Balkan Bites

I don’t know a damn thing about Bosnian cuisine. This is a problem,
because the idiot editor of this newspaper assigned me to review Chef
Alisah’s Restaurant, a newish joint on the northwest side that serves
“European and Bosnian cuisine.”

Looking for some knowledge, I turned to Google, and learned …
well, nothing. The first Web site that came up when I searched for
“Bosnian cuisine” was Wikipedia, which informed me that “Bosnian
cuisine uses many spices, but usually in moderate quantities.” OK
then!

If I learned anything, it was that there’s not much information out
there about Bosnian cuisine. One of the top 15 pages that came up on
Google under “Bosnian cuisine” was a Tucson Citizen blog entry
about Chef Alisah’s Restaurant, and another was the Web site for the
restaurant.

So, off I ignorantly went. All joking aside, I don’t consider this
ignorance much of a handicap, seeing as almost all Southern Arizonans
would be equally ignorant. And my ignorant take on Ahmet Alisah’s
cuisine can best be summed up with two words: mixed feelings.

Some of the dishes we had on our two visits (one dine-in, one
takeout) were actually quite tasty. Our favorite had to be the cevapi,
aka Bosnian-style beef sausages (10 for $6.90; 15 for $9.90). They were
packed with lots of subtle flavors; when mixed with the onions, the
tzatziki (yogurt sauce) and the fluffy bread that was served along with
them, the sausages made for a wonderful treat.

I was also a fan of the sarma, or cabbage leaves stuffed with ground
beef, rice, onions and sauerkraut ($10.90). Garrett wished there had
been more beef inside of the five rolls, but I didn’t mind the rice’s
dominance. The rolls were served with some tzatziki and some ajvar, a
red-pepper-dominated vegetable dip which complemented the cabbage rolls
nicely. We’d already learned about ajvar’s charms before the cabbage
rolls arrived, because we got a tzatziki/ajvar plate as a starter
($5.90). Our only quibble with the dips was that they came with some
thick slices of white bread that were less than adequate as dipping
vessels; spreading the dips on the bread wasn’t a great option due to
the absence of appetizer plates.

While the sarma and the cevapi were splendid, other dishes we
sampled were mediocre, at best. The piletina u sosu od gljiva, or
chicken with homemade mushroom sauce ($11.90), had me excited, since I
generally love all things involving mushrooms (at least when it comes
to food). However, I didn’t love this dish at all; the chicken pieces
were somewhat dry, despite being surrounded by an overly watery
orange-colored sauce and topped with rubbery mushroom slices. The
highlights of the entrée were the rice and the cabbage salad
that come along with this and many of the other dishes; the salad was
pretty basic (cabbage, a tomato slice, a cucumber slice and a vinegary
dressing) but enjoyable.

I was also disappointed by the cufte u sosu, or Bosnian meatballs in
a tomato sauce ($8.90). On one hand, the meatballs were moist and
certainly dominated by meat and not filler (as is the case with far too
many restaurant meatballs); on the other hand, these meatballs just
didn’t have much in the way of flavor, outside of meat and pepper.

There was more flavor to be found in the gulas, or Bosnian-style
gulash ($9.90). Pieces of beef joined a sauce with olive oil, parsley,
salt, black pepper and bell peppers; while the dish didn’t knock my
socks off, it was decent, thanks largely to the tender and abundant
beef pieces. Even more enjoyable was the janjetina sa grahom, or lamb
with white beans ($12.90). The lamb mixed well with the
garlic-dominated sauce and the huge white beans. The lamb would have
been even better if it hadn’t been so fatty.

Hearty, meat-in-sauce dishes dominate Chef Alisah’s menu (with the
same fare offered at both lunch and dinner), although vegetarians have
plenty of options, too, thanks to the inclusion of a handful of salads
and five veggie-only entrées. A kids’ menu is also
available.

Chef Alisah’s offers a handful of unique desserts, including crepes
($4.50); an apple stuffed with walnuts, whipped cream and vanilla sugar
before being cooked in a sweet sauce ($3.50); and Bosnian-style baklava
($2). The only dessert we tried was the vocne kuglice, or fruit balls
($1.49, although we were given them free with our meal). About the size
of golf balls—maybe a little bigger—these no-sugar-added,
dry-fruit treats were both colorful and tasty. I liked my coconut ball,
which included an almond in the middle, while Garrett had a date ball
that he enjoyed.

With the name “chef” in the title, you might expect a somewhat
upscale atmosphere, although that isn’t quite the case at Chef
Alisah’s. There are some upscale touches—real tablecloths,
pewter-like small chandeliers and real plants—mixed with some
decidedly casual elements, such as cases of orange juice sitting on the
dining-room floor against a wall, near a noisy cooler emblazoned with
the Aquafina logo. A Bosnia and Herzegovina flag, purple walls and what
I am guessing was Bosnian music rounded out the atmosphere. The
service—the same young man served us on our dine-in visit and
helped me on the takeout visit—was competent but far from flashy.
Chef Alisah himself made a point of saying goodbye and thanking me on
both visits, which was a nice touch.

Whether or not Chef Alisah’s offers authentic Bosnian cuisine, I
can’t say. But I can say that my American, ignorant taste buds found
both unexpected pleasures and disappointments at this rare Bosnian
restaurant.

This article appears in Apr 30 – May 6, 2009.