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Osteria da Rado the Italian place with passion

by lance1 on March 24, 2013

Sofia restaurant

Osteria sa Rado: Pasta with ceps

Osteria da Rado is now home to my favourite pizza is Sofia and some of the best Italian cooking to be found here in Bulgaria’s capital.

Rado, the owner, is not just a fascinating and gregarious gentleman, he shares his passion like no other.

Handmade all the way: Rado in action

Read on for more about Rado, his background, his passion and the food.

 

Rado, the inspiration

Rado spent many years working in Italy.  Ok so this is one thing — but having your whole DNA changed from Bulgarian to Italian is quite another thing.

Real mozarella

Rado, so refreshingly for here in Sofia, understands the importance of the finest ingredients. Real mozzarella, proper Italian flour and so on. So I can now say that if you find better pizza in Bulgaria, then let me know. Whilst I have not been to his place Pizzarado in Varna, I am assured it is of equal quality.

This is the best I have tasted — and by quite a margin.

A simple salad; extra care

 

The dining experience

But back to Osteria da Rado as a place.

We were given a warm greeting and offered a choice of tables.

Bruschetta

Spacious seating tasteful glasses and cutlery. It’s the small details that count. An alternative dining area looks perfect for a more intimate, or private dining occasion. I ordered a little bruschetta to satiate the apetite. Very nice.

Rado explained not only his many awards and role as an international pizza competition judge, but he has partcipated and helped in the start up of many restaurants in Europe — Russia, France and Italy.

Three words sum up Rado… passion, passion, passion.

Wine selection

A refreshing change here with an extensive selections of 200+ wines. Wines are properly stored in temperature controlled cabinets with clear glass doors.

A choice of fine wines from Italy, Portugal, France, Spain, Chile and Bulgaria make this a winos destination par excellance.

 

Pizza for all times

I took a look at the preparation area. Modern pizza ovens, fresh ingredients.

Nothing to hide.

Sofia best pizza

Pizzas ready

So no problem making a small request…

Vegeteranio Pizza

Vegeteranio Pizza: made especially without mozzarella. It was Lent.

…a vegan pizza to exact order.

Delicious, even without the key ingredient of mozzarella.

The Napolitana, like all the pizzas, had a proper crisp base. Tastes fresh. A generous application of the chili and herb olive oils made for s slice of pizza heaven.

 

Pizza Napolitana

 

Dessert

Panna Cotta pudding. Finishing with style

Just to prove that both this, and the real homemade ice cream, are worth leaving space for.

 

Osteria da Rado

4 Golo Bardo Str. Lozenetz, Sofia

+359 887 872 695

http://pizzarado.com/osteria.htm

 

 

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A little Bijou place in a Silver hotel

by lance1 on December 4, 2012

Bijou, in Silver House hotel, Simeonovski Shosse

Hotel restaurants, some are noteworthy, but a hotel restaurant does not spring to mind as the first choice for a meal out in Sofia.

But then again, when you hear that the kitchen is directed by ex-Sheraton chef Ventsislava Vircheva, then it was time to make the effort . Withe high expectations it was off to see what all the fuss was about at Bijou, the restaurant at the Silver House hotel on Simeonovsko Shosse.

 

Location 

Bijou, located in the Silver House hotel, is in a busy business area, just opposite the Sofia Zoo. It’s not that far out of the centre and very convenient from the southern ring road. Plenty of parking spaces makes arriving by car a non issue.

Sea bass at Bijou

 

First impressions count

Duck salad at Bijou

The reception area of the hotel lead us into the Bijou dining room; a spacious area with contemporary wooden walls and tastefully understated Christmas decorations.

Unobtrusive sums up the background music – and that’s a good thing.

With the steady march of tables moving ever closer together, it’s good to see that that in Bijou they are placed at a discrete distance from one another. Who needs your every word uttered being eavesdropped upon?

Not me.

So a tick in the box for business meetings.

Courteous and polished service saw us greeted, and seated, with a smile. A quick delivery of bread and dips and I’m now looking at the menu with plenty of interest.

 

Menu

You can tell a lot of thought has been put into selecting the menu.

It’s diverse, but not too long. Enough for different tastes, and a nice balance between Bulgarian and international cuisine. We found some traditional Bulgarian dishes like Shopska salad and chicken and pork skewers — but they were not what we came for.

The menu starts to reveal Ventislava’s international dishes with modern presentation. Feeling hungry I was tempted by the beef pepper steak with Swiss potato rosti and brandy sauce. Then again, the chicken rolls in bacon in dried tomato sauce and olives looked good — just like the walnut chicken fillets. So in my usual indecisive mode, I chose something rather different…

 

A salad is a salad

No, not really. Here the duck fillet green salad saw tender duck balanced with fresh leaves and dressing. Quite memorable.

Grilled vegetable salad at Bijou

The grilled vegetable salad with cheese was also appreciated by my partner. Prices of salad range between 8 leva and 10 leva. Fair for the amount, and the quality.

 

Pork and fish wonders

Sea bass

For my main, the pork knuckle served on roast cabbage with home-made potato and bacon chips proved to satiate my hunger.

The fish menu looked especially good. And I got to taste the sea bass with herb and lemon sauce. Cooked to perfection and heartily recommended.

Pork knuckle on cabbage

Both dishes cost 15 leva each, which is considerably less than you would pay for the same quality anywhere else.

Vegetarians have not been ignored, with some there non-meat starters that I hope to try on another visit.

 

Wine time

The wine list contains a selection of the main Bulgarian wines, and also some popular foreign ones.

As a strong believer in local wines, we chose the Kalo Ioan 2008 red by Light castle winery – a wonderful blend that I had tried at the DiVino wine tasting for the first time. This winery is a reliable choice, and you can choose from their whole range in the Bijou restaurant. Special mention must be made for the care to decanter a half bottle. A small touch that gained more points for Bijou.

Another red on the menu is Pitos (31lv) from the Dragomir Winery Estate. Probably my favourite right now.

The wine list is well chosen and delivers superb quality wines for modest prices. What is more, you will have it professionally decanted and served.

 

And finally…

Pudding. The creme brulee substituted the caramelised crust that fresh from the hands armed with a blow touch with a nut topping. Good, but not quite hitting the mark of the previous two courses.

Creme brulee

 

Conclusion

A nicely decorated and arranged big table at the other end of the restaurant made me think this is a place very suitable for a company or family Christmas party; cocktail or a wedding.

If you’re staying at the hotel, look no further for your dinner. If you’re up for some proper cooking, then Bijou is well worth the trip.

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Hotel apartments in Sofia

by lance1 on April 22, 2012

Sofia

Vitosha Street, Sofia

It’s grey, little known and we grow to like it. Yes, I am talking about Sofia. A seemingly unpromising Capital city. Is this the place to stay? Read on for how to stay in style. Oh and ignore that communist era greyness that lines the road from Sofia airport.

But giving Sofia a miss is like crying off on a party you had an invitation for. So I’ll stick my neck out, and say Sofia is THE up and coming place to be in Europe.

With five shopping malls, and three new malls well under construction, some have huge confidence in the City’s future. I am one of those.

Right now, I’m feeling a renewed vibrancy and confidence in the air. New IT jobs, low personal and corporate tax bring some real attractions for both business and individuals being based here.

Unleashing my Sofia

There has never been more reason to visit Sofia. For music lovers the program is astonishing. Take, for example, The NDK (“The national Palace of Culture”). It’s located just off Vitosha street — one of my favourite places streets lined with cafes, shops, bars and clubs.

NDK hosts world renowned classical, folk and popular artists. Like my favourite, violinst Vasko Vassilev and the hugely popular all girl classical ensemble, “Bond” Both play here over the coming weeks.

From Classical and Opera, at the Opera House, to a weekend rock festival headlining Guns n Roses Sofia has long since emerged as a key place to perform.

City centre hotel apartments

One of many cafes on Vistosha Street

It is somewhat fitting to be I took time out to review apartment accommodation that is well suited for those wanting a city base. Any savvy traveller knows that City apartments offer much better value that a hotel. Just like they often do in Bansko.

So I took a look at some city centre apartments in the heart of the city. The first one Allegra, a business apartment, just off Vitosha Street on the quiet Knyaz Boris Street. One from a selection of central apartments from rentapartment.bg.

In literally two minutes walk there are over fifteen bars and restaurants to choose from. The cafes lining Vitosha Street are a joy to sit at and people watch. Or just stare at the snow capped Vitosha mountain which the boulevard gets its name from.

What makes rentapartment.bg different from other websites is that that for longer stays they come and do a clean every four days. All included in the price. In addition, all the apartments are owned and managed by the same people.

Equipment in all apartments were impressive.

Equipped and ready for business

Nice touches in all apartments are the provision of both filter coffee machines and an espresso machines. I found proper kettles for tea making. All the kitchen utensils. Washing dryer machine. Dishwasher. Air conditioning, toaster, fridge and a spacious bathroom with a Jacuzzi bath.

Nice.

Business made

With a computer with fast internet access. The Allegra apartment makes perfect business sense. The internet phone means phone calls cost from €0.01 per minute.

For relaxation, the 200 channel cable TV is yet another indication that the owners really care about guests. Not only are they making sure the stay will be comfortable but also that they will recommend it — and return again on a future Sofia visit.

Conclusion

I have no hesitation in recommending the apartments on rentapartment.bg as bargains. With Sofia is full of surprises. From shopping, eating out, to music and culture you’ll have more cash to spend on having good times in Sofia.

NOTE: I compared apartment prices and could not find anything of the same size for the price of similar size and standard in this central location.

Recommended.

NOTE: I NEVER recommend something I have not experienced, seen and liked.

Rates

Per night:   30-69 EUR

Per week:     455 EUR
Per month: 930 EUR

Rentapartment.bg for more info

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Chergite Magic

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Pri Kmeta: real beer in Sofia

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Kohinoor: Bringing real Indian cuisine to central Sofia

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BeSo Sofia

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BeSo restaurant, in Buxton has been my local for some time. Always popular and a place to be seen in. So I confess I do enjoy admiring some nicely turned out ladies. But this display they competes with the shiny new Audis, Mercedes, BMW’s  in the handily on display car park. All heads turn when [...]

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