Bereke - Central Asian/Kyrgyzstani - Lincoln Square

First, there were cupcakes. Then, there were donuts. Could Central Asian food be the next big trend? Well, probably not. But Bereke is Chicago's latest Central Asian restaurant, and it's less than a mile from Jibek Jolu. Although Bereke is the name of a village in southeastern Kazakhstan near the Kyrgyzstan border, our server at Bereke restaurant said the restaurant intends to feature food you'd most likely have in Kyrgyzstan. Me - I don't know enough to question her about the distinctions between food from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and even much of the Eastern European food I've eaten in my lifetime.





Bereke is not a big restaurant, featuring only a handful of tables. The following picture will give you an idea of the decor. Notice the Kyrgyzstan flag in the background.





All entrees are served with house baked bread, with the bread brought to the table immediately after ordering. The bread was a lightly sweetened white bread which I believe incorporated eggs, somewhat similar to challah, with a nicely browned crust but heavier and a little more crumbly. It actually reminded me a lot of a challah variation my mom prepares, but for the absence of honey in this bread. It was really good, and we appreciated that our server brought us a second basket.


House baked bread



We then shared two soups. First, the mastava (or mastaba), which I liked quite a bit. This was soup largely featured tomato (sauce likely) and carrot, but also bits of beef (warning: not listed on menu), dill, other vegetables, rice and a dollop of sour cream. It was largely a vegetable-rice soup (but I'm not certain of the base) with just a little beef, but it was well seasoned and tasty, even if not particularly remarkable. And it's not too heavy even for a summer evening.


Mastava (or Mastaba)



We also had the borscht. I've never really been a fan of borscht (but I'll always try it) - not much of a cooked beet fan - and though this borscht wasn't going to make me a fan of the soup, it wasn't as heavy in beet flavor as others I've tried. One of my friends who is more of a borscht fan enjoyed it however.


Borscht



We also shared both types of blinchiki (think blintzes): one stuffed with a lightly sweetened farmer's cheese and served with sour cream, and the other plain, folded and also served with sour cream. They were both well prepared, though simple of course, and I appreciated that the cheese filling was not too sweet.


Plain blinchiki



Farmer cheese-filled blinchiki, including one cut open



Without question, my favorite item of the night was the samsy (or samsa, like samosa). At Bereke, they're baked with a puff pastry shell and filled with a thin layer of ground beef and cooked onions. The pastry was a beautiful golden brown from the egg wash, nicely crisped and flaky and dusted with sesame seeds. I'd say it tasted a bit like a White Castle hamburger - but thanks to the moist and nicely seasoned (and black pepper forward) filling and the crispy, flaky puff pastry, it was so much better. Put a plate of these in front of my at a party and I'm pretty sure I could dust them off in minutes.



Samsy (or Samsa), including one cut open



The manty (manti) featured what seemed to be the same filling as the samsy, but in a house made dumpling wrapper like a pierogi, and steamed, and served with sour cream and dill. They were tasty and the dumpling wrappers were nicely done, but I preferred the puff pastry of the samsy to the dumpling.


Manty (or Manti)



Beshbarmak was served with house made noodles and lamb, but didn't taste a heck of a lot different than the beef-filled manti. It was decent, but maybe not as enjoyable as the manti. The small bits of lamb and onion were tasty, although I wish the lamb was just a little bit more assertive in lamb flavor. The noodles were also a little soft for my liking, and the little bit of lamb broth that I thought made the dish just a little too wet for my liking was a little too clear and thin. It was decent, but I think it could have been better.


Beshbarmak



Vareniki (like pierogis) were mildly disappointing to me. The house made dumpling wrapper itself was good, but the completely unseasoned farmer's cheese filling was very bland. That being said, there was some sour cream and dill on the plate, and also an infused vinegar on the table, so there ways to add flavor. But it would have been nice to have a flavorful filling for these otherwise well prepared dumplings.


Vareniki



For dessert, we shared a piece of the honey cake, which seemed to be thin layers of dense cake with graham cracker crumbs, thin whipped cream filling layers and a mild honey flavor. It was tasty and even pretty, though nothing special.


Honey cake



We also had a few house drinks - a somewhat clear mixed fruit juice (apple, raspberry, and more) that was only lightly sweet; Airan, a thick but drinkable house made yogurt that was really tart and terrific; and Chalap, a thinned and salty yogurt drink (think lassi).

Since I cannot find any references on the internet to this restaurant, here are pictures of the menu should you decide to give Bereke a try:






It's been a long time since I dined at Jibek Jolu (and I only dined there once) and I see I didn't post any thoughts on my meal, so I can't recall well how this compared. Though it looks like Jibek Jolu has a more expansive menu - and Bereke has a number of menu items seemingly intended to hedge bets in case people don't want Central Asian food. I probably should have asked if there's any relationship between the two (or their owners) given their proximity, some overlap in menu items and the fact that they serve the same type of cuisine.

Regardless, there were certainly items we enjoyed at Bereke, enough so that I would recommend you give it a try. We only encountered a couple members of their staff during the evening (not sure if there are more - the only other customers seemed to be friends or family), but they were very friendly. And these guys are going to need a way to find customers -- they say they've been open about two months, and yet this is probably the only advertisement (of sorts) you will find.


Bereke
2114 W. Lawrence Ave. (easy street parking)
Phone: (unknown)
Hours: I think it said 10am-10pm, and their menu lists breakfast, but I'll revise when I confirm hours
BYO? I'll see what I can learn in this regard.

These places serve the large, recent influx of young men from the Central Asian former Soviet republics. The -Stans. Many of these guys are driving cabs. Their business probably doesn't hinge on foodies, though I do really like Jibek Jolu.

The traditional Russian items on these menus are "authentic" in that they are eaten in the various former republics, as I understand it.

JeffB wrote:These places serve the large, recent influx of young men from the Central Asian former Soviet republics. The -Stans. Many of these guys are driving cabs. Their business probably doesn't hinge on foodies, though I do really like Jibek Jolu.

I don't doubt the influx of people from Central Asia, but I'm not sure they've found Bereke. I've only eaten there once, but I've walked by a few other times (even went in once to check out the menu), and there has never been anyone eating there. And they don't even have a sign to let people know they're there (but for paper in the window that's nearly impossible to notice when driving by).

We were there a few weeks ago but hadn't gotten around to posting. Thanks for starting the thread BR.

We had a salad, the same soup as BR, lagman and also the manty and lamb dish. Our favorite was the lagman which we thought compared favorably to Jibek Jolu. It came with a spicy chili sauce on the side. While the menu is more limited, Bereke is indeed BYOB which is a plus as there have been times I've had a hankering for Jibek Jolu but also for beer or wine with dinner.

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Great review and pictures, thanks! I am a fan of Turkic food, but haven't eaten at Jiblek Jolu or this place. Definitely have to try them. I wasn't made aware of the influx of Central Asians until I went to I-Cafe.

I forgot to add that the noodles in the lagman were not the same noodles as in the Beshbarmak. They were the thick hand-pulled variety. Very toothsome and quite delicious.

Crazy. There are now by my count at least 5 Kyrgyz restaurants in Chicago, all serving more or less the same hybrid Central Asian/Russian menu. No way is there enough of a community to support all of them, but so far Jibek Jolu seems to be the only one actively trying to appeal to Americans.

Anyway, the food in those photos looks good, with the exception of the sad manti. Too bad so many dishes substitute beef for lamb, but most of the above places do that as a cost-saving measure.

Thanks for the info Hellodali, including the byo note. I'll have to try the lagman next time then, at least for the noodles. Also want to try the plov and frikase.

Cilantro, please educate me on the manti because I really know little about how they should have appeared. The skins seemed well made to me . . . not sure if they should have been thicker with filling, but flavor was decent and proportions seemed fine.

I'm not a central Asian manti expert, but those look exactly like the excellent ones I get in Brighton Beach at the excellent Uighar joint,Cafe Kashkar.

also not an expert and haven't been, but manti sounds derived from korean mandu, which is their potsticker/gyoza and filled with beef (in contrast to the others that usually use pork).

central asian food seems like asian fusion done naturally.

I also do not claim any manti expertise, but the ones in the photo look underfilled and deflated. Could be the angle, though. The ones in this TripAdvisor photo are more like what I had in mind:



Having said that, it's hard to make a filled pasta that I won't enjoy if you put it in front of me.

It's my understanding that manti predate mandu, so the cognation goes the other way. The traditional filling in Central Asia is chopped or ground lamb. Lamb is the favorite meat there, and the favorite vegetable too, I think.

Thanks for clarifying. I wouldn't say the manti were under-filled. Rather, a good proportion of filling to dough, though I can't say the filling was particularly special . . . much preferred the samsa myself.

I'm no expert, either, but I have read pretty convincing stuff proposing that filled dumplings started in Central Asia and moved east and west, meaning that the dumplings of Central Asia might have influenced Korean dumplings more than vice versa. On the other hand, we know that more recently many ethnic Korean and Mongolian Russians were moved away from the former USSR's eastern borders and forceably relocated to the "-stans." Thus, the Korean ethnic minority in Central Asia is the source of the region's ubiquitous carrot salad, and is a 20th Century thing. The dumpligs go way back before that, of course.

To add to that, the Central Asian version of kimchi (called chimchi and available at some of the local Kyrgyz places, though not apparently at Bereke) is to me a pale imitation of the original. Not nearly fermented or fishy enough.

JeffB wrote: On the other hand, we know that more recently many ethnic Korean and Mongolian Russians were moved away from the former USSR's eastern borders and forceably relocated to the "-stans." Thus, the Korean ethnic minority in Central Asia is the source of the region's ubiquitous carrot salad, and is a 20th Century thing. The dumpligs go way back before that, of course.

Interesting bit of info, that.

Has anybody been here lately?