The display case shows an array of cakes and cookies that look enticing, but I’m in the mood for savoury, so I order a pastry filled with cheese.
My server tells me ‘cash only’ when she asks me to take a table if I want to be served, and then she reminds me again when she takes my order – cash only, no machine, no card. Bulgarian lev only.
I hear the sound of a distant radio playing unfamiliar, but most likely, Bulgarian music, the sound of an occasional vehicle squeaking by on the cobblestones outside, but predominately, I hear the almost constant whir of the coffee machine.
It seems to be a popular place for takeout coffee.
Though there are customers smoking on the patio tables, I’m delighted to see the No Smoking sign inside, where I sit at a small table by the window.
The two women at the next table have not touched their pastries since I arrived, though they are drinking their coffees.
I see the same thing at a patio table outside – a couple drinking their coffees while their desserts remain untouched.
I wonder if I’m committing a faux pas by eating my food prior to drinking my coffee, but nobody is giving me a disapproving look.
I sigh. The service isn’t unfriendly exactly, but it’s missing a certain human component.
The staff just seem to be emotionless and efficient – no smiling whatsoever, deliver the food, show the bill, take the money, provide the change out of a purse, return to the kitchen, never make eye contact.
I’m expected to pay when my coffee and food is delivered, but I notice the two women at the next table don’t pay until they leave. I sigh again.
I think I was more excited about the name of the cafe – Athene – which I’m guessing is linked to the Greek goddess Athena, although maybe not, than I was about the cafe itself, which is quite plain.
Nothing on the walls for decoration, just some bottles of alcohol – Gordon’s, Beafeater, Smirnoff – on display in a few built-in niches of the wall behind the counter.
But the coffee is good, the food tasty, though it takes me a while to find the promised cheese filling of my pastry, the experience okay, but not really memorable.
I finish my coffee and wander off to the green market.
