Balkan House - Burnaby

Now it is not in vogue to state you like pork but if you like pork and want to be amazed by what a good cook could do with it then this is the place to go.We ordered the platter dinner made for four of us at $17 per person.Out comes fresh warm homemade bread and butter then a lovely salad. At first glance it looks like a Greek salad however it is lighter with mainly tomatoes, cucumber and peppers, garnished with one black olive and a little grated white cheese.Did I mention that the tables have white tablecloths, lots of woodwork inside and it looks like a place you would find in Europe. Be prepared to see regular clientele all different ages getting a meal.Our dinner was served artfully on a platter with rice and a warm potato salad. There were four 5" pork & veal patties (my favourite), four home made sausages, four slices of crisp European bacon, four European type sausages, four skewers of grilled, crispy pork and it that wasn't enough 4 large slices of a pork steak. They often have a red pepper salsa like sauce which goes well with the pork. The pork steak leftovers became a warm snitzle sandwich the next day. If you have meat lovers or big eaters they'll be happy.They have other things on the menu and my neice with Crohn's disease was able to get a gluten free meal without any problem.This is simple, flavourful food, done well. Don't be put off the the tired looking outside exterior. You won't be disappointed.

Back when I was in the Army in West Germany I got to go to a gasthaus run by Yugoslavian family. When I saw Balkan House on Yelp I knew I had to go. We had the buffet so we could try a number of dishes. For a buffet the food was pretty good and they had a nice selection of items. Atmosphere: 5I loved the décor. It is totally 1970s fancy eating out place, lots of wood and somewhat dimly lit.Service: 3The service was so so in terms of keeping up with drinks and getting us our check. What was nice though was how friendly all of the staff were. They all seemed genuinely happy that we choose to eat their and were all happy to tell us about the food and their home country.Food: 4The food was good. It was a buffet so the bar is not quite as high.Value: 3The prices weren't too bad. The buffet dinner was around $15 and certainly well worth it.

I was given a choice to select a place to go to for a goodbye mini-party. I chose Balkan House because I've never been and know Eastern European cuisine. All in all, the place is nice, even though it could use some updating (at least to the washrooms). If you're vegetarian, you'll be told "wrong restaurant". There's pretty much no choice for "lousy hunters", a.k.a. vegetarians. If you like meat, you will be in heaven. The portions are huge, although without an attempt to make it visually appealing (E. European style). But, this is not a fancy restaurant and you go to get your bang for the buck - meals can seem "expensive" but they have their caloric value in them, for sure. If you're adventurous, try the tripe soup or smoked pork neck. If not, stay with cevapcici or raznjici (shish kebab).

Waiter was not very pleasant (did his job at a minimum). Did not have to wait too long for dinner which was nice, BUT, not impressed! I don't need to go into specifics, but my advice is to take your money elsewhere and go get good 'quality' food.This location New Westminster, BC

After reading some good reviews we thought we'll try it. It's definitely for the meat lovers. We all had the buffet. A good variety of meat dishes. The pork loin and the sausage were very good. It wasn't that busy when we're there but not much service from our waiter. Anyways, it was still a good night out. We would come back but next time will bring a big appetite.