Last week after trying to go to Vino and Tapas for dinner and finding the restaurant closed, I ended up with friends at <a href="http://www.joya.bg/" target="_blank">Joya Cafe</a> on Dondunkov (#19 to be exact). It was a great find. (But I still must ask, does anyone know what the story with Vino and Tapas is? Is it closed forever?)
<a title="Cafe Joya by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/7481032680/"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7278/7481032680_2fdbc24948_z.jpg" alt="Cafe Joya" width="640" height="480" /></a>
I'd seen the restaurant a number of times but it never surfaced as an option when my friends and I were making dinner plans. I'd always thought the restaurant looked cute, that the menu was interesting and that the space was hip without trying too hard.

The menu isn't too big but luckily there's something for everyone on it. Sure I think it might be more of a salad place if your vegetarian but I do think there was a vegetarian pasta, salad and baked egg plant on the menu if that's your thing.
<a title="Joya Cafe by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/7481045158/"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8161/7481045158_4d3fc22670_z.jpg" alt="Joya Cafe" width="640" height="480" /></a>
We sat outside. It was a beautiful evening and the thought of sitting inside was too depressing after learning that Vino and Tapas was closed. I am happy to report that we great service outside. Sometimes outside seating seems like an afterthought but not in this case. Our waitress was very attentive and she spoke really good English too.

We started out with beers and water and read through the menu.
<a title="outside seating Joya Cafe by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/7481038938/"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7126/7481038938_0de14cdb49_z.jpg" alt="outside seating Joya Cafe" width="640" height="480" /></a>
While a far cry from tapas, the food was really good the night we went. There's a wide range of salads from classics like Shopska to less traditional ones like the Joya Salad with lettuce, citrus fruit and blue cheese. There's pasta, pizza and even a number of baked dishes. But it's the kind of menu where it's hard to tell if the food will actually be good and if it will come as described.  Luckily it was both of these things!!
<a title="Joya Cafe salad by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/7481051980/"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7135/7481051980_a0d03a0658_z.jpg" alt="Joya Cafe salad" width="640" height="480" /></a>
I had the goat cheese salad, a beer and a homemade roll. The goat cheese salad was perfect--not too much dressing, a small round of goat cheese and pine nuts. In fact, I'd forgotten how much I like pine nuts until I had this salad. On a hot summer night, this salad really hit the spot was just just enough but I also suffered from some food envy.

My friends ordered really great things. The salmon salad was a hit as were the mussels. One of my friends P. paired up a salad and the mussels which are billed as a hot appetizer for what looked a very satisfying meal. The homemade pasta with chicken was raved about. I was curious to see what the chicken wings were going to look like and when they came out they were beautiful. I think they must have been good because A. ate every single one.  S. ordered her standard Shopska salad and french fries and by the end of the night she was already discussing coming back to the restaurant.
<a title="Joya Cafe napkins by karolinka.sofia, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/29050866@N06/7481056866/"><img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7258/7481056866_04c65db18c_z.jpg" alt="Joya Cafe napkins" width="640" height="480" /></a>
At the end of the night we had a good laugh about these napkins. Then we called it a night.