex, is Slavic, I am very familiar with the culture, food and have been there many times and eaten the grilled meats for many years. My husband is Macedonian/Greek, a great chef and knows his meats and grilling is his specialty. We opted for the meat platter for two since we thought we'd bring home left overs to my sons place when we visit tomorrow. Let me start with the good: "DOBRO" Hot fresh bread was a-mazing! But they don't bake it so they don't get points for that. The Greek salad and dressing were delicious! 2 small CEVAPCICI were OK, but dry That's it... for the good: The BAD: "NIJA DOBRO" Everything about this "meat" platter was wrong. Presentation: Terrible... meat piled up randomly, not appetizing in the least., All the meat/sausage was dry as though it was pre cooked well before we arrived and then warmed slightly In the microwave or oven. Several pieces had a lot of hard grizzle ( chewy hard pieces.) Overall the meats/sausage did not have a lot of distinguishing taste between them but all were very dry. Meat freshly grilled properly has juices running onto the platter. Our platter was bone dry. One notable difference when seeing the other meat platters pass by us to other tables, notably Slavic speaking people at them, it was all steaming hot and you could "smell" the food passing by unlike ours. Personally I think there was some "cultural preferences" being put into play here. Service: military with an attempt of a few smiles but nothing I would give more than a 10% tip for, if that. We left over 90% on the platter, took home the "doggie" plate and will give it to the dog for a snack. There are many restaurants in our Burnaby area that I will continue to eat at for years to come .. the Balkan House will NOT be one of them!! read more

Get the platter for two and some ćevapi and you'll easily feed a family of four or more. Fantastic meat, fresh off the grill. Choose the "kupus" (cabbage with salt, vinegar and oil) as the salad and you're in for a fantastic Balkan meal. read more

Very poor service, totally ignored my wife and I after seating us at an out of the way table. Since we weren't regulars we were discouraged from eating there. yes we left without ordering after waiting 15 minutes at the table without even taking our drink order. Oh yeah, the waitress took away our wine glasses after pouring our water and dropping our menus. Extremely rude and unfriendly. read more

This place is awesome... great selection of food, good prices if you're keeping your purse strings tightened - I especially recommend to check it out for lunch, they have brilliant Balkan lunch specials which always include a delicious home made soup. read more

Delicious and homey! My bf took me here for our first date for a taste of his culture. Loved it!

In spite of the reviews here, I was very disappointed. The decor is sad, old and cold. I ordered a meat and vegetables stew or muckalica. The meat was drowned in a strange heavy juicy spicy gravy not good and flavorless. The mashed potatoes were tasteless and dry probably industrial like the rice. I had a bad breath and a very heavy stomach till the day after. At last, there was a mistake on my bill and I paid more but who notes the price at the order? Apparently, other people were also surcharged. I won't never come back, even for free. Besides, take a look at the inspection reports of the Fraser Health Authority, ''the premises are not free of pests'' and there is a lack of cleanliness. Enjoy your meal! read more

I Ordered take out from this place recently , it used to be substantially good when the previous owners owned it. Since then I am wondering what happened as I have noticed the quality drop immensely. The food I ordered looked nothing like it used to, the portions were Small and unfair for the price. Presentation of the food does not seem to matter to the new owner.Among the order I ordered "karadordeva schnitzel with kajmak" the karadordeva was supposed to be for 2 people, there was 2 small rolled up things that were not even 5 inches long and 1 cm across.....they were dry, little hard and not anything close to the delicious karadordeva I remembered ,Even the rice was such a small portion that they had to sprinkle the rice around the sauce in the cup to try and make it look half heartedly full. The fries seemed like they were made the morning of that day as they were hard and cold . The 2 salads I received were also discouraging as one salad had more feta then the other. They basically skimped out on everything they could. This is extremely disappointing and I would not recommend eating here . It's a big ripp off !!!! read more

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My favourite European food. I highly recommend the Cevapici (little sausages) They are always cooked perfectly and juicy. Don't come here expecting outstanding service. The staff is overworked and usually only have a few servers working whenever I come. The food comes out fast though and for the price - it's worth it if you're not needy! $12-20 average cost which comes with bread, rice and salad usually. mmmm! read more

Really good food, especially the tripe soup (yeah, I know). A bit heavy for a meal overall, but very tasty if grilled meat is what you're looking for. read more

$20 sunday buffet is not bad, there's decent variety for meat and even the fillers are pretty good, the buffet gives you a good opportunity to try out some of everything but I think I'd rather order off menu the next time I don't believe there were any sauces available for the buffet so some items were a bit bland on their own Pros: + Meat meat meat + Service + Comfy seats Cons: - Could use more options for buffet - Fruit punch were warm due to heat from buffet read more

So much meat. Been here several times. This is a good spot for when you're craving the meat sweats.

Bit run down place but their meat is good. Portion is decent size. Too bad they only have buffet on Sunday from 4pm to 8pm. Will revisit for sure. read more

Tried this place tonight for the first time. Holy entrees! I ordered the schnitzel in mushroom sauce and its huge. Comes with potatoes, rice and a Greek salad so certainly enough food. It was not bad but I probably should have went with something not breaded. ( just a personal choice). My husband had the cvapcici (sp) sausages and the pork shish kabob and they were really good. There was a Russian wedding in the back area so live music and party which was kind of cool. The service was great and friendly. We will go back. read more

Balkan House - Mushroom sauce schnitzel. Huge! - Modern European Near Me - Burnaby, British Columbia

Best food EVER! I love the Sunday buffet (not sure how they make a profit). There soups are on another level and the schnitzel dinner is a no brainer. The only thing I would say can improve is the servers attitude, they just don't look happy to be working there. read more

absolutely disgusting. i found a hair in my rice and another hair in the breading of the schnitzel. I'm Croatian and love the food the Balkan House serves but hair is a no no. Besides the hair issue, a guest at my table ordered the lamb which was burnt and all bones. They cooked her another one but charged her FULL PRICE! The third issue with our dinner was our mashed potatoes were full of salt like someone dropped a container of salt. They comped me for my dinner but everyone else paid full price. no apologies, no discount. Sorry but I do not recommend this place. read more

I have already posted that I love this place and believe they prepare some of the best quality meals this city has to offer, and my family and I have been going there for years. Unfortunately, during the last few times we were there, our experience was ruined by an impersonal service we received by a waitress who is among the more recent staff there, as I don't recall seeing her until just a couple of years ago or so. She is middle-aged, Eastern European (but not Yugoslavian) and has a very dark, gloomy and disinterested demeanor. Every time we encountered her, she looked like she hated being at the restaurant and while she wasn't outwardly rude, she wasn't courteous either, not even at the most basic level. On one occasion, she even turned down our request for an extra seat, although it was quiet and all the tables around us were empty. We never wanted to create trouble for her by mentioning this to the owner, but I'm at a point where I want to request a different server at the thought of having her wait on us. Last time we got a different waiter and he was like a breath of fresh air compared to this woman, who just doesn't seem to have the level of intelligence required for the job. I really hope she changes her attitude or her place of employment for the sake of the customers as well as the restaurant itself. read more

I love this place! If you like meat, you will too! The Balkan Platter is the BOMB! I call it Meat-STRAVAGANZA!

My husband and I went for dinner on Saturday night. I've lived in Serbia and I can guarantee that the food is absolutely authentic. My husband ordered chicken shishkebab and cevapcici and I ordered smoked pork neck stuffed with cream (karadjordjeva) so we could share. Everything came with mushed potatoes and rice which was coloured with paprika, and ajvar. The salad - similar to greek was on the house. The portions were so big my husband and I shared the dessert - krem pita. Everything was ABSOLUTELY AUTHENTIC. My only tiny disappointment was that there was no live music that night but that's ok. We listened to recordings of new pop-folk music. This place is for meat lovers and more importantly for people who want to visit Serbia in Canada. This is a typical traditional Serbian restaurant - kafana. The waiter will sit you and will come a few times until they take your order and then bring the food. After that they will leave you alone. If you want anything else - either to order, or water, or whatever, you can turn around and see where the waiter is, make an eye contact. At that moment they already know that you need them, or you can lift your hand and somebody will come. I definitely recommend this place. And I will definitely come again on my next visit to Burnaby. read more

best balkan food Ive had! tasty and big portions. worth the price! you get what you paid for.