Where fate denied me a visa three years ago, love led the way this time, to the charming capital of Bulgaria blessed by such an enchanting name. Sofia, as the name of the city, is also the name of an early Christian Saint who along with her daughters were martyred, yet some claim that the city’s name is derived directly from the Greek root that means wisdom and coins the names like Sophie, Sofia, Sophia, etc. anyway. True and wise, Sofia today is a mixture of everything one can imagine in a post-Communist city, which still struggles to shake off the political and economic burden inherited from the transition period in the nineties… Well, let’s talk a bit about the lighter, pubbing experience, shall we? Pri Kmeta Brewpub is my destination this time.

In Cyrillic, the name is printed При Кмета, meaning “To the Mayor”. I’ve long heard about this place, for no particular reasons. And I always fantasised it had any business connection (oh, that sweet and natural money-laundering function~) with Sofia’s mayors (well, “This is Eastern Europe”, right?), or, indeed, the former mayor who is now the loose-cannon-style, populist Prime Minister, Boyko Borisov. How wrong I was! Recently visited along with my partner “Cubbie” Lub and her sister “Mishi” Maria, this brewpub sits at the back of (or opposite to) the Sofia City Council, hence the name “To the Mayor”. Or so they claim... Located in the basement of an ordinary apartment building, this was frankly the first beer drinking establishment I had visited in Sofia. Having in mind a modern-ish picture as seen on the website (http://www.prikmeta.com/), the interior in fact feels more spacious yet cozy than anticipated. You could see the conditioning tanks on display at the entrance, and the menu invites all to come and experience their brewing process on a certain date(s) of the year, which is a very good, albeit commercialised, sign for beer lovers.            

As, or more precisely “although”, it was on the afternoon immediately before the national holiday “St. George’s Day” when we visited, the brewpub was almost totally empty. According to Cubbie and Mishi, this is a sign of economic recession (otherwise, they said, BG folks would get out of work early at 3pm and start celebrating in bars and cafes!), but to me I definitely appreciate this quieter and, most importantly, smoke-free environment. We had a very nice mid-afternoon lunch there, choosing six dishes from an extremely extensive menu (for a brewpub). All dishes came in good size and of very decent quality. Beer-wise, they produce four brews at the premise: Wheat, Light, Dark and Red. While the Wheat was somewhat off-ish or not terribly tasty anyway, the other three were of decent quality with Red going particularly well with all dishes we ordered (=> my beer notes: Kmetsko Red + Kmetsko Dark). On both bars (one long and the other shorter) they even have hand-pumps (beer engine) on display, but my UK-pubbing experience tells me these are fake ones operated by electricity; no harm done, as they do help contribute a pub-like atmosphere all in all.