Most restaurant re-views that appear on this page are written on the strength of one or two visits.
Writing on the strength of one seems fair, because most people will try out a restaurant just once. With any place, there is the chance of an off night, or more perversely, an exceptionally good night, and everyone who goes there on the strength of a positive review might wonder whether the revie-wer was deluded, goofily drunk or on the take.
Writing about Motto is somewhat of a challenge. I have lost count of the number of times I have been there, for meals, casual drinks or even birthday parties. The place has become quite an institution in certain circles, including foreigner ones, and most people reacted with surprise when I said I was going there to review the place. Somehow, the place has been in operation long enough to become an institution, and yet has not been subjected to The Echo's learned scrutiny. Pocket notebook and pen in hand, on Tuesday lunchtime this week I visited specifically to write this review, and tried to approach it with an open mind. As open a mind as possible of an Editor tickled to see his newspaper on the reading rack sandwiched among the company of less erudite journals.
All right, impressions long formed first. Motto has good decor, generally a good atmosphere, a good standard of cuisine, and happily, while popular with foreigners living in Sofia, is not a stereotypical wall-to-wall expat hangout. It's a good all-year-round venue, with the enclosed garden in the back great for long summer evenings (although not that long: staff have sometimes moved us in-side after 10.30pm so as not to disturb Motto's neighbours), and in winter, the airconditioning is good enough to make it warm without being dozy or claustrophobic. The downside: its popularity makes it crowded, one sometimes struggles to get a table, and personally my friends and I avoid it on those nights we expect the music will be too loud, which includes but is not limited to their DJ nights.
The visit done for review purposes: at lunch-time, the place was about half-full, and the music soft enough to make conversation easily possible. A glance at the other tables showed that the salads (ranging in price from 2.95 leva to 4.50 leva, and covering the bases from traditional Bulgarian to more modern European-style options) were a popular choice. Having a few weeks ago enjoyed the enchilada which had been the centrepiece of a themed lunch offering, I scrutinised this Tuesdays' offering, which had an Italian theme: fresh salad with raspberry dressing, olive and egg for 3.10 leva, chicken mini fillets with risotto and saffron 5.95 leva, and sabayon with wild berry for 2.20 leva. But I had been to the place so often the choice was among my favourites, including their burritos (4.50 leva), jumbo beef burger (4.70 leva) and nachos (4.80 leva). Passing over the soups, which include gou-lash, gazpacho, chicken and potato, and the pasta options, which include penne and tomato sauce for 4.90 leva and fettucini for the same price, I opted for the old favourite of burritos, with a soft drink to accompany. A working afternoon lay ahead, so it was not cocktail time, nor time to choose the thinking person's Motto drink, the 5.90 carafe of house wine, which generally is of a good standard. I was pleased to see that again the burrito arrived with the texture of each of its component parts being as it should, with no confusion of identity with other, crisper, items of Mexican cuisine.
With too little time to linger, with regret I also skipped the dessert op-tions (of which my favou-rites are the pancakes at 2.90 leva and the waffles at 3.30 leva) and called for my bill, which in all came to just more than seven leva.