You don't go looking for a taste of the Old West in Ovcha Kupel. You just don't.

So goodness knows what we were doing, enduring the wildest taxi ride of our lives to hunt for the out-of-the-way rustic oasis called Rancho. Our elderly, peroxide-blonde driver wasn't deterred as she raced round near the Khan Asparuch riding stables, cursing the bad dirt roads, the poor lighting, the scary stray dogs - even the unlucky pedestrian she yanked into our cab to help navigate.

When we finally found Rancho, it did seem to be flavoured with a faint tang of the Wild West. It has saloon-style doors, wall portraits of cowboys, and a musty, mustang smell. But then we saw the inexcusable disco ball hanging from the ceiling, and we wished we had moseyed on elsewhere.

Maybe the biggest incongruity, though, is that you can't land any true ranch grub here; the restaurant has the usual Bulgarian mehana fare.

The appetisers are attractive but unoriginal. The Mexican salad, with tomato cubes, corn, rice and dill, had no kick. The supposedly vegetarian house salad - containing mainly tomatoes, cucumbers, cabbage, peppers, olives, corn, eggs and mayonnaise - had some of the best cirene we've ever had but also some mysterious bits of tuna. Like the cucumber salad, composed of just four big cucumbers, it's enough to feed a small horse.

We had more luck with a plate of seasoned vegetables (cabbage, carrots, cucumbers and tomatoes) and the stewed potatoes, which seemed to be fried with lots of fennel and garlic and served hotter than the desert at high noon.

Among the entrees, we appreciated the soft white meat on our chicken shish kebab but we wished it had had more zest. Ditto for the grilled trout with tomato, lemon and parsley, which couldn't even outshine the slice of bread it came with. It's too bad that the entrees that sounded a little more exotic on the menu (like Asian-style kavarma) weren't in fact available when we asked for them.

Of course, you can't expect much from a meal that's less than six leva per person. And maybe if you've been out at the stables all day and you missed the last pony to the centre, this could be just the restaurant to rope you in.