🥃 RAKIJA LOUNGE: https://www.instagram.com/rakijalounge 🎥 WATCH: Balkan Street Food in Miami: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Isk4di83BaA After coming home to Miami following a lifechanging trip to Albania, I needed to have more amazing food from that area of the world! Join me as I enjoy some insanely good Balkan food in Miami Beach, including Cevapi and Rakija!
For this Balkan food adventure, I headed to Rakija Lounge, which is the sister restaurant to Rakija Grill, which I ate at with my dad earlier in the summer.
I met Marija, who took me over to see their selection of spirits, including rakija, a fruit brandy that is made from distilled grapes. It’s extremely popular in the Balkans! They had plum, apricot, quince, honey, raspberry, and Golden Rooster rakijas from Serbia.
As I tried the Golden Rooster, we were joined by Miroslav from Rakija Lounge. It was smooth and light and contained gold! Then, we went for the Pelinkovac, which is popular in Serbia, Croatia, Macedonia, and Montenegro. It was perfect and was similar to jaeger.
Then, we headed to the kitchen and watched them make pita bread, which is made from 10 ounces of dough, scored, baked, and topped with butter. Then, I watched them make cevapi, which is a popular mincemeat dish that contains onions and a secret ingredient. They mix it for 18 minutes and shape it, and finally bake it. After it’s baked, they stuff it in the pita!
While the cevapi cooked, we tried some Kajsija apricot rakija, which is a fruity, summery brandy. It’s smooth and took me back to Serbia!
Back in the kitchen, they put the meat in a machine that extracts the meat and shapes it into a thin, sausage-like shape. They freeze it and then cut off the ends on both sides of the tray. Each cevapi is cut to 4 inches in length. Then, it’s wrapped in saran wrapped and re-frozen until an order comes in. Nothing here is reheated; everything is fresh!
The cevapi right off the grill is super juicy, tasty, and fresh! It was so good, I couldn’t hold back!
Back outside, I tried more rakija. This time, it was Viljamovka, which is a Williams pear rakija from Serbia. It was nice and fruity and easy! The raspberry was amazing, and the honey rakija was unreal. It took me back to my first time entering Croatia when I had it. It changed my life!
At our table, we had a huge spread of Balkan and Mediterranean dishes. One was ustipci, which is fried mini bread that’s popular in Serbia and Bosnia. It’s like an elephant ear and is great with yogurt. Then, we tried some yummy beef loin and a Macedonian salami called kulen, which is spicy, just the way I like it!
Next was smoked pork neck and some pancetta. The pancetta was raw and tasty! The 10-piece cevapi was inside the pita and came with two sauces. I broke off some bread, rolled the cevapi in it, and dipped it into the red sauce. I loved the smoky meat and the bread!
Then, we had Karadjordjeva, which is a Serbian pork schnitzel with mozzarella cheese. We squeezed lemon over the top. The melted cheese and crispy crust were exceptional!
Next was Argentinian grilled and marinated octopus with spicy mayo. I drenched it in the spicy mayo. It was super tender! We followed that with grilled sea bass, which was super buttery and full of flavor. The salad that came with it was amazing, too! Then, I ate the eye!
Next was a platter with smoky veal sausage, pljeskavica (a Serbian burger patty that’s stuffed with cheese), and more! We finished with a cookie with chocolate and whipped cream. It was like a creamy chocolate mousse! Then, baklava!
Finally, we had more rakija, and then Miroslav kindly gifted me some Golden Rooster rakija! You have to eat at Rakija Lounge when you come to Miami! Everything they make is super fresh and tasty, and the people are incredible!
My name is David Hoffmann. For the last 12 years, I have been traveling around the world in search of unique culture, food, and history! Since starting David’s Been Here in 2008, I have traveled to over 1,100 destinations in 77 countries, which I welcome you to check out on my YouTube channel, travel blog, and social media sites.
I focus a great deal on food and historical sites, as you probably have seen! I love to experience the different flavors that each destination has to offer, from casual street food to gourmet restaurant dining. I’m also passionate about learning about the local history and culture.
P.S. Thank you for watching my videos and subscribing!
My friend here, he's like you have to try it right off the grill.
You guys have no idea how delicious this is. Delicious man.
It's not too hot, super juicy. I mean the spices, wow.
What's up everyone? I hope you're all doing amazing. This is David Hoffman from David's
Binning. Coming at you from beautiful South Beach, Miami, Florida. Today I'm so pumped
because I'm here at Rakia Lounge, one of the best Vulcan restaurants in Miami. I went to their
sister restaurant, Rakia Grill, in downtown and I had a massive feast with my father.
I love Vulcan food. It's a mix between Serbian, Croatian, Slovenian, Macedonian, Albanian,
and they have delicious Rakia. And today what we're going to do is we're going to go inside
and we're going to see how they make cevapi. Cevapcici, you got the minced meat with the bread,
so amazing. And we're going to start off the morning with some Rakia. Obviously Rakia Lounge,
Rakia, Rakia, it's a staple in the Balkans. Whenever you go to the Balkans, any of the
countries, you're going to try Rakia. It's the best. It's basically distilled grapes.
Let's go inside Rakia Lounge, mask on, let's go. Marija. Hi David, welcome back, good to have you.
Thank you. Welcome to Rakia Lounge. What do we have here? This is Dobro Utro, this is good morning,
welcome to Rakia Lounge. This is the way how we start the day in all the Balkan countries.
Then we have a lot of different kind of Rakia coming from Serbia, plum, apricot, raspberry,
golden rooster, which is one of the most popular right now. So we're starting out the morning with
a golden rooster. Cheers. Smooth, it's light, and you have gold. Oh my god. David, it's a breakfast
and the most popular, let's say, in Serbia, in Croatia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Belinkovac,
for a smooth feeling in the stomach, this is the one. All right, my man, the most popular Gorki List
in Miami. Oh, this is perfect. It's very good for breakfast. Yeah, man, this is like, this is
almost like you were saying, like Jager. Yeah, Jager, almost similar taste. Yeah.
All right, guys, I think it's time to go to the kitchen. I'm starving. All right, we're ready.
We're making at the moment pita bread. Pita bread, we stir it for seven minutes, flour,
water, oil, sugar, salt, and dry yeast. We mix it seven minutes, then we start portioning. We're
using 150, for example, pita bread. That's our final touch for the plate of Čepapi.
What's pretty amazing is that she is Venezuelan.
So you shake the bread, he made a little like incisions, right? And now he's going to put it
into the oven. So once the dough is ready, she brings it all out and she, you know, divides it
10 ounces each. She puts it into plastic, she seals it. So next up, we're making the Čepapi,
the minced meat. Can't wait. Right here, the onions with the secret ingredient,
and then we have the meat, right? So next is the meat. So now she mixes it for 18 minutes,
and then it's ready to be shaped. The pita is ready. So once he pulls out the bread,
he adds a little bit of butter on top. Perfect. It's ready, no? And what we're going to do is
we're going to cut this open. We're going to shove in Čepapi inside the bun. So to make Čepapi,
you need the sausage machine maker. So basically put all the meat on top, and it comes out this
tube. And usually they put, you know, the, I guess the little piece where it goes inside,
right? For the sausages. We have nine minutes. We have enough time for another rakija, maybe two.
Now we're going to do very famous kajsia. It's apricot. Let's say it's a summer drink.
Next one, we have the apricot. My friend. Very fruity. Smooth. This,
for me, this is Serbia right here. Čepapi is ready. Let's, let's, let's taste it.
Let's go back in the kitchen. So here we're putting all the meat into this machine,
and then it's going to come out. She's had two years experience doing this.
She has never broken Čepapi. No, not ever.
So she added the saran wrap. She adds a little bit of oil because she doesn't want the Čepapi
to stick to the saran wrap, obviously. This freezer is special. It's not a regular freezer.
This freezer is freezing 45 minutes Čepapi. So Mami is going to start shortly cutting and
preparing the portions of the Čepapi. So the first thing she does is cuts off the ends so
that every single Čepapi can be the same size. She's literally using a ruler to measure Čepapi.
So everything has to be four inches. Once she's done cutting, then she wraps everything with
the saran wrap because she puts it back into the freezer until an order comes in. As soon as an
order comes in, they put this on the grill. What you do, we always turn around the Čepapi.
So right here, he's making Čepapi. So low temperature, you know, grill it slowly.
So nothing frozen and reheated again and again and again. No, no, no, no. It's always fresh.
Everything is going slowly. Slow food. Slow food.
My friend here, he's like, you have to try right off the grill. You guys have no idea how delicious
this is. Delicious, man. It's not too hot, super juicy. I mean, the spices, wow. I mean,
I should hold back. I have about 20 to go, but...
It's the best part about the Balkan people. They love to have fun.
The area, bro. Thank you so much. Thank you.
So which one is this one again?
It's a William pear. It's a brandy from Serbia. It's a kruška.
Kruška. Okay. No, it's easier. I like it. I like the fruitier ones. All the fruits.
Usually, we pour with the dozer, but at this moment, I don't have the dozer.
This is raspberry brandy. This is raspberry rakija.
Rakija. Okay. Honey rakija is my favorite. When I entered Croatia the first time,
this is what I had. We have a huge variety here. This is all Balkan,
a little mix of Mediterranean, but you also have other things here, right?
And then obviously... Yes, yes, yes. Let's start the morning.
Let's start. We started the morning hours ago.
Thank you, chef.
Migo, listo. Okay.
So how do we start? This is like fried donuts. What is this?
That's uštipci. It's the most popular in Serbia and Bosnia.
Uštipci?
Uštipci, yes. So basically, if you think, if you go to the carnival here in the U.S.
or youth fair in Miami, this is basically elephant ear, but it needs a sugar.
But here, we dip it in this. Cheers.
That's a beef. It's a smoked beef. It's a beef loin.
It is. This is a kulen.
Kulen? It's a pork.
Salami.
So it comes from Macedonia. It's called kulen.
Kulen, yes. Spicy.
Just the way I like it.
And mixed with this?
This is suji vrat.
Suji vrat.
It's a smoked neck pork.
We have also, over here, panceta.
This is basically bacon, right?
Bacon, yes. It's a belly bacon. It's also special.
Dude, that's like raw.
This is the way. This is the way you do it.
So this is cevapi, right? So right here, we have the minced meat.
We have, I think, a ten piece.
Ten piece.
This is a ten.
And then here, we have two different amazing sauces.
What are they?
This is the kaymak and this one is ayvar.
So the way we're doing this is we're gonna break off pieces and eat.
You dip it in onions.
Grab a piece, break it off.
So you have the bottom and the top, right?
And you went with that one, so I'm gonna go with this one.
I love that you feel in the meat.
You feel the smokiness. Textures.
The bread is even smoked, you know?
Like it goes to be placed on cevapi and the smoke is coming up.
This is the staple in the Balkans.
Every country you go to, you're gonna eat this.
At least one time.
At least.
Next up, we have the karadjordjeva, which is basically the Serbian schnitzel.
Cut straight in the middle.
We're definitely not eating this whole thing, but wow.
Did we go for too much?
Too much?
You have to do it first, you know, like a little limber.
Okay, so I did it bad.
You always put the lemon on the karadjordjeva because it's fried.
Nice.
Yeah.
Give it a little like zest.
Yeah, because you know, like you want to feel that taste.
Juicy taste, fruity taste, and then go ahead.
Good. Let's go ahead.
So basically, karadjordjeva is a pork schnitzel.
Pork schnitzel, yes, filled with cheese, mozzarella, and kajmak.
This is phenomenal.
I had this at Balkan Grill.
Sorry, Rakija Grill.
Rakija Grill, yes.
The cheese melting out, mixed with the crust.
Delicious pork.
Wow, and I'll actually add some of this, right?
Yeah.
It's so good.
So good.
One last piece of pork.
This is octopus.
It's Argentinian octopus, marinated in a garlic and a spice.
It's salad and the spice mayo.
And you can see, you know, like when the pork is going down so softly,
dip it in spicy mayo.
For me, the best thing about the sea is the octopus.
This, mussels, oysters.
Wow, look at this.
It's like drenched.
It's good match.
Dude, it's like the perfect...
Wow, spicy, you know?
Yeah, spicy.
A little spicy.
Spicy, a little spicy.
I would eat this whole thing.
If we didn't have all that.
Wow, so good.
The tenderness is like soft in the middle.
The sea bass, Mediterranean sea bass, branzino.
It's grilled, marinated.
You're gonna fillet it, huh?
Yes, of course, you know.
You're gonna take it apart?
Nice.
Look at that.
So you take it off the bones.
Your plate, yeah.
All right, guys, so we're trying the branzino.
Amazing.
It's actually one of the most expensive dishes to eat at a restaurant right now.
Traveling so far.
I mean, it's a Mediterranean fish.
It tastes ridiculous.
It's like butter.
Melting.
It's so good.
Wow.
Even the side is amazing.
One portion is really to enjoy, you know?
Like, I mean, that's one person right there.
One person.
You want the eye?
No.
No, you don't want the eye?
I'm all about the eyes.
Okay.
I have a mix here for two.
It's made from the two pljeskavica, ten cevapi.
Two sausage and chicken.
Grilled chicken.
Yeah.
And of course, you know, ajvar and kajmate.
My favorite is soju pizza.
That's a veal.
Veal sausage.
Yes, from the grill.
Why is the veal so good?
Easy.
They only drink milk.
They don't eat grass, you know?
We eat nothing at all, you know?
And this is like a...
It's smoky.
It's like condensed.
One more bite.
And this is basically the Serbian burger.
Yes.
Serbian burger.
What?
So it's cut in half, right?
It looks amazing, though.
Yeah.
It's more juicy.
Wow.
Yeah, it is.
Yeah, so you have melted cheese going through the meat.
After these five, six dishes, you explode.
You implode.
Šampitar.
Oh man, look at that.
Wow.
It's like a cookie with some chocolate and whipped cream.
A creamy chocolate mousse.
I don't know.
It's sort of like whipped cream, you know?
It's a slow made whipped cream.
They mix it in like almost like a 25 minutes machine.
It's an egg white.
Mix it for 35 years, dude.
Cinnamon.
Cheers.
Ready?
Cheers.
David, this is a present from us, from Rakija Lounge.
It's a golden rooster, Rakija.
It's a queen's.
And I hope you will enjoy.
Welcome.
Too much, dude.
Too much.
Thank you.
Amazing.
The Rakija Lounge here on Collins between 11th and 12th.
Amazing.
We're literally in between two hotels.
Yes.
Incredible garden.
You have a bar, you have a seating area, dining area, tiki bar.
Tiki bar.
Back here, we have more private area where we're sitting.
More fresh, better taste.
Always.
More fresh, better taste.
Nothing here is frozen.
The microwave is never used.
It's literally sitting there as an ornament.
Yeah, you can see that, you know, it's built up for everything, you know, on top of it.
Hi, my man.
Wow.
So, guys, if you ever find yourself in Miami, South Beach, come here to Rakija Lounge.
It's a lounge.
It's also a restaurant.
It's also a bar.
You get everything here.
Yeah, don't forget about Tuesday.
Tuesday.
Today's Tuesday.
It's balkan night.
Come here.
Never ending Rakija.
Never ending food, and yeah.
Yeah, most of the food is coming, you know, like blue kitchen, balkan cuisine on a Tuesday.
Regular days is different food.
And, of course, everything that is available, you know, like you can taste it.
Miroslav, the owner.
Thank you so much, dude.
Thank you.
My pleasure.
Thank you.
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I'll see you in the next travel food adventure.
Maybe in Albania or Kosovo or Serbia.
Where am I going?
It's a big balkan.
Crazy balkan.
Cheers.
