BL #27: Go Big Or Go Homa

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Geo: 44.8048, 20.4781

We've pretty much given up on trying to sight see in Belgrade and had the slackest of travel days, for a little bit of recovery time. It happens every so often, the need to take a bit of a vacation from the vacation, especially for us, nearly a month into our travels. The pace was pretty hectic in the Scandinavian countries, as we tried to pack in as many sights and activities as possible while we were in cooler climates. We slowed things down a little bit once we hit the Balkans, but the high temperatures here have still taken a bit of a toll.

The activities for today consisted of not much more than sleeping, eating, and a half-assed attempt to see the Nikola Tesla Museum. A lazy morning and breakfast meant that it was almost lunch hour by the time we had even left our apartment, finally making our way down to the museum. Planning wasn't our strong suit today, and we arrived to find that the next English tour wouldn't take place for over an hour - but no matter, as we would simply do it ourselves.

Unfortunately, it turned out that all the explanations were in Serbian, as was the movie, and that the museum was pretty much a complete bust without a tour, to explain and demonstrate Tesla's super-cool inventions. Of course, we could have easily waited for the next tour, but decided not to - how could we let something like a museum get in the way of our lunch? The mere thought of that is ludicrous!

There are a number of highly-rated restaurants in Belgrade, and Lorenzo and Kakalamba's was our destination for lunch. However, there was another bust today - it was closed for renovations! So none of our plans really panned out today, and we made our way back to our beautifully air conditioned and comfy apartment, and did some more of absolutely nothing at all. It may not seem like it, but some times simply having a big comfy apartment for a couple of nights can be a major luxury while traveling, and we took full advantage of it during our three nights in Belgrade.

Since none of our plans came to fruition today, we needed to make sure our final, and most important decision in Belgrade was the correct one - and that was to decide where to have dinner! Some quick research on TripAdvisor shows just how many restaurants there are to choose from here, and it can be pretty difficult to narrow down the options - all kinds of cuisines are available, and at a number of price ranges. But as always, you need to take all the rankings and reviews with a grain of salt - many reviews are surely fake, and in the end, you're still trusting the opinion of complete strangers.

So what to do? The choice was a difficult one, but we finally ended up making a decision that we had already made on our first night in Belgrade - back to Homa it was! It still wasn't easy, because as impressed as we were the first time around, a return trip to an establishment ends up in disappointment, more often than not. But we felt confident enough in the choice, since our first experience there was so good, and this time we would go all out, opting for Homa's substantial tasting menu.

Luckily for us, our final evening in the Balkans turned out to be one of the highlights, with Homa's tasting menu ending up being one of the most memorable meals we've had, anywhere in the World. From the moment we walked back in, we were made to feel most welcome, with the manager immediately recognizing us, and pointing out to the owner that we had just been here the other night. Soon after, a complimentary couple of shots of pear and quince raki made their way over to us, and then it was on - course after course of spectacular food!

There did end up being some overlap with tonight's tasting menu and the dishes from the other night, but they were somehow even better the second time around - the goose liver parfait tasted extra rich and delicious, and the pork neck had been perfected, this time being juicy and having a crispy crust. The service here was also top notch, as realizing that we had been here before, our server asked us which desserts we had the other night, to ensure we got to sample something new tonight.

Tonight marks the end of our time in the Balkans, and the end of the second leg of the trip - all in all, Belgrade wasn't the most exciting place for us, and it's doubtful that we would ever return. However, Belgrade did deliver in terms of our expectations - we knew full well that it wasn't the place for sights, and that it would be all about enjoying some excellent restaurants. But perhaps most importantly, it allowed us to cross off two bucket list items tonight - we got to go big, and go Homa, at the very same time.

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Photos

Skadarlija By Night ...
... after such a massive meal at Homa, we really should have strolled around for an hour, but were so tired that we just did a quick walk up Skadarlija back to our apartment.

Tesla Museum
... unfortunately, the Tesla Museum is a complete bust without a guided tour. Apparently, it's quite an interesting place, but only when you have someone to explain and demonstrate his inventions.

Homa's Chef's Yummy Salty Little Balls ...
... fried little balls of kajmak, a type of Serbian clotted cream. Delightfully crispy with a liquid centre, sitting atop different sauces - from L-R: blue cheese cream, sausage stuffed atop ajvar (our favourite), and one sitting on some guacamole cream.

Goose Liver Parfait, Again ...
... the same thing I said last time, but times two.

Beef Ceviche ...
... with a light horseradish cream, and some nice crisp bell peppers for texture. Very balanced flavours, and an excellent dish.

Lamb Skewer ...
... wonderfully tender, and served with labneh (a type of yogurt product), baba ganoush, and an incredible thick and rich tomato sauce. If we weren't already impressed by the chef's skills, this really nailed it - a definite knack for balancing flavours, and here he deftly did so with both Serbian and some more exotic flavours.
Lebneh?

Steak With Bordelaise Sauce ...
... and also a foie gras sauce, served with what we think was a beet jam. This and the fried little balls were tied for my favourite two dishes of the night.

The Bourne Ultimatum ...
... the final main dish of the night - pork neck, once more. It was a lot like the Bourne Ultimatum, where the sequel managed to improve on an already good original.

Walnut Cake ...
... with nougat, homemade ice cream, fig jelly, and some crumbly crunchy bits for texture.

Mint Chocolate Pot ...
... taking a page from the Nueva Cocina playbook, here's a bit of a trick on the senses, serving the dessert inside of a clay pot, to give the appearance of eating a potted plant. Very rich with chocolate fondant, topped with crispy chocolate biscuit bits, and some ice cream deep down. It was at this point that our pants popped open.

Better Burek ...
... on the way back from yesterday's fancier bakery, I noticed a simple joint serving only burek - it was much better here, with a pork and a cheese one. Because the burek portions were so substantial, we couldn't even touch the yogurt.

Restaurant Kosmaj ...
... instead of Lorenzo's, we stumbled upon this joint, which was packed with locals - the cevapcici was actually quite good, it's just that it was quite salty.

Salty Pljeskavica ...
... perhaps even saltier, since it was stuffed with a salty cheese.