The meat course

In search of great steaks, and a break for low-fat meat

Text: Clive Leviev-Sawyer

Comparisons are usually unfair and unscientific, so let us make a few. My Bulgarian family, friends and colleagues have had several years to assure me that steak traditions do not exist in this country in the way that they do in the West. There are a few notable differences, one being that few restaurants here will ask you how you like your steak done. Further, like many countries with Balkan traditions, “steak” tends to mean “pork steak”. Then there is the theory that Bulgaria breeds cattle only for dairy and that these breeds are unsuited for classic (meaning “Western”) steak. Finally, and simply enough, Bulgarian culinary traditions are not those of the rest of the world and offer many delights without the need to emulate every foreign cuisine, thus reducing demand for steak and, moreover, many Bulgarians lack, along with the inclination, the cash to order a main course that seldom costs less than 25 leva and may go way beyond that.

Having decided to assess only stand-alone restaurants – with my assurance that Sofia’s top hotels all offer steak and given their many foreign clientele, a high standard may be expected at each one – this list is based on my own experiences and the recommendations of friends and colleagues about where to find a slice of the finest.

The talk of the town at the moment when it comes to steaks is Prime Steak House at the Sheraton Hotel. Offering Angus beef, baby veal and Kobe Beef, its meat is sourced from Argentina, the Netherlands, the United States and Japan. The word – or words, to be precise, on the place run to superlatives, including that vital one “tender”.

My odyssey took me to Osteria di Sofia, with fond memories of a steak lunch there a few months before. Although in Italian an “osteria” is the equivalent of a tavern (механа), the place tends towards the sophisticated, and its offering of retro Italian cuisine does not bar the inclusion of steak. In the form on my plate, and with the waiter asking how I would like it done, it was Fileto di Mango, a beef fillet with sauce from nuts and red pepper, served with mashed potatoes, at 24.90 leva. Notwithstanding my request for a “medium” preparation, it was more towards the well-done end of things, not surprising in Bulgaria where diners prefer to see the colour pink only in a bottle of rose and “underdone” meat is regarded with suspicion. Served swiftly and politely, it was accorded a place on the confirmed final list, however much Western steak purists may quibble about the taste of beef being concealed, if not overwhelmed, by nouveau sauces. In between the garnish, the steak was a fine texture, and it was impossible to say whether the owner of the flesh previously had been a contributor to the milk, yoghurt and butter factories of Bulgaria.

On to Da Vidi, this time armed with two Western steak purists to quibble. They took the form of two visiting American friends, one from Washington (but originally Iowa), the other from New York (but originally from the southern state of Georgia). The New Yorker and I ordered different steaks with an agreement to swop them midway through. So we were presented with Da Vidi’s steak with green pepper, served with potatoes and vegetables (29.70 leva for 350g) and the Rossini steak, a bon fillet sautéed in cognac with gushi, apple and served with potato (34.60 leva for 180g). Da Vidi, chic, upscale and well-located, knows about the presentation of food and meets the same approximation of medium, also getting points for the fact that the waiter asked unbidden how we wanted our steaks done. The green pepper steak was closer to the purist’s steak, the Rossini more for the diner who wants something for the palate other than the taste of cooked meat. My preference was the former, and neither would have been out of place in a good – if not outstanding – restaurant in many cities in the West. Our New York friend, however, said that the taste of the meat was too dominated by the spices. However dulled my tastebuds may have been by decades of heavy smoking, I knew that the meat was there, but most of all, for me the texture was correct – and arguably, that may be the most important criterion. Rather as the nose judges wine better than the tongue, you know a lot about a steak by the time the knife is in, long before the morsel’s final upward journey to your jaws.

JJ Murphy’s on a Sunday evening. While I do not regard myself as a stereotypical expatriate and am proud to be quite Bulgarianised, I have lost count of the number of times I have been to Murphy’s and know its standards to be consistent. That said, it had not been on my original list of steak restaurants but had been the first name mentioned when I consulted a British colleague. Those who may expect that a list of some of the best places to eat steak should include only restaurants with fine white linen and liveried waiters oozing discretion may be surprised at the inclusion of those who see Murphy’s only as a place to roar at the giant screen during an English football match. The Murphy’s Eight Ounce Fillet Steak (500g, for 32.90 leva) instantly fries this view. Accompanied by fried potatoes, vegetables and pepper sauce, the steak comes in a form and to a standard that matches the expectations of anyone who ever has set foot in a steakhouse on either side of the Atlantic. That said, like its predecessors at the other two restaurants, a request for a medium steak again produced one that was closer to well-done, and I was wondering whether I should recalibrate my order to medium-rare in order to get a steak done medium. I spent time in the army and have been in some scary situations as a journalist and am quite, thank you, accustomed to the sight of a little blood. For all that, the knife sliced in quite easily and the texture, while not tender, was succulent.

The following day found me, indeed, in elegant surroundings in the somewhat more upmarket atmosphere of Moskva, the Russian restaurant of which I have become rather fond and which was on my shortlist of places for a birthday dinner this year. My regret when I dined there that Monday was that I had to ignore their fine list of vodkas because the remainder of a long working day lay ahead, but I had no regret about the choice I made between the options of a natural steak with mushrooms (380g for 34.99 leva) and the pepper steak with herbs (300g for 34.99). Rather as with ice hockey and space achievements, Moskva symbolises Russia, if perhaps not beating the Americans at their own game, giving them a tight contest. First, order a steak and omit fripperies like ordering garnishes, and that is what arrives. Apart from some artistic droplets of sauce – three, to be precise – the garnish appeared to be half a peanut, as a sort of punctuation mark. Next to a steak that was close to perfect, my pepper steak with herbs was done precisely as ordered and was a delight in the way that a good dessert should be, and the absence of French fries and token vegetables took nothing away. Had I had time, I would have waited a decent interval, ordered another steak with a vodka to accompany, and re-checked my list of things to do in the afternoon with a view to procrastination.

From Moskva to Checkpoint Charly (doesn’t that sound rather Cold War?) the following day. Of the three steak-related options on the menu, I chose the one described as a “classic” steak with ragout from pechurka mushrooms and herbs served with mushrooms and fine chopped spring onions (450g and 28 leva). An engaging conversation with two Bulgarian colleagues, including dwelling for some time on the topic of steak, almost distracted me from noticing that the texture was close to what should be expected, the accompaniments not too strident and I conducted what by now I was calling the “blood test”, pressing down on a slice to see just how much or how little red fluid would emanate. The ooze seemed to be to a degree just right and tastewise, I had no doubt I was lunching on steak. Whether it could be called classic would be a matter on which I would have to consult my American friends when next they are in town (I chose to eat in the half of the restaurant deemed the American sector; I do not know if steaks lose quality in the Soviet half of the restaurant).

That evening found my wife and I at Olive’s (the original one) for the steak New York, perhaps an even bolder name for it than calling it a classic steak. Losing a few points against the previous five restaurants for a slightly lesser standard of service, Olive’s presented a steak with pepper sauce, two barbecued halves of corn and “Olive’s potatoes’. I asked for it to be done medium (unfortunately not waiting long enough to see whether the waitress would ask, at all) only for the sake of comparison and yes, it somewhat more resembled well done. The sauce was plentiful, given that some restaurants would make the mistake of spreading too little, especially given how that may prejudice a steak when it is too dry. I would go back to Olive’s, to which I have been a number of times before, and would order the steak again. Especially if accompanied by a New Yorker.
Month 2 Come a few months back included recommendations by Vanya Rainova of bistro L’etranger and Chef’s in Pasarel, which has been the subject of a number of recommendations, not only Rainova’s. The latter buy their beef from Metro, which imports it from Argentina. Argentinean and Brazilian supposedly free-range beef is available in some supermarkets, such as Billa and Metro.
In recent months, other places where the steak has been up to measure have included Vagabond and Chergata (the pepper steak is my customary order), although in both places I found that it was necessary to recalibrate an order from “medium” to “rare” to get a medium steak.

Greenville’s ribeye steak acquitted itself well, matching in its texture my order of “medium” and also matching – without producing a kitchen scale, but by unofficial estimate – the weight as noted on the menu.

Meating place: Some random cuts

• If you are looking for low-fat meats, it is best to stick to leading brand-name supermarkets. Generally, the optimum low-fat meats are skinless chicken breast, turkey breast (seasonally available, generally around Festive Season time). Low-fat beef options are ground sirloin and cuts from the short loin.
• For reduced-fat options, home cooking should include, naturally, trimming off fat before cooking; other tips are to cook the meat on a rack on the baking tray so that fit drips off; and to drain off further fat after cooking.
• Ostrich meat is low in fat and cholesterol and high in calcium, protein and iron; again, frequently available in supermarkets after the establishment in 1998 of Bulgaria’s own Strauss and Company, a local ostrich farm that also exports.
• For those hankering for a taste of UK-style meats, Andy’s Foods (andysfoods.com) offers traditional pork sausage, pork and leek sausage, Lincolnshire sausage, chipolatas, sweet Italian sausage and dry cured bacon.
• After Bulgaria’s EU accession in 2007, meat purchasing in Bulgaria has a reduced risk of potential health problems and outright deceit (legends continue of horse and dog impostoring other meats, but again, somewhat unlikely in reputable supermarkets); while occasionally problematic goods (as in the case of the 2008 Irish toxin scare) slip through the net, thanks to the EU, you’re more likely to know about it.
   

Source: Month2Come