Bijaks Culinary Cafe, located at 219 Broadway Street, Berlin, WI, delivered not only fresh, hot, and filling food, but a pleasant afternoon experience.
As customers walk in they notice the cafe’s interior is surprisingly spacious and has a calm, upbeat atmosphere with music and singing audible from the kitchen. The walls of the dining area were a cool blue and were adorned with plenty of paintings and art that helped make the room feel less plain. Customers order and pay up front at the counter before seating themselves. Unlike a usual cafe, the food that comes out of the kitchen is surprisingly high-end. This is thanks to the chef and owner, Nick Bijak who studied his craft in Europe during the late 90s.
Bijaks is a perfect place to go if people are looking to dine locally. The only downside is that they are only open on Tuesdays. Bijaks makes up for this by providing a catering service for local events. If someone is planning on dining in and does not want to miss out on the limited menu items such as desserts or paninis, they can call ahead to reserve a dish for themselves with no extra charge.
The service at Bijaks was phenomenal. Despite there being only one waiter, he made sure that every table was attended to and had their needs met while still having time to make friendly conversation with customers. The quality of the service was also reflected by Chef Bijak himself as he made sure to personally greet and thank every customer that dined in.
The food arrived at our table fresh and hot. Each dish came out better than the last, all of which had generous serving sizes. We ordered two bowls of cheesy broccoli soup, an order of cheese curds, and two of the day’s specials.
The cheesy broccoli soup was pretty standard, but wasn’t bad. Imagine cheesy broccoli soup and that’s exactly what it was, nothing more, nothing less. It had a nice creaminess to it and plenty of large broccoli chunks. It was a solid start to the rest of the meal.
Our side of cheese curds came out next just before the specials. The cheese curds were completely handmade and included a variety of cheeses. The breading was light and did not overpower the general flavor. They were served with a homemade barbeque sauce; our server later explained that all of the sauces at Bijaks were made in-house with the exception of ranch. The barbeque sauce was an interesting addition to the classic side and gave a subtle tangy sweetness to every bite. A major plus to the cheese curds was that they were not covered in grease and allowed us to keep enjoying our dining experience without the setback of oily fingers.
The day’s special was chicken limon over alfredo with mushrooms. The mushrooms were sauteed and had a nice earthy flavor with a smooth texture when mixed with the alfredo sauce. Biting into the chicken, it was neither dry nor soggy. It went well with the perfectly cooked noodles, and its breading was nice and light. The whole dish was topped with alfredo sauce, cheese, parsley, freshly crushed peppercorns, and a lemon slice which helped bring all the flavors together.
The overall food experience was surprisingly great. Each dish presented something new and kept us guessing on what was next. We left the cafe looking forward to our next meal there. Bijaks receives a 4.5/5 as we definitely plan on visiting again.
