The love of pancakes was the obvious rationale behind the owners’ decision to transform a former tavern into a pancake house (in Bulgarian, this translates as Palachinkova Kashta) in Sofia’s Dragalevtsi.

It is easy to find on the road connecting Boyana with Dragalevtsi and Simeonovo. Open now for about two months, Palachinka Kashta has already started attracting good word-of-mouth publicity.

The owner is very happy about all the positive feedback as she will tell you herself. Indeed this is one of several features setting the place apart from other sweet shops, cafes and restaurants in Bulgaria. The owner is actually present and seems genuinely interested in her clients’ opinions without invading their privacy with too many questions.

The other pleasant surprise is the water jug the waitress serves at the table. This is free, unlike some other places where it appears on the bill without prior warning.

"My husband and I bought the place two years ago. We then rented it out for some time to a group of young men who were running a tavern (the bar is one of its legacies) before deciding to go it alone. After a careful brain-storming we decided to open a pancake house as everybody loves pancakes," she said in a way revealing she is used to telling her story.

"All pancakes are made from my own personal recipes, although the chef sometimes disagrees with me," she said, smiling and noting that she is there to ensure that all ingredients are available. Indeed the menu features a number of interesting pancake-fillers. There are more than a dozen versions of salt pancakes with prices ranging from 2.90 leva to five leva featuring all kinds of cheese, meat and fish.

Some of the pancakes’ names prove that this is not just a place to eat sweets. These include pancakes "For Vodka" "For Ouzo" and "For Rakiya". The sweet pancakes are priced between 2.90 and four leva and, according to the owner, the most popular is the one with chocolate. Her personal favourite, however, is made with home-made honey. All come beautifully arranged and are distinguished by their simplicity.

For some reason most Bulgarian sweet shop owners think "the more the better", piling tons of cream, fruit and chocolate on the plate, sometimes making it impossible for the client to taste the pancake itself. Here, however, the situation is different and pancakes come with just enough chocolate and honey so that they actually taste like pancakes. Fans of large portions will appreciate the cholesterol bomb called "Pancake for Beer" which has sausage and fried potatoes.

In terms of the interior, the owners have definitely tried to stay away from the - typical for sweet shops - pink, red, and yellow. Instead they have opted for agreeable shades of white. The furniture matches the colour which, together with the wooden floor and the glass tables, creates a very pleasant feeling of lightness and cosiness, a result of careful thinking rather than fancy and expensive decoration.     

Live bands perform at weekends, hence bookings are recommended.