Bereke Restaurant

The best Central Asian and East European restaraunt, which I’ve ever experienced. Give those dishes a try ‘mix plate’, ‘plov’, ‘shorpo’ and u’ll leave this place with full stomach and wide smile

I am not Central Asian, but eating at this restaurant gave me a deep appreciation and interest in Kyrgyzstan. The food tasted so delicious. I could taste every ingredient, and I could feel the love in everything I ate. The waitress was kind, and so were the cooks making the food behind the cash register. I will be returning to this restaurant again with my friends.

Amazing food and exceptional service. It was only my third time trying this cuisine — I have been to Jibek Jolu twice — and Bereke was amazing. I would highly recommend people who are interested in trying a delicious food culture to come here. Bring your friends — it’s Byob!

I’m very impressed with «besh burmak «they call it. Nice atmosphere, lounge music and decent customer service made my day profitable.

This is one of my most favorite restaurants in Chicago, I take my kids and my wife as much as I can, and they love it here too :)

I’m originally from Central Asia and I know the real, authentic taste of kyrgyz food. Bereke is a place to feel yourself home. The food very delicious, homestyle and cozy atmosphere. As a kyrgyz I know that hospitality is our specialty. You will be treated like a king. I highly recommend to try oromo dumplings style veggie dish. Tea with lemon mmmmm, such yum it is in our culture too to serve good tea. The place is BYOB too just you know!
Love it!!!

Just great. Everything we’ve gotten here has been delicious. In addition to the dishes mentioned by others, the Fricase, a chicken and mushroom dish in delicious buttery sauce over rice, is amazing.
A word to those ordering takeout: as of September 2015, the woman taking orders has very limited English. Even for the question, «how long till it’s ready?» she had to put someone else on the phone. (Now I know that every time the answer is 15 – 20 minutes, so I don’t ask.)
They also don’t have a website or online menu (though apparently it’s coming), so I posted my pictures of the menu here on Unilocal.Trust me, navigating these slight inconveniences is worth it for this place!

Our reserved party of 4 arrived here at Bereke tonight very excited to try the menu which we heard so many good reviews of. Unfortunately, being Ramadan, the drinking of wine is prohibited and we were not informed of this when we called. We decided to leave as we do like to have a glass of wine with dinner. We will definitely try again, but will ask about any alcohol free holidays before going, and advise you to do the same.

From various WWW resources I’ve gathered that Bereke would be best described as «Central Asian fusion.»
I wouldn’t know, but it was mostly filled with people who at least appeared to be of Central Asian descent. That would suggest a good «authenticity» score.
Anyway, I had the kuurdak (
), which in this case was fried beef with potatoes, onions, and garlic. It was well-​prepared and tasty. I also had a red drink whose name I can’t remember. Try to imagine Hawaiian Punch with some additional flavors. It was good. I plan to return.
Note: Cash-​only! I barely had enough to cover my bill with a lame tip.

First time trying Kyrgyz food, and I’m super impressed.
They had enough vegetarian options for us to try several things, and the standouts for me were the blinchiki (Russian pancake) and the oromo (a steamed pie made of thin dough wrapped around cabbage, carrots, potatoes, and onions): both tasted so fresh and homemade and flavorful.
The borsh was also good, although it didn’t have the vinegary tang I’m used to in borscht. The homemade yogurt drink (airan) went surprisingly well with everything I ate, including the honey cake (which I had really high hopes for, from these reviews, but I think it had been sitting in a fridge for a while).
Service was very friendly, although there was a language barrier. When our waitress needed help speaking with us, she asked another patron; everyone else in there seemed to be Kyrgyz.
The menu seems similar to Jibek Jolu, also in the neighborhood, which I’ll have to try out next.
Did I mention it’s cheap? I can’t believe I paid only one dollar for that great blinchiki! I’ll definitely be back.

Went to this place with no idea what type of food to expect. Saw it pop up a few months ago, so decided to try it out on a lazy weekend night.
The food was fine. We had the cheese dumplings, the yogurt drink, and the noodles with beef (sorry don’t remember the actual names). The yogurt drink was THICK but tasty. We both liked it. I wouldn’t say I was blown away by the food, but I wasn’t expecting to. This is like a neighborhood restaurant you can always go to for a reliable cheap eat that will leave you satisfied. And it’s cheap. This place costs less than a 2 burgers at a bar (which we had the previous, lazy night). Decorations are minimal, as is everything else about the restaurant. I don’t see that as a negative, just describing what they are like.
The only negative I saw was that we got stared down by all the customers. Not sure why. The owner and staff didn’t do it, they were extremely pleasant. It was the customers. It went beyond looking at the new people who walked in. They kept staring for a good 10 – 15 minutes after we sat down. Very weird. Maybe we interrupted some private party. Who knows.
If you are a regular customer who did some of that starring, I hope you cut it out. You could cost this nice little restaurant future customers who like the food but feel the customer base is hostile.

It was a nice evening with friends that went to Kyrgyzstan together. We love the food. I ordered the Kurdak (fried beef and potatoes) and my husband ordered lamb noodle soup. They served fresh bread too. All very good but in Central Asian pace.

Amazing homemade, authentic food from a far away land in the high mountains called Kyrgyzstan. Asel makes the noodles herself and the flavors remind you that good, home cooked food is amazing, simple and nostolgic. Get a soup (with free homemade bread) and a piece of the traditional honey cake made in house and I’m in heaven. This place is a true gem in an up and coming community. I wish them the best of luck.

I had a similar, very positive experience as the other reviewers. We ended up here late on Christmas Eve, because it was open, and had no idea what to expect. I would call the menu Russian-​like, but admittedly I don’t know too much about Russian food ;). Anyhow, the service was great, the home-​made bread was delicious, and we all really enjoyed our meals and the experience. I had something that was either stuffed cabbage or pasta with potatoes, carrots, and onions in a butter sauce. Great food for a snowy night. For dessert, I got something I believe was called honey cake, and it was wonderful.
I highly recommend this place, especially if you’re interested in something you probably haven’t had before, and want some hearty, stick-​to-​your-​ribs food. The food was very mild, so if spices bother you, you will love it.

We stopped in on a Sunday for dinner and really loved the food. It reminded me of food my grandmother use to make; noodles in beef broth, seasoned meats and potatoes. We brought a bottle of wine and they opened it for us so we are assuming it is a BYOB.

We only noticed Bereke while driving by and being in the mood for something different it seemed like Karma, so in we went. They call it «Central Asian» but while speaking with the server she said they were from Kyrgyzstan.
The short story is that everything we tried was really good. The bread was home made and when I asked about a beverage item on the menu the server told us that it was something her mother used to make. I wouldn’t have known authentic Kyrgystani food if I saw it but that’s authentic enough for me. Even more to the point of authenticity is that all of the other party’s that came in (mostly younger folks) spoke the native language.
Some of the items on the menu sounded similar to Russian dishes we’ve had but were slightly different. For example, their version of Borscht was very good but different than any I had ever had. Another (key) point is that it was a pleasant experience through out — taste, cost, service and interaction with the server. We will be returning soon.
Update: We went back for a second visit last week and tried two more dishes. Both were excellent. One item on the menu was described as sort of a national dish. It consisted of cubes of potatoes and small thin slices of beef, among other things. The beef had a flavor that reminded me of fajitas. The other dish was pretty unique. It was shaped like a shallow Bundt cake but the surface was made of soft cooked cabbage leaves which wrapped a savory filling. You cut yourself slices like a cake too. I’ve never seen something like this but really enjoyed it.
As before, we noticed that customers at the other tables were speaking the native language which says a lot about authenticity.