Native Bulgarian impressed by authentic cuisine
By : Will Sartori
We were greeted by a Bulgarian duo with violin and accordion just inside the door, smiling and playing to a restaurant that was mostly full on a Monday night. I needed guides to help me through an unfamiliar cuisine so Weegee and his wife Sofia were already inside Restauracja Varna, enjoying the menu's funny English translations. Their favorite was ser solan, which popped up as "white brined Bulgarian." We all wondered how the Bulgarian would fit on the plate.
Varna occupies a spot on the ground floor of the Hotel Metropol. The room has high ceilings and large windows looking out on the center of town, making it a wonderful spot to sit in at twilight when the city changes color. The architecture is pure communist, with mirrored columns, silk ivy and other knick-knacks that Weegee described as "bearable kitsch."
Varna's owner runs five Bulgarian wine shops and imports many of the ingredients that give his food authenticity. The country lies between Poland and the Mediterranean, so the cuisine shares many ingredients common to Greek and Turkish dishes, such as lots of grilled meat, onion, garlic, tomato, and cheese.
The menu is moderate in terms of price. Salads are zl. 5-zl. 12, cold starters zl. 5-zl. 10, hot starters zl. 8-zl. 13, and soups zl. 8-zl. 10. Main dishes range from zl. 13-zl. 35 and desserts, zl. 8-zl. 15. The wine is exclusively Bulgarian, with reds and whites ranging from zl. 22-zl. 79. The wine list includes such helpful comments as dry, sweet, or semi dry, but for novices of Bulgarian varietals, a little assistance may be required.
Sofia called the owner over. She spoke to him in their native tongue, inquiring about that wonderful wine she and Weegee had on their last visit. After much laughing and gesticulating, the round and slightly drunken man fetched an open bottle from the pantry. He poured a taste of Sun Valley Merlot Reserve '96 (zl. 52), "a dry red wine from the Haskovo region," according to the bottle. We all found the taste quite pleasant and ordered it. When first opened, the merlot was green and quite strong tasting, but after breathing a bit turned slightly dark and tannic, halfway to a cabernet.
After the wine ceremony, we turned our attention to the food. I let my guides do the ordering and was glad I did. They started me off with szopska (zl. 10): finely grated feta cheese over fresh cucumber, tomato, onion and bell pepper. A bottle of vinegar on the table allowed me to season the salad to taste. The results were simple and delicious.
"You can find szopska in a lot of restaurants in Poland," explained Sofia, "but not the real thing," adding that the Bulgarian feta that the owner imports gives the dish its authentic taste.
Weegee went for the salatka malzy (zl. 12), or muscle salad, which featured crustaceans with onions, dill and lemon. Oil and vinegar were on hand for seasoning to taste. Sofia opted for one of those funny translations, the sheep's salad (zl. 12). It should have been shepherd's salad, but she knew what she was getting into and the combination of ham, mushrooms, black olives, tomato and onion looked good. It also had a generous portion of ser solan, a Bulgarian white cheese, and was topped with red paprika and oil. She added vinegar to taste.
Sofia followed that up with more cheese in the form of the appropriately named ser w foli (zl. 12), or cheese in foil. The dish was just that a big hunk of white cheese baked in foil, topped with a slice of onion and tomato and sprinkled with a tad of paprika. It was served unceremoniously in what appeared to be Reynolds WrapTM.
Weegee had the dish I was most jealous of sarmi (zl. 9). Listed as golabki w lisciach winogronowych, the dish was stuffed grape leaves. Well, why didn't they just call it that? A dolma by any other name would taste just as bitter. The golabki were served warm, stuffed with spiced meat and rice in a yogurt sauce. I was informed that the Japanese are now importing Bulgarian cultures for their own yogurt. And yes, these were good the best stuffed grape leaves in Warsaw.
My starter was papryka burek (zl. 12), or country-style peppers. To me it was a chile relleno by another name: baked and skinned peppers, stuffed with cheese and then battered, fried and served in a red sauce yum.
The main dishes arrived. Weegee had the massive mieszana skara (zl. 35), or mixed grill. In addition to two kinds of sausages, a shish kebab and a pork steak, it came with a hot pepper, bean salad, pickled cabbage and a potato covered in solan cheese. The meat was wonderful and tasted as if it had been grilled over charcoal. The sausages are made on the premises because the spices are not normally available here. The nadenica was particularly delicious.
Sofia had the schab (zl. 28), which was grilled in the same mixture of Bulgarian herbs and seasoning, and came with the same side dishes as the mixed grill. I had the kawarma radomir (zl. 25), a heavy beef, tomato and onion stew baked in a bowl with an egg on top. I had to wait a while for it to cool, at which time the trio of musicians who serenaded our table were surprised to hear Weegee requesting Bulgarian songs by name. My dish had a relatively short shelf life and I was soon scalding the roof of my mouth, though after the previous two courses I had a hard time getting to the bottom of it.
All three of us were stuffed and had no room for dessert, though we let ourselves be tempted by coffee. I had cappuccino (zl. 8), which turned out to be more like espresso z mlekiem. Weegee had a Turkish coffee
(zl. 8), which he couldn't say enough good things about.
A three-course dinner for three with wine and coffee came to zl. 247 ($56), not including the zl. 10 slipped to the band. Without the education in Bulgarian food, I would have been more critical of this cuisine. Let's face it, Bulgarian is just not the lightest of foods. It's heavy on calories and cholesterol. I think the food explains why Bulgaria has one of the highest incidents of heart disease in Europe. And as Sofia said, "Drinking lots of red wine does not seem to be helping." Apart from the health quibbles, the meal was quite tasty. With the right menu selections at Restauracja Varna, you can be deliciously stuffed for a moderate price.
