Lovnata Kushta /Ловната Къща/
Address: 17 Tsarigradsko Chaussee, Sofia
Tel: 02/ 943 43 52
Open: every day, 11.00 to midnight

It takes a competent restaurant to figure out how to make eating wild game sound appetising in warm weather. Lovnata Kushta, which opened in mid-2007, aims at the concept, and hits the target straight on.

How? It does not apologise for its field of speciality. The focus is on alluring dishes like various meats (wild boar, partridge, rabbit) prepared using time-tested methods, ranging from drying and smoking to braising and grilling, salads made innovative using water buffalo cheese and conventional vegetables like tomatoes and lettuce in non-traditional combinations, and a selection of mezze, all keeping with the tradition-meets-contemporary leitmotif.

The first time that we went there was in the autumn. Though its name, which means “hunting lodge” in English, would bely a log structure and blazing fireplace, the restaurant is open, airy, with a glass ceiling and a glass-paned wall that looks out onto the summer garden. Colours are kept delicate, decor is subdued and the only hint of it, being a place of rifles and beasts, are the three buck heads mounted on the rafters. To one of the walls – this one bricked – stands a 1.5m-high copper keg, which indicates that Lovnata Kushta has something still alive: Zhiva Bira, one of the few microbrews (and unfiltered at that) available in Bulgaria.

The courteous waiter showed us to a table, and, as the couple of small tables available were full, it ended up being the two of us at a long, shellaqued picnic-like table. No matter. In total, the inside would probably seat 40+ people; with the garden, the number doubles. That first time, a Monday night, it was about half full.

We ordered the mixed salad platter to share. My friend had been to the restaurant before and described the platter as something too large for one person to finish. This night, however, the chef seemed to have changed his fancy. The five salads, though, were rich in flavour, well seasoned, and well-greased. I’ve noticed that most of the dishes here seem to be replete with oil or butter.

My trout (9.60 leva) and his meat arrived at the same time. The presentation was a pleasant surprise, as it was modern, pretty and yet the arrangement did not inhibit one from being able to eat it.

The pan-grilled fish fillets, fresh and flavourful, covered the mound of sauteed fresh spinach and were accompanied by au gratin tomato halves, all dotted with pesto oil. On the whole, it was a very oily-buttery dish, spinach included, though it must be stated that 1) it was very good, and 2) as a rule I run away from oily food.

A visit recently for lunch saw three of us outside, on the covered enclosed patio. Such a delight, with greenery surrounding and an adorable potted cactus – each one a different variety – on each table.

When I had stopped by a few days before to reserve the table, two things pleased me: the waiter repeated all the information back correctly and politely, and it was not necessary to leave any money as a guarantee of our coming. (The staff also has good phone skills.)

The same hospitable waiter served us at lunch, and was able to explain various dishes when asked, and to recommend wines. (The restaurant has a decent selection of Bulgarian wines, including bottles of 375ml and 250ml.) While he had realised that we would need an English menu, his English was limited to basic comprehension, and no speech. But the menu is translated sensibly.

It can be a bit nerve-racking when waitstaff do not write down orders, but at one go he managed to remember two mini-bottles of Villa Hissar misket (4.90 leva each), one soda water (one lev), one glass of tap water, two salads of avocado, fresh buffalo cheese and cherry tomato (7.80 leva each), one grilled vegetables (3.60 leva), one venison appetiser (6.90 leva), one beef with asparagus (22.40 leva) and one chicken with spinach (9.20 leva).

Except he forgot: the ice for the wine, and that I had asked for my grilled vegetables to be prepared without oil or butter. Actually, what he said was: “They are prepared without any,” so maybe he just never told the chef. He also forgot that I wanted my venison at the same time as the other main dishes – but he gets points for asking in the first place.

When the vegetables arrived, I tasted them and saw that they had, in fact, been prepared with oil. The waiter graciously offered to make amends, and not long after, brought an entirely new dish, prepared as requested. They were likely the best-prepared grilled vegetables that I have had yet, showing their grill marks, yet not charred, neither still raw.

As a whole, the food was lovely, from the ripe chunks of avocado mixed with cubes of fresh cheese and halved cherry tomatoes, seasoned with a tad of dill and lemon and served in a half-avocado shell, to the chicken that was moist and tender, in which was rolled a mixture of spinach and ricotta, served on slabs of roasted tomato.

The venison, too, popped with refined flavours – chunks of braised deer tender enough to cut with a fork, mixed with thick slices of carrot that retained only the slightest bite, pieces of and whole c?pe mushrooms, cooked together in a rich sauce that had a mild hint of garlic.

Cheesecake and panna cotta rounded things out, the serving of panna cotta being judged as on the small side for Bulgaria (but by no means was it tiny) and the cheesecake being slightly spongy. Definitely not American-style.

Overall, portions are decent-sized if you’re a normal eater. Orders arrive promptly, if not all exactly at the same time.

Lovnata Kushta has my approval for its unique and tasty approach to variations on modern cuisine, for the responsive, gracious staff, and for offering something more creative than other restaurants in the country.