Last time visited 13 January, in a large group; visit frequency: once a month with family and friends

See: good interior, cozy with a style

Smell: the aroma of freshly backed pita bread, grilled meat, quince or pear rakia

Taste: freshly baked pita with kaimak, Serbian kebapche, ushtipzi, veshalitsa, tavche, quince rakia

Experience: good service, friendly, kind to children

If you feel like having a really good grilled food, Serbian style, this is one of the best places in Sofia, Bulgaria. Actually the restaurants are two- one in Borovo residential district, the other in the center, close to the parliament.

Before you go there, make sure your stomach is empty, since you will not be able to resist the incredibly delicious dishes and you will definitely need to try as many as possible.

Start with a salad and quince rakia. Rakia is served with style and respect to the drink. If you decide to order it, don’t hurry to drink it just like any other alcohol. You have to approach it carefully and enjoy it with all your receptors. First, notice the small bottle, traditional for the Balkan region and the tiny glass in which you pour a small amount of the liquor. The color of the drink is like gold, as if a small sun ray was captured in the bottle to make your evening bright and warm. Look at your companions, raise the glass and say NAZDRAVE! (in Bulgarian it means Cheers!). Then while you approach to make the first sip, don’t breathe in the glass. You may even close your eyes to switch off the sight and concentrate on the experience of your taste and smell. Not until you taste it with your tongue and feel the mild sting of the spirit, pass the aroma through your throat and finally to your nose. Yes, that’s it- an explosion of mild honey fruit. If you hear a MMMMM sound, it is coming out of you. Your particle of sun ray works. All of a sudden the evening becomes brighter and warmer! J

I am sure you will repeat this ritual many times, just take track of the bottles and don’t forget to eat meanwhile, since you may be in trouble at the end. It’s a gentle but a strong peace of spirits.

Don’t be on a diet if you eat in Bankovich, since you have to taste the pita bread with the famous kaimak

If you have never tasted Serbian grill, you missed a lot. This is the best grilled meat in the world. Try kebapche and ushtipzi, prepared from minced meat and other different ingredients, try veshalitza, which is a fine steak. . If you are vegetarian you will find other tasty dishes. Although you will not be able to enjoy the grilled meat, you can opt for the French fries. They are homemade style and really good. You can taste also the tavche, which is a stew of beans baked in earthenware, garnished with garlic. I love it!

Whatever you try you will not make a mistake. Just have in mind that part of the magic taste of some dishes is due to garlic. If your stomach has troubles with it, ask which dishes contain it.

The sweets are also good, Mediterranean style, not Serbian . I tried creme brulee and it was classy.

You can visit the restaurant with your sweetheart but better bring a bunch of friends, or the family and friends, it is more fun. Besides, the staff is used to big companies and nice with children.

Sometimes you may face slow speed of service, due to the overload in the kitchen and this is something that must be thought about by the managers (in fact that happened to me once on a birthday celebration, one Saturday night in Borovo restaurant).

However, I have to mention also that we stayed after midnight, a Tuesday night, at the central location restaurant, it was only our loud group left  and the staff patiently waited for us to stop telling joke after joke and repeatedly exploding in laughter. At the end with a courteous smile they wished us good night.

I will visit them soon again with family and friends, for sure.

Addresses and phone numbers: Central location, 11A Aksakov str, +359 884 586 650

Borovo, Rodopski izvor str, bl. 235, +359 886 198 604