Saturday night, I ended up at a new-to-me and relatively new-to-Sofia restaurant called in English/Bulgarian Tavite/Тавите. I saw it downtown a couple of months ago and wanted to try it but it took until Saturday night for me to actually make there.

I ended up there with a friend after we'd hoped to go to a different pizza place but there were no free tables  and I suggested Tavite. Only I didn't know the restaurant's name and I couldn't exactly remember where it was.  I warned my friend of this but we decided to risk it anyway.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="720" caption="Tavite!"]<img title="Tavite!" src="http://a2.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/167390_185027078188372_182920888398991_552252_5706999_n.jpg" alt="" width="720" height="540" />[/caption]

Somehow, I found the restaurant on the first try.  It's like I actually know the city (or something).  And we were lucky enough to snag the last free table!!

I am so glad that I went.

Tavite is really cute. It has a lot of personality for a Bulgarian restaurant. It's casual without being too fussy. Maybe the part that I like best is that the restaurant is decked out in shades of white making it very clean and fresh feeling.

The food is modern Bulgarian and very tasty. What do I mean by that? Well, the menu has a lot of traditional Bulgarian foods made with a twist or with extra care. For example, much of the ground meat is "homemade" which I assume that means that the restaurant is grinding it fresh in their kitchen. And the homemade kuopolu (кьополу) or in English the eggplant puree/aubergine puree was far from a puree as the word in English suggests.  Rather it was a hearty mix of coarsely chopped roasted eggplant, garlic and I think maybe red peppers. It was so good.

The only thing that could have used a little extra ompf was the bread. Toasted slices of what appeared to be store bought white bread wasn't really in keeping with the modern-homemade vibe of the rest of the kitchen. But really, even that's not the end of the world. It's just bread.

Then there was the waitstaff. On a whole they were attentive and relatively helpful. The table menu is only in Bulgarian. Luckily I know enough Bulgarian that it was easy to order from this menu. Upon handing us the Bulgarian only menus one of the waitresses also brought us a to-go paper menu which is in both English and Bulgarian. The font is tiny and some of the translations are just okay (like the домашна лютеница was translated as home-made chutney) but I think for most non-Bulgarian speakers this paper to-go menu will do the trick.

As I said, our meal was great. Then we got the bill and I have to say the prices are great! Okay we got mis-charged for one dish but when we pointed it out our waiter apologized profusely in both Bulgarian and in English. It was clearly a mistake and not an attempt to take advantage of two unsuspecting foreigners/tourists.

Here's the best part, as soon as I left the restaurant I was plotting my return. That's how good it is.

I am bummed that that I didn't have my camera with me. This happens sometimes. The good news <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/%D0%A2%D0%90%D0%92%D0%98%D0%A2%D0%95-TAVITE/182920888398991?v=info#!/pages/%D0%A2%D0%90%D0%92%D0%98%D0%A2%D0%95-TAVITE/182920888398991?v=wall" target="_self">Tavite has a facebook page</a>. They also deliver on orders over 13.90 leva (02/980 37 47, 0882 880 901) or you can call for reservations. This might be a good idea considering the fact that the restaurant isn't huge. It's more cozy than huge.

Check it out 58 Gladstone Street. Basically from Slaveikov Square take a left on the street right before McDonalds (I think this is Ratcho Dimtchev) walk down two blocks or so until you reach a slightly off-kilter intersection there's a fancy-smanshy bar at the corner. Turn left. If all goes well, you'll be basically standing in front of Tavite.  Ta-da!