Burek and Yogurt: Welcome to a Serbian Breakfast
Serbian friends had recommended burek and yogurt as a classic Serbian breakfast. At Skroz Dobra Pekara in Novi Sad, a name that translates roughly as “a really good bakery”, I tried them together. On the table, a golden meat-filled pastry sat on its paper wrapper beside a tall blue-and-white cup of yogurt.
A breakfast in two parts
Burek is made with thin sheets of dough, layered or rolled around a filling. Meat and cheese are familiar choices in Serbia, and the wider family extends across the Balkans and beyond. Shapes and names change along the way, from large round pies cut into portions to individual coils.
Mine was filled with minced meat and folded into an oval, with browned ridges running along the top. The pastry was crisp and less greasy than I had expected, though still rich and decidedly filling.
The yogurt was unsweetened, with a thick but drinkable consistency. Its smooth texture worked well alongside the savoury filling and crisp dough. Burek with plain drinking yogurt is a familiar bakery breakfast in Serbia, and tasting the two together explained why my friends had named both.
An extra order
There was another pastry on the paper, this one with a seeded crust and an open centre filled with red-orange ajvar and white cheese. Its name was Chia pecivo sa ajvarom i sirom—a chia pastry with ajvar and cheese.
Chia received first billing, but the ajvar had taken centre stage.
Ajvar is a pepper-based spread familiar in Serbia and across the Balkans. Homemade ajvar is traditionally an autumn job: peppers are roasted, peeled and cooked down, then stored in jars for the months ahead. Here, it had skipped the jar and gone straight into a pastry, with cheese alongside.
The ajvar pastry deserved its place on the paper. I had simply overestimated my capacity. Burek and yogurt alone would have been a full breakfast, already more substantial than I was used to in Japan. My friends had given me a very sound introduction to Serbian breakfast.
The extra pastry was my own amendment.
Location
Restaurant
Skroz Dobra Pekara / Скроз добра пекара
On Bulevar oslobođenja in central Novi Sad
Bulevar oslobođenja 95, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia
Practical Information
- Dish
- Burek and yogurt / Бурек и јогурт
- Also tried
- Chia pecivo sa ajvarom i sirom / Чиа пециво са ајваром и сиром
- Official website
- Skroz Dobra Pekara
Information last checked: September 19, 2026 (Venue address and current product pages checked; current price, availability and branch hours not confirmed.)
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