Address:Near the corner of Angel Kunchev St. and Patriarch Evtimii Boulevard

Sofia has progressed well enough as a city to offer the full range of places for a beer and a light meal. There are the expatriate pubs, full of cheer (and that same word, in the plural), the themed drinking holes, the designer Places to Pose.

Yet there are times that one wants a place that is quiet, for a contemplative pub lunch, or, as in the case to Tuesday's visit to the Fox and Hound, because one wants a place of pleasant and relaxed surroundings in which to conduct an interview.

In the mould of the many imitators around the world of the popular conception of the "English pub", this restaurant is outfitted in what may be termed rural pub green, with plentiful touches of wood and motifs representing the theme of fox-hunting (which you may recall was best described as "the unspeakable in pursuit of the uneatable").

The music, mainly retro rock (several Dire Straits tracks played during lunch) was at a volume low enough not to strain the vocal chords.

With few customers in the place in the time taken over the meal and the interview - from 2pm to 4pm - there was little to distract the waitress, who was friendly and polite in proferring the menu for consideration. Items on offer lean less towards traditional Bulgarian cuisine than to the choices that may be favoured by Westerners - moving beyond the soup of the day, the salads, and the spaghetti, dishes include Wiener Schnitzel (seven leva), Fillet Rocquefort (5.9 leva) and Fish and Chips (6.50 leva). As it should be, the beer selection is extensive, cider - usually a rarity in most Bulgarian pubs - is on offer, and the wine selection is a tad on the classier side of respectable.

Fish and Chips seemed the most appropriate choice (what sort of "English pub" could it be if it could not carry off this simple feat? - or so seemed the most an appropriate measure of the place). To accompany, a small Murphy's dark.

When the person to be interviewed arrived, and spoke English, the waitress was quick to offer a menu in English, and to discuss and comply with the requirements of the salad as requested.

The Fish and Chips proved to be as good as could be expected under the circumstances, not quite the traditional street eat of popular fame, but rather its more refined cousin. Reasonably attractively presented, the fish actually filleted (places other than the UK and Commonwealth countries have been known to err on this point), and accompanied by a garnish of tomato and sundry green stuff.

If there is a quibble, it is that as time wore on the check-ups by the waitress were a little too rare, although in contrast to many Bulgarian restaurants it took little effort to attract her attention to order Irish coffees and cappucinos to follow the meal. Yet in fairness, and given that there was a notebook on the table and questions and answers were going back and forth, perhaps she should be given credit for not wanting to interrupt. It was also rather heartening that when photographs were being taken for the interview (and, by stealth, of the restaurant itself - because all Sofia Echo restaurant reviews are meant to be performed incognito) the waitress smilingly offered to help with wielding the camera.

In all, a place worthwhile for a discreet lunch in a relaxed atmosphere. With a small gratuity, and with additional soft drinks, the bill came to 20 leva.