Pri Yafata Restaurant, Sofia

Similar in appearance as what would be going to a Greek Taverna, is this excellent restaurant located in Central Sofia. When we discovered that this was the most recommended place to dine at in all of Sofia by our Hostel map guide, we were certainly interested in visiting Pri Yafata. The decorations inside the restaurant had a most traditional and appealing interior as well as exterior. To say excellent is one thing, and to go into this restaurant with a completely open mind and throughout my first visit to the restaurant also had much suprise, that beat my own initial average expectations of this restaurant.

Pleasantly well located near Makedonia boulevard, this restaurant is just a short walk away from one of the side roads from the main road. It is located at 28 Salunska Street which also has some other restaurants and dining options. My brother and I, from our map guide recommendation went to visit this restaurant on two occasions, the first being a dinner meal during an afternoon in March 2010, as well as an evening visit.

We were so pleased with our first visit that we decided to give the restaurant another try by eating again here. I am not one that eats at restaurants regularly by any means, although when I travel to far away places, it is good for the local economy as well as interesting to compare different types of restaurant. We also on our travels visited the Happy bar and grill chain restaurant, Joya bar and dinner. Pri Yafata was an exception in that they are a family run restaurant. During our visit we visited the Sheraton Hotel and discovered that the Prime Steak House had closed down trading. We also realised that steaks in general were not featured that much on menu's from the places we visited. When the steaks were displayed on menu's they tended to cost around 20 bulgarian lev, which made the eating experience more costly, although from what we did eat, our visit was excellent value.

Decor Ambience

The good thing about the ambient room temperature was nice and warm which did the restaurant well in providing a good level of heating inside as outside the weather was cold. What we noticed was a wide range of decor details that impressed us, as when we walked in to this restaurant we noticed a very traditional interior that also replicated itself throughout the restaurant. There was a cloakroom which I found slightly unique and interesting in that we could leave our coats and jackets guarded and looked after by a member of the restaurant family members, who I must say appeared friendly. The bar area was interesting in that there were interesting traditional decoration as we noticed a brick bar effect with a nice dark oak coloured wooden top. At the top of the bar area we noticed that there were interesting vine leaves as well as brick roof tiles which gave the bar another traditional dimension. The restaurant although it appears slightly narrow and small in size overall, was nicely decorated with traditional wooden floors, the walls were decorated nicely in that they were stucco in effect, there also were wagon wheel chandeliers that also had candle lights. In the restaurant also there was nice wooden cladding to the right hand side of the restaurant. Also in the place were oil mounted lanterns as well as a vast array of interesting collectible items that included a gun rifle, a free masonry sunshine emblem. The tables were traditional in appearance as well and the table cloths were of Bulgarian tapestry white and purpley red thin lines. We were very pleased with the great detail around the restaurant. My only feelings that let this place down is that people are allowed to smoke, although the place is well air conditioned.

Our Food Order

We had two starters one of them is called Sarmichki, which is basically stuffed wine leaves with rice. The Sarmichki plate came with nice yoghurt sauce called Tzatziki, if you know the Greek or Arabic cuisine. The sauce is served with pieces of dill and garlic. The taste of the sauce was authentic and really well prepared. It was so generous on the plate that we had to order some bread rolls. Now the bread rolls were really crispy and we could tell that these were freshly made. The starter dish contained four small pieces of Stuffed wine leaves which impressed us, especially as this cost just 2.80 lev £1.40 ish. We found this to be a great starter as it was served quite warm, very tasty mix of garlic olive oil and dill mint. Also included on the plate was a carott and lettuce garnish, which we ate after we had the stuffed vine leaves.

The two bread rolls cost 2 lev. My brother ordered chicken noodle soup which he really enjoyed, it looked particularly good in that they made it fresh and it contained good level of chicken and a little amount of noodles as well.

After finishing our starters, I ordered a 'mixed grill' costing 11,90 lev and my brother ordered Marinaded Chicken fillet 250gr for 8,90 lev. The mixed grill included Bulgarian meat kebab style meat, pork meat ball, pork neck chop and chicken meat skewers. The Kyufte is simply a minced meat burger shaped like a ball. Kepapche is pork kebab meat. I have left pictures of the mixed grill especially to give you a much better idea of what this plate looks like. Overall I found the portion size very adequate, it certainly was not over generous, although for the price paid, it was very good.

The mixed grill I liked very much as it tasted excellent. It was well presented, not overly cooked, and not greasy in appearance. The burger kebab part tasted supremely juicy and tender meat. The pork kebab was another excellent tasting part of the plate which was freshly cooked as well. The neck pork chop did not contain much fat to the side of the meat and it complimented the rest of the food perfectly. The chicken kebab which was served on a skewer was very easy to chew and tasted good. The skewer had nice amount of chicken pieces as well as having green pepper and onion as well. My only negative part that I found the chicken on the skewer was perhaps the weakest part of the food in comparison to the pork servings included in the mixed grill. The really good thing about the mixed grill especially was that there was no bad after taste and the meat quality was really good. If ever I have tried superbly grilled meat then this was the place. It was also nice that the food contained low levels of fat and did not appear too greasy. I was also pleased within the mixed grill that they did not include gravy and or mushroom sauce. The mixed grill also had a few salad ingredients added to the side of the plate.

My brother also enjoyed his chicken dish and he thought it was succulent and was of a good portion size. He thought it was well cooked and tasted fresh. He also thought that the potatoes were a bit cold. Also on his chicken plate was a nice garnish of lettuce, carrot and gherkin.

Service

We were delighted with the warm welcome and smile from the lady of the house who was a well dressed, highly presentable, we then showed us to our table seating area which. The restaurant itself has smoking as well as non smoking area's. The restaurant also benefits from air conditioning as well as good level of ambient heating. After we were shown the table with which was well presented with a nice table cloth, the cutlery was spotlessly clean. I was pleased that the menu that we receieved was in English. The appearance of the menu was very well done indeed, with a brown leather cover the menu was very navigatable and easy to understand. During our visit, we received an unhurried service, one where we could take our time ordering, enjoy listening to the traditional folk music that was being played.

It was good also that our plates got taken away a few minutes after we had finished. We felt that the waiter service throughout our visit was first class. I found the service at Pri Yafata more professional and more friendly compared to the Happy Bar and Grill. I also liked the service at Joya Bar and Dinner grill restaurant also in Central Sofia. The only aspect that needs to be improved is the slightly smoky atmosphere, although in this case it was rather neutral as a result of the air conditioning. This factor is consistent in many parts of Europe still today.

Having visited the restaurant a second time, our waiter was not the one from our first visit, yet he also provided excellent service. Upon our departure having left a small tip of 3 Bulgarian lev, the lady of the restaurant gave us a warm friendly smile which we were most pleased by.

-Pace of Visit-

We did not feel rushed at any time during our visits. The menu was interesting and varied to look at. There was a wide range of drinks, starters to choose from. The waiter gave us polite and sincere service at all times. The drinks, the starters as well the main meals all arrived within reasonably good intervals. We did not feel that the service was rushed at any stage. The drinks arrived two minutes after ordering, the starters arrived within seven minutes and the main meals around ten minutes after ordering these. During our second visit we were pleased with the live music which I found slightly entertaining. We heard a Stevie Wonder instrumental tune 'I just called to,,,,, which we slightly laughed at as I was sitting with my brother.

-Overall Ratings-

Food 8.5/10
Decor Ambience 9/10
Service 9/10
Value for Money 9/10

The food was slightly short in terms of excellence. We found the portions sizes generally good, the food we received was very tasty. You do not go away from the restaurant feeling bloated or completely full up, although the quality of the meat, the food presentation speaks for itself.

The decor ambience we liked very much in that the restaurant brought us back in time, it made us appreciate the surroundings of an old Greek style Taverna, it certainly is an authentic and traditional restaurant that was really nice to look at. The decor of the restaurant made me feel relaxed and this helped a lot in enjoying our food. This also helped in allowing my brother and I to have a good conversation between us, and we felt that this place suited us, as there was not much noise.

The service is first class in that we were not hurried at any time during our visit, we also felt that the waiters themselves were extremely well presented, they had a good understanding of the English language which helped us a great deal. The service at key times when the food arrived was also good. During our second visit the waiter who served us, recommended the chocolate dessert and even took time to detail the ingredients of the chocolate delight.

Based on the price we paid in total which included two Bulgarian beers, one plate of Stuffed wine leaves, one chicken soup, one mixed grill, one plate of marinaded chicken, and paid just 30 bulgarian lev. On our second visit we ordered the same, and we also had two chcolate desserts as well as having some bread which cost us 45 Bulgarian lev. In comparison to our visits at Happy bar and grill we felt that the service was better at Pri Yafata and the prices are similar. Though I felt more satisfied with the service and the decor compared to a more modern sports themed with an American outlook which is found at the Happy Bar and Grill chain of restaurants.

Extra Information

During our evening restaurant visit we were entertained even more by a group of four folk musicians who played a few modern music songs with their instruments and did not sing. I enjoyed the atmosphere that the music brought which was played just for a few minutes at around 20:30. I found the live music added some extra value, we realised that they were genuine musicians that were doing some tunes for fun in order to add some enjoyment to the evening. I did not feel obliged to leave any extra tips having listened to the music, my appeal at this restaurant was more on the food and the interesting traditional decor.

I found the chocolate dessert to be an absolute winner and great way to enjoy the evening as they had the whole chocolate worked out well from the texture. The chocolate had nice consistency, five or six layers of smooth chocolate which was formulated well. There were nice crunchy nuts, had a nice biscuity texture and overall the chocolate content was superb. It was a pleasure eating this after dinner. The chocolate dessert was also served with a really nice pineapple ice cream ball which complimented this dessert really well.

Also on the menu which included a good selection of meat and salad options, the wines and beers as well as the usual soft drinks are served here. What took me by suprise reading the menu was the 1kg assorted meat selection with a free complimentary wine, on offer for around 52 bulgarian lev. I was suprised at this amount of meat, though having tried the mixed grill at this restaurant all I can say here is that the mixed grill as well as the chicken dish my brother tried was really good.

Recommendation

This was the restaurant that was my highest scoring and highest rated place that I went to during my four day visit of Sofia, Bulgaria. Dissapointed you will never be in visiting this restaurant. The quality of the decor was outstanding in it's traditional appearance as well as the excellent food. Even on a price basis, this was comparable and cheap in line with other restaurants that are in Sofia. The service was great as well. We were even pleased in that when we asked for the bill the waiter spoke a few words in English almost fluently indeed, and was well spoken. He said "how would you like to pay? cash or by card. I paid in cash as I always do. During our second visit to the restaurant we had dessert which even the waiter described and detailed the ingredients of the chocolate cake. We took up his upsell recommendation and were highly pleased by this.

Thanks for reading, although I have detailed well a nice hostel, and now a fine quality restaurant worth visiting in Sofia. My travels in May take me to Riga, Latvia which is my final planned visit this year. We spent (my brother and myself) a total of 75 Bulgarian lev around £36 in two visits to this restaurant which we considered a bargain. My visits to Cyprus restaurants by comparison are much more expensive. Also in Prague there is a fairly priced Czech restaurant bar and grill restaurant called Chudoba who are a place that have great quality beef steaks and are reasonably priced and have bigger than expected portion sizes. For steak food, Sofia unfortunately does not have a proper/specialised steak house. When we found Joya bar and dinner as well as the Happy bar and grill we noticed an approximate price of 21 bulgarian lev for steak which seemed a bit steep compared to other menu options. My overall sentiment towards Pri Yafata is strong recommendation. I also have left some appropriate pictures of the food we ordered as well as giving a clearer idea of the decor aspect as well.