Paellera tavern in Chekanchevo rating by the 5D Sensograph of placescases.com: 4.3 out of 5.

October  2020

Seen           

Felt               

Heard           

Smelled     

Tasted           

Reading time: 5 min

You don’t have 5 min to read? Then try the fast mode, go only through bold and colored text-3 min

You don’t have 3 min.? See the short movie further below: 2:59  min.

You take the road from Sofia to Kazanlak, but not the highway, at Sarantsi village, you turn to the right and further, at the fork for the village of Makotsevo, you take the right and go to Chekanchevo. You ask yourself, “What’s so great about this village?” How can you assume that right in Chekanchevo an old restaurant “pirate” is cooking super delicious paella just like the original in Valencia. Watch the movie about Paellera which is further below to make sure.

Paella,  is a Spanish national dish from Valencia, made with rice, vegetables, various types of seafood and meat, and cooked in a large flat pan on the fire. 

See ….

…. The Paellera is on the central square of the village and in the old socialist times it may have been a canteen, or at least the indoors part suggests it;

…. The place has potential and can become super cool and cozy, but at the moment it doesn’t look exactly like that. It’s cluttered in the corners and not in perfect visual shame. The furniture is made of EUR pallets, and there are no pillows or rugs, nothing to create a feeling of comfort. It is possible that this is a consequence of the lockdown due to Covid-19, and the owner mentioned that they are in a shortage of staff.

…. A few cats waiting around the tables for a fishbone or chicken bone to fall. There were also little kittens – a joy for the children. 🐱👧🧒

…. Lachezar Lachev, owner and chef of Paellera, cuts his products skillfully and mixes his paella in a huge round pan. You take pictures and salivate in anticipation for it to be served.

Feel ….

…. The concept of the tavern is something like a hybrid between street food and restaurant.

You give your order inside at the counter and there you pay for it at the end. The tables and benches from the Eur pallets are outside. A woman carries the food around shouting “Who has potatoes?”, “Who is the soup with duck for?”, etc. It is quite tiresome I suppose.

If the street food scheme is applied with the light indicators that are given to the customers after they place their order, which show when to go and get your plate, there will be no confusion, and this woman will not walk so helplessly between the tables.

…. There are no such things as masks and disinfectants. If you want, you bring them yourself. This is the situation. At least there is a distance between the individual tables.

Hear ….

…. Cheerful conversations between the visitors. Now and then a casual communication takes place  between the tables. It’s fun;

…. Roosters and hens crowing- true village sounds. See the roost in the film.

Movie watching time: 2:59 min.

Smell ….

…. Super cool Thai soup Tom Yum, and no kidding, one of the best I have tasted in Bulgaria. It’s very spicy, but it’s delicious! It smells like lemongrass, ginger. There is also a Thai white mushroom and shrimps properly. They serve it to you in a cute pan with a long handle. Watch the movie to see it.

Taste ….

…. Definitely paella. You can order it with different types of meat, seafood or mixed, i.e. with everything.

Lacho’s paella is exactly as I love it, with a slightly burned and crispy rice here and there, fragrant, rich and delicious!

I remember how at one of the workshops organized by Bacchus magazine, chef Victor Martin, from Trigo, Valladolid, with a Michelin star, showed high gastronomy skills for making a canapé of rice, which is just like the burned part of the paella rice, at the bottom of the pan – crunchy and a little smoky. Read how he did it in the publication Is gastronomy science or art?

How to get to Paellera?

Don’t worry about getting to Chakanchevo. Just use the Google map here by clicking on the red pin of its location and then select directions. When you get there, right in the center is the Paellera.

A: Chekanchevo village center, The Paellera

T: +359 88 691 6049

Opening hours: Wed-Fri 17:00-22:00, Sat 12:00-22:00, Sun 12:00-18:00

If you need to rent a car to drive from Sofia to Chekanchevo, which is about an hour, you can book it here in the box of the largest booking platform.

How to book your stay in Sofia?

If you plan to stay in Sofia and travel by car to Chakanchevo, I recommend that you book your stay right here. For your convenience, I have added a booking.com box, which refers directly to their site. I guarantee you’re going to use all your genius discounts and privileges they would offer to you. Just enter the dates of your trip, then hit the Search button and voila. In addition, booking.com are doing their best to make sure that your expectations as a customer are fulfilled. I’ve described an example about the latter in  my story about our stay in Shangri-La hotel in Singapore .

Booking.com

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Do you ever wonder how some places differ so much from others in service, environment, as an overall experience? This means you are also interested like me in the topic of The Experience Economy by Pine and Gilmore. I constantly add to my collection reviews about those of them, which practice its principles, regardless of intentionally or accidentally. If you are curious to understand which are they, explore category The Experience Economy.