In addition to being one of the first tea houses in contemporary Sofia, and offering a must-hear selection of live jazz and other music on a regular basis, Tea House / Чай във фабриката / Чайна, whatever you choose to call it, also serves up a pretty mean bowl of soup.

Though it opened in December 2006, it took a while for the fact that Tea House serves food to sink in. It was, instead, considered an artsy-friendly place to relax in an armchair with a cup of tea (there are more than 60 available) and home-made cake during the day, while chatting with a friend; or one of the few outlets where good live music was played - Petar Momchev, Rosen Zahariev, BrazilAcoustic, maybe Lilly of the West, or, if lucky, Teodosii Spassov - with a reasonable starting time of 8pm.

Yet word slowly got out: the transformed printing house (hence the name: "chai vuv fabrikata" means "tea in the factory"), with its coral-coloured walls, mishmashed antique furniture and ever-changing display of artwork (for incredible creativity, check out the toilets), had a food menu as well. Vegetarian regulars like soups and salads and pasta were given additional allure on Thursday evenings, when guest chef Yuri Kovachev whipped up an ayurvedic menu.

As one of the components of Ayurveda (a system of alternative medicine and lifestyle that originated in India) emphasises following a specific diet based on a person’s doshas (mind and body type), I had thought that the chef or someone would come out and analyse each diner, and then cook each a suitable meal, but no. Instead, the daily menu (soup, main dish, dessert) is replaced with an ayurvedic variant.

Keeping with the health-conscious theme, Tea House goes smoke-free all day on Thursdays, and on Sundays, too. And, at the moment, in addition to the one-page regular menu and the daily menu, there is a spring menu. It keeps with the healthy, fresh, approachable vegetarian motif.

There on a recent Thursday for dinner, we ordered two of the ayurvedic items - a vegetable cream soup (dairy-free, 3.50 leva), and sauteed vegetables with tofu, accompanied by basmati rice with peas (7.50 leva). There was also a fruit dessert and a fresh fruit tea that we did not order.

The attentive waitress soon brought the dishes in order and in good time, and despite the place being nearly full and there only being this one waitress, smiling, responsive service never lacked. Well, when the food came, we were underwhelmed, but not put out or anything - the smooth vegetable soup, delicious if you love potages, which I do, had a hint of ginger, and the vegetable-tofu-rice-pea dish was exactly that: half a place of sauteed cauliflower, broccoli, courgette and cubed tofu, half a plate of turmeric-seasoned rice with some peas.

The rice was cooked perfectly, and the whole was very... mild, very calm.

We finished off the night with tea (mursalski and oolong, 1.50/1.80 leva, served with honey), and Tea House’s home-made not-sugary chocolate bonbons (one lev each), richly cocoa-y, with caramelised almonds, and rolled in coconut. Nice.

In a completely opposite experience, there one Tuesday for dinner at 8.30pm not too long ago, there was only one other customer. It was encouraging to see, however, that single customers feel comfortable enough there to simply sit and dine with a good book.

So we sat by the upright piano and ordered the home-made wholemeal toasts with a dip of pureed sweet pepper and beans, slightly seasoned with garlic, and toasts covered with herbed cream cheese, sliced tomatoes and sprouts (both 5.50 leva), a bowl of organic spaghetti with sliced almonds and formaggio sauce (8 leva) and two glasses of Zagreus shiraz wine (3.50 leva each).

The server did something impressive: on learning that the cherry tomatoes that were to figure in the pasta dish had run out, he came to ask us if it would be ok if sliced regular tomatoes were used instead.

And it was all very friendly and jazz and classics were playing softly over the loudspeakers and so we sat there, talking and trying to finish everything (those wholemeal toasts come three full slices per order) and drinking tea and then it was nearly 11pm, and we were very kindly asked to consider finishing up, but instead it all turned into a jam session on the piano, with the cook coming out to hear as well...

While this type of casualness might not please everyone, we found it fantastic.

For a mid-day treat, the torta Bulgara provides a sweet, healthy option, its layers of tea biscuit interspersed with honeyed yoghurt, raisins and sliced bananas.
Daytimes see Tea House as a gathering place for local businesspersons and people from the arts world. Somewhat charming, because so not-Bulgarian, are the groups of chic businesswomen who gather after work for insalata Caprese and gossip. Reservations are advisable on Thursday to Saturday nights.

Info

Address: 11 Georgi Benkovski Str, Sofia

Tel: 088/ 705 10 80

Open: Mon to Sat, 10am to 11pm, Sun 11am to 6pm

Credit cards: no