Rating: 4*
Address: 6, Atanas Dalchev Street, Iztok district
Phone: 970 01 11
Cuisine: International
Price category: Medium

Moderato is an extremely classy restaurant in terms of interior design and high quality furnishings and fittings. Diners encounter a massive smooth slab of onyx, backlit with water trickling behind it, when they enter the restaurant, and are welcomed by polite and attentive waiters. Upstairs, thick carpets, elegant drapes, and tables positioned well apart and laid with an impressive array of glasses, and fresh flowers put visitors at their ease.

Two or three uniformed waiting staff fluttered around a little aimlessly, and rolled a large wooden trolley stacked with various spirits for the diners' perusal. I liked the bottles of Ouzo and vodka that were presented in great blocks of ice, but we declined the offer of aperitifs and were immediately confronted by another trolley, this time stocked with a wide range of wines.

My companions and I decided at this point that it might be wise to check that the menu's prices agreed with our pockets before opting for anything too extravagant, and were relieved to find the place more reasonable than we were led to expect from our surroundings. Wines from all over Bulgaria were offered from 12 to about 40 leva, and main course dishes were generally around the 12 to 15 leva mark. The restaurant boasts an excellent range of 23 whiskies, with a 50g glass of 21-year-old Glenfiddich topping the list at 38 leva, and there's also a long list of alcoholic and non-alcoholic cocktails to choose from.

Perhaps it's easier to find fault with restaurants that aspire to high standards, or perhaps I take more pleasure in doing so, but, whichever the case, I was disappointed by the waiting staffs' lack of knowledge of the menu's dishes, and the fact that after we had ordered, our waiter decided to inform us that there were many other dishes available which hadn't been included on the menu. "It would be too long if we included everything," he explained to his somewhat flummoxed customers. "You can even," he continued, "request a dish of your choice." How this works out in terms of pricing and planning, I don't know, but it's something that needs to be addressed if the restaurant hopes to cater for foreign diners that can't read the menu in the waiter's head.

My only other complaint was the over-attentive waiters, who always seemed to be loitering somewhere nearby, waiting for something to happen or checking that everything was fine. This definitely defeated the object of positioning the tables far apart to create a private, intimate atmosphere for diners, and it also made it difficult to write the notes for this restaurant review.

Grumbles aside, the service was high quality if a little over-bearing. We were offered brown or white bread with little pats of butter to munch on, and our large goblets, almost the size of fish bowls, were filled with mineral water while we read the menu.

Several fish starters were offered with shrimps, tuna, salmon, trout, or caviar for between six and 10 leva. From the salad menu one companion chose courgettes with shrimps and avocado for 5.80 leva. She decided that the shrimps were undercooked but liked the sauce, so my other companion dealt with the shrimps and both were satisfied.

Gooseliver on peaches with massala sauce was one of the hot starters, as well as baked parmeggiano with prosciutto, both priced at around 10 leva. A selection of pasta dishes was offered, from which I chose a simple spaghetti dish, before being told that there were many more pasta dishes. I then opted for the spaghetti with broccoli and courgettes that our waiter suggested - it was served with a bowl of grated Parmesan cheese and was tasty, although the pasta was a little underdone and had had an olive oil overdose. Farfale with salmon and caviar, and gnocci with Gorgonzola were also offered.

Cipura and Sea-wolf were among the fish available, priced around 20 leva, with shrimp shintzandi - king shrimps on breaded veg - topping the price list at 33 leva.

One companion tried chicken fillet with vegetables and cheese sauce and was suitably impressed, but not astounded by the dish. Also lurking in the chicken section of the menu, we found ducks and turkeys - duck fillet with orange sauce was one of the imposters, priced at 11 leva.

There were also brief veal and pork sections, and, as has been said, there is more to the menu than meets the eye, so diners must ask if they don't find what they're looking for.

The desserts were very tempting, but remained unsampled - crepe suzette with caramelised apple and raisins sounded particularly good. Our bill for three came to just over 35 leva without wine.