Marijan Nikolovski and his family serve kebapi sausages, flavour-forward dips and more at Balkan Skara in Melbourne’s north.
Did you hear the one about the guy who loved his local restaurant so much he bought it? That’s how Marijan Nikolovski ended up with Balkan Skara, where his family had celebrated christenings and birthdays for years. A longtime engineer in the automotive industry, the demise of local car manufacturing meant he was out of a job. Nikolovski was forever tinkering on the Weber at home – maybe he should fulfil his dream of running a restaurant one day?
In 2023, he bought his favourite restaurant when the owners were ready to retire. It was a fond handover and included recipes that had kept the northern suburbs happy for 20 years. Nikolovski added some of his Macedonian family’s own recipes and rebranded the place to Balkan Skara (“skara” meaning “grill” in Macedonian). The name gives a handy clue to the offering.
As a region, people and culinary identity, Macedonia spans six countries, anchored by landlocked North Macedonia, and including parts of northern Greece, Albania, Kosovo, Serbia and Bulgaria. Macedonian cuisine is a subset of Balkan food, with dishes such as skinless sausages, pepper dip and cabbage rolls found throughout the region with national and aunty-to-aunty variations.
The politics are complicated, but if anything promotes peace, it’s honest food made with pride and generosity – as it is at Balkan Skara.
Everything happens in one room. Walk past the sheltered patio, and you’ll probably see Marijan at the grill, keeping an eye on his beloved kebapi sausages. His sons might be there cooking rice or soaking beans, wife Angelina will be taking orders in the small dining room (“Just the usual?” I hear her ask one guy), with her mum Pavlina pitching in.
The music on the television is Macedonian – you’ll likely see footage of piano accordions and sheepskin bagpipes similar to those displayed on the walls. It feels like you’re in the Epping melting pot, 18 kilometres north of the CBD, with a Thai place next door, an Indian supermarket around the corner, and an old-school pizza joint down the road.
All meals lead to the grill, but you’ll also want starters. Ajvar is a sturdy relish made with capsicum and eggplant, perfect for spooning over fluffy lep, a Balkan pide. Leftover bread is one of the world’s great gifts, and in Macedonia it’s grilled, drizzled with olive oil and scattered with oregano and feta to make nafora. Kaymak is a dense, clotted cream and there’s no wrong way to eat it: with bread, alongside beans, as a dessert.
I would drive to Epping especially for the sarma. To make them, the family pickles cabbage leaves for months until they are soft and savoury. They’re stuffed with rice and pork mince to form plump, comforting treasures.
Kebapi are made to a secret ratio of pork and beef mince. Grilled with avid attention, you can tell how much care goes into this bedrock dish. The same meat mix is used for sharska, a football-shaped pattie parcel stuffed with tasty cheese. Cutting into it was a satisfyingly oozy experience.
To eat shopska salad, you’ll need to spoon your way through a serious layer of grated feta to reveal the tomato, cucumber and onion jumbled underneath. It’s disarmingly simple – use the oil and vinegar on your table to adjust the dressing. For the three-milk cake, sponge is soaked in milk, cream and condensed milk to create a perfect pudding-like dessert.
Drinking is threaded through Balkan food culture. There’s a Macedonian semi-dry red made from vranec, an indigenous grape, which goes well with grilled meats; BYO wine, Skopsko pilsner and rakiya (a potent fruit brandy) are options too. Raise a toast to Marijan Nikolovski, who is ticking off his bucket list and making people happy at the same time.
Three more grills to try
Jim’s Greek Tavern
Whether it’s fish on the grill or lamb twirling over charcoal, Jim’s knows how to do fresh and fire-cooked. Since 1967, it’s been welcoming groups for upbeat meals in a casual setting at keen prices. A Melbourne institution for good reason.
32 Johnston Street, Collingwood, facebook.com/jimsgreektavern
Galata Kebab
There’s lamb and chicken from the spit, skewers and cutlets on the grill and excellent just-feed-us platters. Beyond meats, people come for the house-made dips and a killer range of halal snack packs, plus Turkish tea, coffee and traditional desserts.
173 Caroline Springs Boulevard, Caroline Springs, facebook.com/galatamelbourne
TungThit Sizzling Steak
Asian fusion grills are the thing at TungThit, whether it’s wagyu tomahawk served with bone marrow fried rice, or a neat little 150-gram porterhouse. You could also go for Melbourne’s most expensive banh mi, stuffed with beef short rib and pushing $60. Also in Abbotsford.
41 Springvale Road, Springvale, instagram.com/tungthit_sizzlingsteak
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