You may be puzzled if you pick up the neatly laminated menu propped up on each table in Machu Picchu, given the restaurant's Mexican theme.

Tarator, shopska salata, kufteta? Look again. The menu is labelled, "for the traditionalists" and it is there as a refuge for those dragged along to the place, in no mood for Mexican.

Fortunately, within moments a waitress will draw up alongside the table, bearing the carte with the real thing. Or as real as you are likely to find in Sofia.

My benchmarks against which to judge a restaurant's Mexican food are, unfortunately, not drawn against any experience in Mexico. But to rank among the best, a restaurant would have to match or better the best I ever had, which was in the student quarter in Pittsburgh, or my next most fond favourite, Pancho's in Cape Town. Certainly it would have to be a lot better than the worst I ever had, which strangely enough was in Houston, which should have done a lot better, given that Texas is reasonably close to the nachos' and tortilla's home on the range.

This was my third visit to Machu Picchu, but the first in a long time. Memorable about it were two things: that the experiences of the first and second visits were in diametric contrast to each other, the first disappointing, the second wonderful; and that getting a table in the place is no mean feat, given its popularity, and that booking is, to say the least, advisable. At the same time, it should be pointed out that the fact that the restaurant is at the affordable end of the range might have much to do with the latter point.

There are gestures towards a pastiche Mexican atmosphere, from the decorations on the walls, to the costumes of the waitresses, somewhat reminiscent of the 1960s spaghetti Western standard dress for extras.

The menu is extensive enough, with some new features added recently, and even a children's menu, the latter a set selection costing 4.69 leva. The wine list includes, in the main, a short selection of Bulgarian wines, as well as wines from Chile, Argentina and Spain, and the restaurant's reasonably successful attempt at sangria, for which we opted. Particularly after we were told that the Stolichno beer, gaily advertised at the restaurant's entrance and boasted of in the menu, was not actually in stock.

Salads are in the 1.69 to 3.99 leva range, and the soups include a Gazpacho, at 1.98 leva.

We started off by sharing the "ola" and "salsa" tortillas, and a plate of guacamole nachos. The tortillas proved a little too dry and floury, and while the sauce on the ola was a disappointment, the salsa was worthwhile. Skeptics might suggest that even the most ham-handed of us in the kitchen can successfully slap a bottle's bottom. The guacamole nachos - also none too difficult a culinary feat, given that in most Western countries they are sold as part of DIY mexican meal kits - were good and satisfying.

For the main course, we chose Embanadas, which could roughly be described as tortillas filled with bacon, spices and vegetables, and proved a dish as piquant and tasty as it should be, and the Galina Mexicana, a chicken-based dish prepared to perfection, and none too heavy either, given that too much Mexican food, as moreish as it may be, can easily leave one feeling bloated very swiftly.

The desserts were less than tempting, with the fruit dishes, on inquiry, proving to come out of a tin, and for the rest, the other items on offer being the predictable creme caramel, and ice cream.

The sangria, the atmosphere naturally generated by the clientele, and a generally acceptable standard of Mexican food - good enough to pass for the real thing, although aficianados may quibble - made for a convivial evening. The bill was not the kind to reduce one's conviviality, either, with the final reckoning our table for four had to face coming to about 32 leva.