Overall: 5/6
Service: 5/6
Atmosphere:  4.5/6 
Food: 5.5/6

Price: 30 Levs per person (3 courses and wine)

Regular readers of my reviews know I am cheap and that my long suffering girlfriend has had to put up with a lot from me over the last few years, only resorting to making me sleep on the balcony when I really fail in my duties as a “life partner”. And with Valentine’s day fast approaching I thought it would be a good opportunity to prove I am not a complete waste of space and take her out for dinner… all be it a couple of days early thus not only avoiding all “cheesy” Valentines stereotypes (including expensive flowers!!) and also those special set-menus which seem to be 40% more expensive than the normal menu on any other day of the year.

And who said I wasn’t romantic?

So, where to take her? On my travels around Sofia, specifically the Mladost and Student City areas, I kept noticing signs for “Simon’s Restaurant” and thought I ought to check it out. Well, it’s not every day you find a namesake restaurant and I was hoping that the Simon in question had a similar idea of “good value dining” as I had. After several abortive attempts at finding the restaurant I finally found the restaurant in one of the new neighbourhoods of Student City (Studentski Grad) the afternoon before our big date.

It was about 3pm on a Friday and I was surprised to find the restaurant busy with a lot of young mothers and their kids enjoying the last rays of winter sun as they played and chatted with each other in and outside the restaurant. Upon entering, Simon’s Restaurant is quite spacious with a separate bar, smoking and non-smoking dining areas and all very elegantly decorated with dark wooden table and chairs, simple but tasteful place settings and table coverings.

I was immediately met by a young man who asked in Bulgarian if he could help me and once I struggled through a muddled explanation in Bulgarian he immediately switched to perfect English. I explained again (this time he got it!) that I wanted a table for two for the next evening and he asked if it was a special occasion. Once I offered that we were doing an early Valentines dinner he cast his eyes back to his reservation book and said he did have one table for two available. “Yeah right” I thought, doubting that many other people in Sofia had the same fortitude to hunt for this restaurant as I did.

He asked for my name for his book. “Simon” I replied.

“Yes, and what’s your name” he continued patiently.

“Simon” I said again. He looked a little bemused.

“Yes, I’m Simon he said. So what name for the reservation” he persisted.

“So you are Simon?” I enquired. “Yes, and who should I put down for the reservation”.

At this point, I realised I must be speaking to the restaurants namesake so thought I’d cut out any more confusion by presenting my driving licence, press credentials, Bulgarian ID and my business card.

Simon or Simeon laughed. It appeared he had not met many people, let alone foreigners whom shared his name or that of his family’s restaurant.

Mission accomplished, I left until the next evening.

And so it was, at 8 o’clock the following evening, Beloved and I returned to Simon’s Restaurant for our Big Date!

Remember how I didn’t believe Simeon about having only one table left? I should have, the restaurant was packed! The clientele seemed to be made up of what I would describe as mainly Bulgarian middle class families, most occupying large tables and almost all having groups of children with them. Some of the families had opted to having their off-spring sit on adjoining tables where all the kids ate together; some had the smaller children on their knees as they chatted away to the other adults. All the children seemed to be well under control however which was good to see.

As we were seated, Simeon came over to greet us and offered a couple of menus (both in English). Unfortunately, I had to avoid the wine list as I was driving (well, it happens once a year that I drive on a night out so I shouldn’t complain) but I did take a quick peek and saw a very good selection of the best of the Bulgarian varieties plus several additional pages of international grapes from the usual Old and New World suspects. Prices ranged for 12 – 80 Leva a bottle. Instead, I opted for a (just the one mind you) large and very cold Tuborg beer which at 2.80Leva was not going to break the bank.

I then cast my eye to the food menu which can only be described as a “Bul-Med Fusion”. Like most Bulgarian restaurants, the menu was very extensive but was split between a couple of pages of the type of dish you would expect to find in any traditional Bulgarian tavern (pork steaks, chicken fillets, French fries with white cheese, etc.) and what can only be described as a rather unique mix of fish, shellfish, game, pork and chicken and even pizza. 80% at least of the offerings I had not come across before and I could easily have selected any of that 80% for my dinner that night. The other thing worth noting is that the restaurant, on paper at least, seemed to be offering rather good value for money with no dish on the menu costing more than 30Leva despite the exotic ingredients.

Before I had the chance to make a choice however, Simeon was back with our drinks and his chef, Miroslav.

“I explained to our chef that you had a celebration tonight so thought he may be able to assist you”, he said as he left the drinks and headed back towards the kitchen.

“Excellent” I thought. Just when I believed I had got away with a cheap date night out comes the chef to sell us oysters and champagne. Fortunately this was not the case.

Beloved and Miroslav had a brief conversation where he asked what we liked, the types of dishes and after confirming I would eat anything that used to breath and my girlfriend wouldn’t (she’s a veggie) he asked if we would be prepared to wait a little longer than usual whilst he prepared something “off menu”. This was clearly not going to be the cheap-n-cheerful night I had planned as my wonderful other half confirmed this was perfectly acceptable and he disappeared.

We waited and chatted for about fifteen minutes, watching the well behaved children being well behaved and various well-presented dishes departing from the kitchen to their destination tables. Kristi filled me in on what I had missed in her conversation with Chef Miroslav which consisted mostly of where his products were sourced from. Kristi had apparently asked him if he was using “Bio” products. He had said no but almost everything they cooked was fresh and procured from the best sources. He even offered that the only thing in his freezer was manufactured potato wedges and that was only by demand from many of the parents who frequented Simon’s Restaurant.

Before long, Simeon served our first course which consisted of salads for us both. Kristi’s was an expertly presented dish consisting of a green salad with fresh Bulgarian white cheese; a couple of generous chunks of (what I later found out to be homemade) toasted French bread topped with a halved boiled egg, yoke runny. Underneath theses were either grilled or fried aubergine which according to the Apple of My Eye was “not at all greasy” as she had suspected on first glance. Mine, was a green leaf salad of rocket, spinach and lettuce with grated carrots and strips of uber rare beef drizzled in a dressing of Balsamic pine cornels and poppy seeds as well as a few delicate shavings of fresh paregarnio cheese. Interesting! The beef was quite rare, just the way I like it but against the choices of most Bulgarians I have met and still had traces of the fat which in any western European restaurant is prized for flavour but in Bulgaria is often discarded for being unhealthy; which it may be. Still, nice to see a difference.

I started on mine and was amazed at just how sweet the salad was. I’m not a big believer that “salads are interesting” but I was starting to change my mind. Beloved was seriously impressed too and as I put the thought to the back of my head as to what the final bill would have been she had virtually cleared her plate within the same time that I had only made half her progress with my own dish. She must have enjoyed hers so much that she actually started attacking my plate, moving the succulent beef to the side of the plate as she helped herself to the green leaves underneath, even going so far as to declare that she will order my salad (minus the bovine aspects of course) on her next visit!

No sooner had the empty starter plates been removed by Simeon, Mirolsav arrived with our mains.

I could smell mine before I saw it. A rich sauce covered calf’s tongue on ducks liver with a couple of good sized grilled potatoes as garnish and a super-rich mushroom sauce. It was a large portion by any standards and the aroma was succulent and almost creamy. Beloved had her creation delivered that looked even more impressive. It was a sort terrine made from slivers of eggplant which contained chick peas, peppers and mushrooms amongst other well cooked and presented veggies. A deep rich balsamic sauce was identified on one side of the plate as dressing and another orange sauce on the other side which we were later able to confirm was cinnamon based. She loved it!

I was extremely impressed with the choice that Miroslav had made for me. Rich and buttery and you could tell that both the tongue and livers were fresh. The mushroom sauce complimented the meat wonderfully and I was really regretting being so cheap that I had driven instead of taking a taxi as I realised this course would have been complete only with a good Bulgarian merlot. Hay ho!

The portions were very large though. Too large for me (and possibly a little too rich for such a large plate) but excellent despite the fact I had to leave nearly a third of it. Beloved had to take a cigarette break half way through and just when I thought she would give up she managed to polish the second half off in good speed.

Simeon came over a couple of times during the meal to make sure everything was OK and to make sure we were enjoying our meal and I did notice that every time one of the other waiters past us they casually looked at the table to see if there was anything out of place of possibly anything we might need despite the fact we did not appear to be in their sections of the restaurant.

Eventually, Beloved began to ponder desert (she had just seen a huge tiramisu being brought out for somebody’s birthday party) but decided against it due to the fact she was full. I couldn’t think about anything else apart from that glass of merlot I was missing so we decided to get the bill.

After Miroslav reappeared to make sure everything was fine (and it really, really was), the bill was brought to the table. It came to just under 56 Leva (5.60/12Leva for salads and 8/30 Leva for the mains respectively) which considering the quality of ingredients, the bespoke menu and the elegant setting I thought was superb value for money.

In summary then; we often talk about “hidden gems” in regard to restaurants off the beaten track in our reviews. Simon’s Restaurant is probably one of the most “off track” restaurant we have found so far, despite being less than ten minutes from the city centre. DO NOT LET THIS PUT YOU OFF. Simon’s is one of the most worthwhile, imaginative and good value diners we have found to recommend in the last three years of writing about restaurant options in Sofia and Bulgaria in general. I eat in restaurants a lot and to be honest, neither Beloved nor I tend to have a particular favourite. However, I discovered that my in-laws were coming to Sofia the following week and after our recent experiences, she had already arranged that the venue for the family dinning that evening would be back in Simon’s Restaurant.

I’m not complaining though.

There is a duck and a bottle of merlot at Simon’s with my name on it!

Very, very highly recommended!