Have you ever wanted your own restaurant?

C'mon, at one point in time in everyone's life, we all want to own and run a small restaurant or bar. Why? God only knows...

Anyway, Sofia has a great compromise for those who still feel that need. With only 16 chairs, Vishnite is like having your own dining room without paying the rent. Tucked away in Lozenets, on the corner of Hristo Smirnenski Blvd. and Vishneva St., this little "hole-in-the-wall" is easily missed if you don't know where to look.

On the other hand, most should know about this place since it's less than a two-minute drive away from two other excellent eating establishments - Stenata and Le Garcon. Although Sofia has opened up more restaurants than official disposable incomes can support - albeit without parking unless you count the sidewalks - this one deserves further investigation.

(CM) When you walk into this tiny gem of a restaurant with just four tables, it's evidently meant to conjure up the feeling of a genteel English tearoom with a very homely environment in which to enjoy the delights the menu has on offer. The day we went, there was only one spare table. According to reliable sources, reservations are a must for dinner, sometimes two days in advance - even on weekdays. Lunch is usually not too much of a problem. It's what's on the plate that counts.

(PHB) I've been to this place more than 40 times since September of last year, and with good reason - the food! Like many Bulgarian restaurants, Vishnite has a menu that does not change very much over the years. That's where the similarities end.

Unlike most Bulgarian restaurants, this one has a very focused menu. Despite its many pages, less than 20 items are listed on the entire menu. All items are (almost) always available in fresh format. Myself, I have become a pseudo-vegetarian, which means that I'm only carnivorous about once a week. When I do eat meat at Vishnite, I go for the poultry or the goose liver grilled with pineapple. Not too oily, soft inside, and looks so good on the plate that my guests usually lean over the table for a bite (this is my favourite part).

I always eat their ripe tomatoes with either goat cheese or mozzarella, and then a fresh sliced red beet salad with garlic and horseradish puree on the side. When I eat this salad with healthy dollops of garlic puree, nobody ever leans over the table for a taste.

(CM) The restaurant has a good selection of interesting dishes, in particular some non-run-of-the-mill salads such as the one I had, which was a large bowl of grated beetroot, cabbage, carrots and sliced mushrooms sprinkled with sunflower seeds. It was the healthy sunflower seeds that attracted me to this salad, and stopped me from ordering that calorie-packed favourite - tomatoes with mozzarella.

In this restaurant, you can actually choose which cheese to have with your tomatoes and basil: mozzarella, French goat's cheese, feta cheese, or Bulgarian sheep or cow sirene. On another visit, though, I would go for one of the enormous salads for two, probably the Nicoise because it has artichoke in it, a rare find in Sofia.

The vegetarian part of the menu thoughtfully offers three dishes, all of which sounded promising. I chose the vegetarian cutlets, as I had fond memories of some I once had at the Serbian restaurant on Solunksa St. The cutlets did not disappoint, arriving as three large potato-based cakes containing various milled vegetables. They were topped with a very odd-tasting sauce, which I would skip on another occasion. It was a kind of sweet and sour sauce, possibly of lemon and mustard, that just didn't hit it off with my conservative taste buds. The cutlets were tasty, though the portion was too large to finish.

Other options for vegetarians were spinach and parsley croquets or fried cauliflower florets with cheese sauce.

There are seven main course options for meat-eaters, offering primarily fowl - duck, turkey, goose liver, and chicken - just one beef and pork dish and, surprisingly for Bulgaria, no lamb. All are presented in a manner that looks great on the plate, and fills the plate, yet there is no resemblance to the "piling on" of many restaurants in Sofia. You will not leave this place hungry, but if you are still somehow hungry, and your calorie count has escaped your radar screen, check out the dessert selection. Creams, sugars and everything else in between awaits your unsatisfied needs.

(PHB) With so much going for it, somebody must pay for all this. Price-wise, Vishnite is at the upper-end of the scale. This does not mean it's expensive, but two leva salads and six to eight leva main dishes are not to be found here. Two people can eat dinner with a glass of wine and desserts for less than 60 leva, and get true value for money.

Another great feature is the home dining room aspect. Invite 12 or 14 people, and you can "close the joint" as if you're having everyone home for dinner.

The upsides: (PHB) Great food, and you get at home treatment in a small intimate setting. (CM) Smiling staff, imaginative dishes.

The downsides: (PHB) No fresh fruit juice beyond the usual orange, food takes awhile to reach your table when the place is full, and if you're a non-smoker you'll suffer because of the size of the "dining room." (CM) No good for people-watching as there isn't room for many customers, and it would be rude to stare.

Bottom line: This place is consistently great, kind of like Dani's without the brown bread sandwiches and the trendy crowd.