These fourth-generation Rockdale bakers make just one thing, and it’s flaky, golden and perfect for your next picnic.
It’s one of the most underrated snacks in Sydney: a single, handheld slice of filo pastry pie filled with fresh ricotta and feta cheese, or maybe a lightly spiced mixture of minced beef and caramelised onion, and then baked until golden.
Some call it borek, but brothers Nikola and Jovan Radevski use its Balkan name, burek, and each morning they draw upon their Macedonian great-grandfather’s 100-year-old recipe to make seven savoury and sweet varieties from scratch at their Rockdale cafe Burek Brothers.
The first time I visited Burek Brothers, I bought two slices to eat at nearby Lady Robinsons Beach. The first was simple, savoury and just-salty-enough, filled with spinach and handmade feta from Vannella Cheese in Marrickville. The second was sour cherry, tart and sweet. Both were wrapped in light layers of pastry, coloured a deep gold, yielding to each bite with a gentle, satisfying crunch.
I felt compelled to reach for my phone – messaging friends as though I’d discovered some new culinary wonder.
Of course, I was (at least) 700 years late to the party. Burek has been beloved by nomadic Turkic tribes, invading Mongols, and the upper echelons of the Ottoman Empire. Nowadays, it’s a popular street food across south-eastern Europe, the Middle East and Central Asia.
But you don’t hear about it much in Sydney, says Jovan Radevski: “Ask anyone and they will know about gyros, they will know gozleme … but even now, people will come in and ask, ‘What’s a burek?’”
The Radevski brothers grew up with burek. Their great-grandfather Bozin Radevski was a Balkan burek-maker, and their father, Risto Radevski, continued the tradition at Rockdale takeaway shop Pella Burek.
“We would have it every day. Our dad taught us to make it,” Radevski says. But the shop closed in 2011, and life moved on. One brother (Jovan) studied commerce, the other (Nikola) became an aeronautical engineer, but they never stopped talking about making burek.
Then, in 2018, a little shopfront became available for lease on Bay Street. They gave it a fresh coat of red paint, laid some astroturf on the footpath, and installed a 15-seat dining room with a bit of Balkan charm. There’s bench seating, a framed print of the Matka Canyon and four generations of family photos.
“We needed to continue the family tradition,” Radevski says. The brothers also had a second, loftier goal: to share burek with the wider Sydney community.
To that end, they do things differently. The pastry is lighter, made with sunflower oil instead of pork fat. They accommodate dietary restrictions (the potato and leek burek happens to be plant-based, but remains flavoursome enough to impress the average meat-eater). Ingredients are sourced locally (dairy from Vannella, and meat from Lebanese butcher The Butcher Boys in Rockdale), or directly from a supplier in Macedonia (which also manufactures the family recipe for ajvar, a smoky capsicum and eggplant sauce that pairs well, if not traditionally, with burek).
In August, the brothers bought pasteurising and canning machines to start making their own mashtejnca (buttermilk) – a creamy fermented milk drink, not too thick, a little sour, that keeps for just 24 hours. It’s a hit with old-school customers, who drink up to 400 cans each week, says Radevski: “If you went to visit your long-lost cousins in a small village overseas, they would serve you buttermilk that tastes just like this.”
Most importantly, burek is made daily, often to order. I found this out the hard way when I returned to purchase an entire cherry burek (pro tip: buy burek for your next picnic or potluck). It was a Sunday morning, and I arrived at the same time as a woman wearing hair-rollers and a bath robe. She was prepared – she ordered ahead, I did not. The friendly staff explained each burek needed at least 20 minutes to prepare.
“If I made a burek for you today, and you picked it up Friday, that would be easier, but all that hard work, getting the pastry thin, getting all that definition between layers and filling, you’d lose it because the dough would stick together over time and get gluggy,” says Radevski.
That explains a lot. Since my first visit to Burek Brothers, I have eaten a lot of burek – from inner west cafes, to south-west food trucks – and I’ve yet to find one that truly compares. It’s the texture that makes all the difference.
Three more to try
The Balkan Butler, Surry Hills and Mascot
Balkan flavours meet brunch favourites at The Balkan Butler, where poached eggs are amped up with ajvar and Macedonian baked beans (tavche gravache) get smoky with kolbasi sausage. Burek, however, is their signature dish, served with four different fillings. Try the newer Mascot location, which opened mid-2024.
Corner Foveaux and Commonwealth Street, Surry Hills and 1 Chalmers Crescent, Mascot, balkanbutler.com
Fabrika by Madera, Canley Heights
Neighbourhood restaurant Madera, which served Balkan food to south-west Sydney in the 𝄒90s and 𝄒00s, has evolved into this lively bar and restaurant. Balkan flavours are integrated into Mediterranean dishes, with the menu listing classic cevapi and sarma alongside pizzas topped with kajmak and roasted capsicum. Book a table on Friday night for live music.
3/264 Canley Vale Road, Canley Heights, fabrikabymadera.com
Tesla369, Mount Pritchard
Lean into the idea of Balkan street food at this simple, suburban cafe. They’re known for their friendly service and grab-and-go dishes such as a fusion karađjorđjeva (rolled, stuffed schnitzel) with fries and the pljeskavica, a spiced beef and lamb patty burger on fluffy house-made flatbread.
33-35 Hamel Road, Mount Pritchard, instagram.com/tesla369_eatery
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Bianca Hrovat – Bianca is Good Food’s Sydney eating out and restaurant editor.
