Address: Berkovitsa
Tel: 0953/ 885 05
Credit cards not accepted
Working hours: 10am-midnight (flexible closing time)

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Vodenitsa, or "watermill", is one of those quality restaurants that one occasionally stumbles across while adventuring outside of Sofia. As it happens, Berkovitsa, the city where it is located, is not at all a bad place, though rather smallish and hard-hit economically - it has a pleasant city centre with fountains and (socialist) murals, trees, a historic clocktower and excellent views of mountains in several directions. Vodenitsa is a little way out from the centre, slightly above the base of one of the hills overlooking the town. I'm not certain if it's still within the city limits proper, but at any rate it's outside the general circumference of buildings and in the woods, which makes for a nice change for a long-time Sofia resident like me. There's a stream flowing nearby - right next to the restaurant, actually, which makes parking a bit of an adventure as the narrow lot (which is essentially just an extra lane on the road that runs up the hill) drops off suddenly into the creek bed. In warmer weather, there is seating in a cobblestoned gradina (garden) on the far side of the building from the parking lot - the stream flows by it, which, combined with the trees which largely shield the town from view, creates a very nice ambience. There's also a wood oven outside, though I don't know and didn't think to ask if it was ever used.

Inside, the layout is rather difficult to explain. There is a short entryway where the (recently remodelled and usually quite clean) bathrooms are. At the end of the corridor is a door leading to the main dining area, which consists of three levels. On the entry level, there is the bar and door to the kitchen. A short flight of stairs leads one up to a balcony of sorts with some seating that overlooks the lower ground level where the exit to the garden is. (As I mentioned, the place is built on a hill, so there are actually two "ground levels" - the middle one, which is where the main entrance is, and the lower one, which is on level with the garden in the back.) On the lower level, there is a spot where a band could set up to play live music, though I've only been there for it once, several years ago, above which hangs a large banner for the Rotary Club. There is also a niche in the wall beneath the balcony resembling a cross between a fireplace and a decorative cave - this used to be a goldfish pond, though this time I didn't see any fish. The table settings, though not luxurious, are done with care and an emphasis on presentation.

My experience with the Vodenitsa has largely been in catering to the large volunteer teams to which we often play host - it's a slightly different experience eating with 15+ people from a pre-arranged menu and dining out, but on this particular occasion, we were with a small group (four people) so we decided not to call ahead with pre-selections. Unfortunately, they only had one English menu, so the two non-Bulgarian-speakers had to share. The waiter spoke a little English, but since the other two of us in our party of four were bilingual, we just did all the ordering.

For salads, I had olives with onions (1.60 leva), which is pretty much exactly what it sounds like - a plate of black olives with chopped onions. I also had a snezhanka, which the menu called a snow-white (two leva) - a favourite Bulgarian salad of mine involving strained yoghurt, chopped cucumbers, dill, and, to my satisfaction, shredded walnuts off to the side. The two other Americans had shopska salads (2.60 leva), and our fourth member ordered a ovcharska (shepherd's) salad (3.60 leva). All pronounced their satisfaction.

For the main course, we selected a speciality of the restaurant and a long-time favourite of mine, the grilled trout (six leva) - unfortunately, on this particular evening, it wasn't available. Disappointing. I settled on a Berkovski kebap (six leva), which is described in the English menu as "highly seasoned stewed meat". What it is, in fact, is chunks of pork with mushrooms with various seasonings in an earthenware pot, covered with French-fried potatoes - vaguely similar to the traditional Bulgarian kavarma. The chips seem a bit of an odd addition, but the dish is nevertheless quite good. One of our number decided to stick with just a salad and French-fried potatoes (1.40 leva), another ordered a second Berkovski kebap, and the last got a white fish (4.50 leva) Again, everything was excellent, though I was more than a little disappointed about the trout. (As it happened, we went back with a larger group the next night and the trout was available and excellent. I was also pleased to note that they had reintroduce the "gondola" (eight leva) - a dish with melted cheese, meat and vegetables served in an earthenware dish shaped like a gondola, served atop another dish with alcohol fire: a quite impressive presentation for a very tasty dish. However, this dish is NOT listed on the English menu.) We also ordered a bottle of Assenovgrad Mavrud (10 leva) to go with the meal, along with bottled water and one beer.
For dessert, we had one order of crepes (80 stotinki) and two melba (two leva) - ice cream with fruit. The Americans were amused by the chewing gum also offered on the dessert menu (one lev) and made me promise to mention it.
All in all, the dining experience was quite satisfactory - the food was tasty and plentiful, with excellent presentation, and quite affordable.