Address: 2 Sveti Sedmochislenitsi Str
Working hours: Noon-midnight
Tel: 963 13 92
Credit cards: Yes

The Pchela ("bee" in Bulgarian) Restaurant, like so many good restaurants in Sofia, is tucked away out of sight of the main avenue, on a two-block, dead-end side street that no one would think to look down if he didn't already know what was there. Sveti Sedmochislenitsi Street is on the other side of Cherni Vruh Boulevard from the Kempinski hotel - close enough to the centre to be fairly accessible by car or some public transport, but far enough out from the centre and just far enough away from Cherni Vruh to be quiet. There are hardly any other public establishments on the street, which means little traffic and available parking.

A broad, gently sloping pavement leads down the slight hill from the street to the entrance - they are usually pretty good about keeping it clear of snow and ice in the winter, and there is a picture of a friendly, welcoming bee painted on the cobblestones. Outside, a garden area offers seating under umbrellas and nice trees - all covered in snow at the moment of writing, but rather nice during the summer. Inside, there are two rooms - the first a smaller, no-smoking room with a bar and glass doors leading (and looking) out into the garden. Further inside is the smoking room, somewhat larger, and also with nice windows and view.

We arrived at about 1.30pm or so on a weekday for lunch - the restaurant was nearly empty, with perhaps five or six other tables taken. Our usual time to come here is for Sunday lunch, where the story is much the same - almost empty. The few times that I've gone in the evenings, the place usually started to fill up between seven and eight.

The menu is extensive, and generally of very high quality and fairly reasonable price. I can honestly say that I've never ordered a dish that was not well prepared. All three of us got salads - a shopska (4.27 leva), a snezhanka (3.19 leva), and a cabbage salad (shredded cabbage and carrots, also 3.19 leva). My snezhanka (a salad of drained yoghurt mixed with chopped cucumbers, and sometimes garlic and dill) came with a very generous portion of finely chopped walnuts - for me, this is what makes the dish, and it's always a major disappointment when restaurants either leave them off entirely, or, worse, skimp, giving you just enough for the first two or three bites and leaving the rest without. Such was not the case here.

The entrees range from six or seven leva for basic pork dishes to nearly 30 for an octopus dish, with the majority falling between eight and 16. In addition to the normal categories of pork, chicken and fowl, beef and seafood, they also serve pizza. My brother ordered a margarita (the cheapest pizza at 5.99 leva); having been assured that it was fresh, my dad had a trout on the barbeque (11.96 leva); and I ordered a Bavarian pork knuckle with sauerkraut and bacon (9.35 leva). We also had two orders of some excellent garlic bread (2.99 leva), which essentially resembles a small pizza with toasted cheese, heavy garlic, and no tomato sauce.

The salads came quite promptly, but once we had finished with them there was quite a bit of a wait before the entrees showed up, this despite the restaurant being less than a quarter full. The service was, as somewhat usual for Bulgaria, relaxed - this is a place where client and employee alike can take a break from the hectic pace and stress of modern life. There is usually at least one waiter or waitress at the bar that can be flagged down, but on the whole the staff, while courteous in responding to requests, cannot be said to suffer from an overabundance of interest in the moment-by-moment needs of their customers.

The food eventually came: my brother's pizza was satisfactory, and the trout was indeed fresh. I received a bit of disappointment when my Bavarian pork knuckle came, however: despite being listed on the menu as not being de-boned, and in fact having always come that way before, the large bone had been removed and the meat cut into three chunks. Don't get me wrong, it was excellent - but half of the enjoyment and most of the reason that I ordered it is amusement at my dogs' reactions when bringing home the bones. This would be quite a let-down for them: the German shepherd can usually get two or three solid days of enjoyment out of one of those bones - or anyway until the Dalmatian steals it from her and crunches it, having finished his and started begging for more inside of a minute. I had promised them both a little something when I came home today, and now my name is mud.

Nevertheless, it was an excellent meal, if somewhat more expensive than average: the bill for three, including drinks (one juice, one coke, and a bottle of water) came to 50.20 leva.