Continuing with our favorite Traditional Bulgarian Restaurants: Pod Lipite! From outside it looks like one of those small “individual” houses, hidden in one of the streets of Sofia among the tall apartment buildings. When I first saw it, the place looked so small that I thought it would be impossible for us to find a table for dinner. It actually was quite difficult, not because the restaurant is small (it has several levels and different rooms), but because lots of Bulgarians and foreigners go there every day for lunch and dinner.
The restaurant is quite spacious, but somehow cozy at the same time – the wooden tables are so close to each other that you can always glance at your neighbour’s choice, if you are in need of ideas and inspiration for your own meal! There’s a fireplace in one of the rooms, and a big oven in the other – so you’ll definitely feel warm in winter. In summer they put some of the tables on the small terrace in the front yard of the restaurant, so people can dine under the trees, enjoying the fresh air.
I will try not to give you too many details, because the best way to like it is to see it for yourself. So here you go!
What we love about it:
- The atmosphere of the place – you don’t feel like you are in one of the tourist “must see” restaurants. It actually feels more like a visit to your grandma, who lives in a beautiful old house and knows a thing or two about good food.
- The food, obviously, but also the way it’s presented to you. Even such a simple thing as MishMash is served in a beautiful ancient-looking frying pan, and I swear, every time I’m there, I can’t help but thinking how nice it would be to have something like that at home.
- Wine: if you don’t know what to drink in Pod Lipite, order “Domashno Vino” (Home Made wine). I usually take the red one, and even though Bulgarian wine is often too “thick” for my taste (it’s hard to find a better word to express it), this one always tastes delicious and has never ever resulted in a headache the next morning.
- The staff are always nice, and if you can’t decide what to order, they’ll help you in Bulgarian, English, and sometimes even Russian.
What they can improve:
- I do have one suggestion: if you go to Pod Lipite when it’s warm and the terrace is open – make sure not to sit too close to it, because sometimes it gets too “smoky” because of the people enjoying their cigarettes outside. Actually, the best tables in summer are the ones on the upper terrace – you get all of the fresh air and none of the cigarette smell.
Our rating:
Reviewed by:
Maria