Rating: 3/5
Address: On the corner of April 20 Street and Kiril Metodi Boulevard, Bankya.
Phone: 997 7263
Cuisine: Bulgarian
Price category: Low

Sofia's villa zone of Bankya, just 10 km from the city centre, is a refreshing break from the capital. The tree lined streets and houses with gardens set back from the road retain its small town atmosphere, though the building sites and mansions glimpsed behind walls and guarded fences confirm the fact that it is now home to many of Sofia's elite. Up the hill from the stylish new outdoor swimming pool is The White House; a massive (white) building that overlooks the greenery of the park below.

A side entrance leads onto a pleasant patio with wooden tables, an outdoor bar, barbeque, and a lawn for chuldren to run around on. The background music is played at an unobtrusive level and there is little or no traffic noise to disturb you. Observant diners and entomologists may notice that the soothing sound of incessantly chirping grasshoppers follows more of a techno than an insect rhythm, and is actually an electronic atmosphere enhancer, unless the small plastic grasshopper boxes I saw plugged into the mains actually contained real insects. With or without its eternal electronic bugs, the place is peaceful, the menu ample, and the service efficient.

The food is typical Bulgarian fare with the usual emphasis on meat, but with some pleasant surprises for vegetarians. Several risotto combinations are offered, all at around three leva, and can be ordered with chicken, ham, or your own combination, which can be vegetarian. Two of my companions sampled both of the meat risottos, which were well-presented - moulded mounds of risotto on white plates in puddles of tomato sauce - and found them a little greasy, but generally very tasty.

The other decent vegetarian offering is Vegetarian Drop Sarma, another moulded mound of rice in a sea of tomato sauce, but this time wrapped in a pancake. It was satisfying, but bland. The usual abundance of salads are offered, the shopska at 2.40 leva was excellent with its additional pickled pepper. Nineteen different rakias are available to be sipped Bulgarian style with your salad - from 50g of Peshtera for 80 stotinki to a glass of Bourgas '63 Special for 2.40 leva.

Carnivores and those vegetarians that have convinced themselves that fish are somehow related to vegetables will be pleased to know that The White House has a selection of seafood appetisers. Crab, shrimp, or mussel cocktails are available for around 3.60 leva, as well as crabs in butter, and king shrimps. Red caviar at eight leva and black caviar at 16 leva top the list. The restaurant also offers King's trout, salmon, white fish, and turbot for between six and 15 leva on the main menu.

The barbeque menu offers an extensive array of options including veal fillet, mixed wolf's platter, and surprisingly, a barbequed vegetarian platter. An interesting main course option for two, priced at 16 leva, consists of ham, mushroom, tomato, crab, chicken liver and egg and weighs in at 700g. There is also The White House specialty of beef, pork, cheese, tomato, and mushrooms in some kind of omelette, and a range of 12 chicken specialty dishes priced between six and seven leva. The brief Bulgarian national dish section includes kavarma, sermi (rice wrapped in vine leaves), and chicken pancake for five leva.

Your choice of the above can be washed down by wine from The White House's satisfactory range. Ten bottled whites, priced at up to 14 leva for a Chardonnay Suhindol, are listed and a similar selection of reds from six to 28 leva a bottle.

Those that wisely left room for dessert can sample the variety of delicious ice cream cakes, or choose a pancake with a sweet filling of their choice.