Black Sea Restaurant and Bar

The Franklin Hotel

193 Water Street

Ph. (709) 754-9028

Black Sea Restaurant serves Bulgarian inspired cuisine. Chefs and owners Gregory Bersinski and Tony Velinov were born and bred in Bulgaria. Bulgaria shares a border with Romania in the north, Serbia in the west, Greece and Turkey in the south. Its eastern boundary joins the Black Sea. Now you know why Bersinski and Velinov’s latest venture is called Black Sea Restaurant and Bar.

Bersinski and Velinov have many years of experience in the restaurant trade and it shows in their new eatery at the Franklin Hotel. Gregory Bersinski was one of the chefs who helped put Bianca’s on the map. Afterward he – and later Velinov – were involved with the Vault and both currently have an interest in Bistro Sofia.

Velinov told me, “We wanted to open a second restaurant that was a little step up from Bistro Sofia but still casual. Not so much in the food but in the atmosphere. The bistro is a classic bistro but Black Sea is somewhat closer to fine dining.”

Home

The space in the Franklin has been home to the original Gypsy Tea Room and Duck on Water. The Gypsy was a great success but Duck on Water never did take to Water, so to speak. I enjoyed Duck on Water but I suspect John Franklin didn’t enjoy being a restaurateur. (I’ve met few who seem to love it.)

The last time I spoke with John Franklin he told me he wanted to remove the wall separating the restaurant from the bar. That happened, and now Franklin has removed himself from the business. He has negotiated a deal whereby Bersinski and Velinov will own and run the business: hotel, bar and restaurant. Essentially, Franklin, as owner of the building, becomes landlord.

Inside Black Sea showing bar and portion of dining area

Having the word black in its name suits Black Sea. From the black awning and façade to the black tablecloths, partly black wall space, and dark furnishings it presents itself in the manner of basic black elegance. Think couture as opposed to dark, depressing rags. There are splashes of colour. One section of wall is burgundy, another fuchsia, and another brick – actual brick. Several paintings create additional visual interest.

Service

Our server was welcoming, attentive and, like the décor, attired in black. It may have been inexperience but Black Sea’s service was a little uneven. At one point the wrong dish was brought to our table and when asked a question about whether what was on a dish was couscous (it was Israeli couscous) she could not answer the question. Servers in restaurants should be able to answer questions about the menu.

Chefs, like all of us, need vacation time and while Tony Velinov and Vanya Velinova handled our meals beautifully, Black Sea’s undisputed premier savoury chef, Gregory Bersinski, was away when we visited.

While Black Sea’s drinks menu offered many classic cocktails a few were obviously

Balkan Triangle

themed to the restaurant. There was Bulgarian Sunrise (Jagermeister, orange juice and grenadine) and Balkan Triangle (peach schnapps, spiced rum and orange juice). I tried the Balkan Triangle, a drink with definite summertime appeal. Fruity flavours and rum always make a good match.

Bouillabaisse

Fish soup

Bouillabaisse or a reasonable approximation of same is not difficult to make, but only a handful of St. John’s restaurants seem able to produce a good one. Now Black Sea can be added to the good list. A successful Mediterranean style fish soup or stew must have a bold, flavourful broth tasting of the sea (real fish stock), saffron, olive oil, tomatoes, pepper, sea salt, parsley, onions and garlic. Black Sea’s was spot on and also contained mussels and very fresh cod.

Monastery bean soup with sausage

Deft touch was evident in the second soup too. Monastery bean soup with sausage had the slow cooked layers of taste and substance you’d expect in a fall or wintertime soup like this. It reminded me of a light – albeit liquidy – cassoulet. The sliced sausage appeared to be peppery chorizo and gave the soup a hefty lift.

Mediterranean salad

In between my soup and main I tasted Black Sea’s Mediterranean salad. It was a raspberry scented mixture of arugula and pine nuts topped with a handful (tangle?) of Lebanese string goat cheese. String goat cheese is pretty run-of-the-mill as cheeses go but I like it for its look and mouth feel. The mass of fine cheese threads combined with crisp arugula and pine nuts creates a good display of textures.

Kavarma by Black Sea

Tradition

Kavarma is a traditional Bulgarian dish of braised meat or pork cooked slowly in a little liquid along with onions, herbs, tomatoes and sometimes root vegetables. Black Sea’s was mostly full of large cubes of beef with onions, tomatoes and mushrooms. I was impressed with how well the beef had been cooked. It was so tender and the liquid in the bowl mirrored and trumped the beef flavour of the actual beef. The Kavarma was served with a few pieces of warm, fragrant flat bread that I used to sop up more liquid.

Blackened salmon

Black Sea’s blackened salmon (somehow you knew Black Sea would have to have blackened salmon) was the only clear misstep of the evening. The piece of fillet, wearing its black cloak, rested on a bed of the aforementioned Israeli couscous mixed with grilled corn. A few grilled asparagus spears were laid across the fish. It can be a challenge to make blackened anything look good so the effort was appreciated.

The real challenge here is to make sure that during the blackening or cooking you do not overcook the fish. I’ll accept that with this method there’s a fine line between cooked and overcooked, but, in this instance, the line was substantially crossed. I did enjoy the Israeli couscous and corn combination.

Napoleon

Desserts

Velinov and Velinova are true masters in the field of chocolate making and pastry. I knew their desserts would not disappoint. The Napoleon was a sandwich of absolutely smooth Belgian chocolate mousse sandwiched between and oozing outside the borders of layers of caramelized puff pastry. I wanted to pick it up and lick the sides the way I did with ice cream sandwiches when I was a kid. The slight fine dining vibe Velinov wanted (and has successfully achieved) is likely what restrained me.

Baklava is a dessert that some believe originated in the very general area of Bulgaria. It’s an irresistible marriage of ingredients and textures that most of us humans love: buttery phyllo pastry, nuts, honey, and more honey. Black Sea’s baklava is made in a simpler fashion than ones I’ve tasted.

Rather than layers and layers of honey coated phyllo painstakingly arranged atop one another along with the other ingredients, this version is more like a large spring roll where the phyllo is used to wrap pistachios, pecans and honey into a munchy package. It was good and not as intensely sweet as most. Black Sea usually serves its baklava with a scoop of vanilla ice cream but we opted to forego that particular enhancement. Speaking of enhancement, there is no doubt that Black Sea Restaurant and Bar has improved the St. John’s restaurant scene.

Rating:

***  

Price:

Dinner for two with wine and gratuity – $160.00 (approx.)

Sound level:

Moderate

* Fair  * * Good  * * * Excellent  * * * * Exceptional

PJ Billington’s

Ramada St. John’s

102 Kenmount Rd.

Ph. 722-9330

There was a time when you could count on hotels to have a restaurant and bar on the premises. Several of the newer St. John’s hotels, or planned hotels, do not and will not have dining rooms, restaurants or bars. They may have a stand where you can grab a cup of coffee, muffin or bowl of cereal for breakfast, but that’s about all. There’s a business argument to be made for not having dining or bar facilities in certain hotels; but the result, in my opinion, is that such establishments are boring and dull.

Happily we still have many hotels in St. John’s with restaurants and bars, like the Ramada St. John’s with PJ Billington’s. The general public can conveniently access PJ Billington’s through the restaurant’s own separate outside entrance. I went through that portal in record time recently to escape the blasting cold air of an unusually cold St. John’s winter. The restaurant was a warm and warmly lit haven. Several booths in the restaurant’s main area were occupied so we sat in a quiet booth in the sun room, which despite all its windows was quite warm.

Buffalo chicken pizza

I opened the menu and the first item that caught my interest was the Buffalo chicken pizza. When that famous chicken wing treat, Buffalo wings, was invented in the 1960’s in a bar in Buffalo, New York, I doubt if anyone in that city would have imagined the idea yielding Buffalo chicken pizza. Although not advertised as such, a slice of the small, thin crust pizza worked well as an appetite starter. It certainly captured the flavours of the dish from which the idea sprang. It had the yin and yang of tart and sweet, the smokiness, and above all, the hot sauce hotness. Tiny bits of seasoned chicken were scattered liberally over the sauce base, some covered and some not by a lace blanket of melted cheese.

Mussels

Fresh steamed mussels

PJ Billington’s offer steamed mussels with either garlic butter or a white wine cream sauce. I’ve always loved moules marinières, essentially a dish featuring mussels, wine, cream, butter, onion and fresh parsley. I thought mussels steamed in a “white wine cream sauce” might approximate moules marinières. Visually the dish looked brilliant, dozens of mussels on the shell arranged in the bowl in a kind of starburst pattern. The mussels were small but tender and rich in natural flavour. Unfortunately the mussels didn’t seem to have engaged the sauce, which slickly coated the bottom of the bowl, hidden from view at first. It was just as well. I spooned a little of the sauce over a mussel only to discover that it had been over salted.

Traditional pea soup

It’s fascinating to see how traditional pea soup is made by different cooks. If you like your pea soup so thick you could almost stand a spoon in it, then PJ Billington’s has one for you. It is seriously thick. My preference is for pea soup that’s halfway between liquid and porridge. Then there are those who prefer to add ham over salt meat. Some cooks even add carrots and parsnip to their pea soup. (Parsnip in pea soup is just plain wrong.) PJ Billington’s was mostly peas with a few bits of carrot and pieces of salt meat. It seasonings and flavours were perfect.

Traditional prime rib

It was a wintery night and comfort food was what I sought. PJ Billington’s has been serving prime rib dinners for years. I needed prime rib with Yorkshire pudding and a glass of red wine. The wine was Australian, Nottage Hill cabernet-shiraz. The beef looked sensational. It was a very thick cut from the prime rib roast, glistening with jus. The meat did not disappoint. It was tender with robust beef flavour. The mixed vegetables and baked potato were fine. Sadly, the Yorkshire pudding did disappoint. Instead of a golden brown, fluffy, eggy rich and tender baked pudding I bit into a dark, bitter, cooked-to-a-crisp shell with literally nothing but air inside.

Salmon

Pecan and basil crusted salmon

There was a salmon offering on the menu called, pistachio basil crusted salmon. Normally when something is crusted it has a coating that’s been made crisp and golden from the roasting or baking process, a genuine crust that you can actually peel back (not that I would ever peel back a good crust). This salmon did not have a crust. It was coated in a greenish, grainy sauce that appeared to have been poured over the fish after baking. Despite the unusual use of the term, “crusted”, the dish was enjoyable – mainly for the salmon which could not have been cooked better in terms of doneness.

Warm ginger cake

Warm ginger cake ended the meal. It was a round puck of cake sauced with warm caramel that gave the lush, not-too-sweet cake extra richness, and moisture which it did not need but was all the better for. The taste of ginger was intense and fresh. The ginger cake, and fresh coffee I was served with it, made a good marriage.

Finally, a word about the service at PJ Billington’s. It was excellent. Our server noticed the parchment paper had not been removed from the bottom of my ginger cake before it was served. (The paper was the only thing remaining on the plate when he cleared the table.) He was embarrassed that it had not been removed and decided not to charge for it. That’s exactly the way servers should handle such situations: acknowledge, correct, move on.

Rating:

**  

Price:

Dinner for two with wine and gratuity – $95.00 (approx.)

Sound level:

Moderate

* Fair  * * Good  * * * Excellent  * * * * Exceptional