Located below street level just across from Halo Pub on Hulfish Street, the Underground Cafe serves lunch, dinner and takeout from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily. The menu consists largely of traditional Bulgarian fare, but there are also some safe standbys for less adventurous diners: Pork chops, penne pasta, rib-eye steak and other standard dishes are offered. A full menu with prices is available at cafe-underground.com. Make sure to turn up your speakers when you visit the website if you enjoy the haunting moans of Bulgarian folk music as much as I do.
My recent meal at the Underground Cafe commenced with some warm rolls served with olive oil enhanced by "a secret blend of Bulgarian spices," our server said. My dining partner surreptitiously suggested to me that we were being treated to salt and pepper in a bowl of oil. I think she was right, but it was still a tasty start to the meal. We split a slightly overpriced $8 appetizer of Bulgarian roasted eggplant, which was her favorite dish of the night. It was covered with chopped tomatoes, feta cheese and an addictive sweet sauce - a very nice vegetarian offering.
We decided to order the most distinctively Bulgarian item on the menu, and our search began and ended with the questionably titled Bulgarian Hot Rocks. This dish consists of vegetables and, if you want, meat, chicken or fish, seared in oil over a bed of herbed and seasoned rocks to provide a unique flavor. Envision traditional shish kebobs taken off the stick and thrown on a big steaming plate, and you've got the idea. Personally, I was rooting for a literal arrangement of meat-on-rocks-on-plate (I'm old-fashioned like that), but this was a clever presentation nonetheless.
The particular variation we ordered was a combination platter, featuring vegetables topped with a true melange of treats for a carnivore: beef, chicken, shrimp, sausage and salmon. The beef was too tough, but my friend and I agreed that the sausage and shrimp portions were delectable. One particularly pleasant surprise was that the combination platter, at $20, was not much more expensive than one that featured only chicken or sausage ($19) and the same price as one with beef, shrimp, or salmon ($20). While many restaurants will charge premium and often outrageous prices for similar combination plates, the Underground Cafe kept its prices fair and portions large; the platter could have easily served two adults.
Following a tip I had found online, we also ordered the misnamed "light entree" of chicken and mushroom crepes. Each of the crepes, covered in a slightly overpowering cheese sauce, was easily enough for a single person's main course. The crepes didn't compare favorably to the hot rocks plate (admittedly, it was a tough act to follow). They were serviceable but unimpressive.
The culinary highlight of the night was the visually enticing Ultimate Shish Kebob. The $8 dessert consisted of fried cheesecake and fried brownies skewered on a metal rod suspended above a bed of fresh, chilled blackberries, strawberries, apples, peaches and bananas. The combination was impeccable, and the portion was easily large enough to satisfy two or three diners. The dish's sole flaw was the use of cheap Hershey's syrup as a glaze on the fruit. I'm no expert, but something tells me that they're using real melted chocolate back in Bulgaria. Nevertheless, the creative dessert stood as a glorious conclusion to a night full of high-quality food and excellent conversation.
The dishes we sampled constituted a reasonably priced, above-average dining experience. Keep in mind that you can probably trim costs and still end up with full bellies around the table by ordering one less entree than the number of diners in your party. The service and ambiance helped the restaurant, too: Members of the wait staff were friendly and engaging, and the dining room was well-lit, colorful and inviting.
The Underground Cafe is definitely worth a trip for a fearless diner who is less than thrilled with the prospect of yet another visit to a popular spot like Triumph Brewery, Ivy Garden or Winberries. Hungry students who aren't quite ready for the full Bulgarian immersion experience are strongly encouraged to at least put down the $8 and treat a friend to the ultimate dessert.
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