Have you ever wondered about all these recent curious subheadings restaurants in Sofia are adding to their names? The recently opened Esterhasi Bar in Sofia comes with the suffix ‘desserts & dinner’ which bemuses me a little….is this to inform us upfront what our options are or just to cover as many bases as possible on google key search words?
I’m not sure I’ve noticed this trend elsewhere, and I’m not sure how it started off here – but of course I have my own theory.
A few years back some restaurants started calling themselves ‘bar & diner’, nothing unusual about – except that they didn’t really have much to do with the original North American concept of a diner. I guess it was just a novel way for trendy bars to inform that they also do food!
But then something strange happened; all of a sudden, venues were appearing with the suffix ‘bar & dinner’ . My theory is that some ignorant smartass just came along and said “It’s not d-i-n-e-r but d-i-n-n-e-r “ and all of a sudden Sofia had a whole series of new ‘bar & dinners’, a few ‘café, bar & dinners’ and now even ‘desserts & dinner’.
A new trend - only in Sofia?
Actual definitions of ‘diner’ as a place for dining, rather than the person dining, include references to small informal restaurants, often in prefab carriage shaped buildings resembling railway cars, serving inexpensive food such as burgers, cooked breakfast, club sandwiches, round the clock.
Obviously the original characteristic concept of an American diner has blurred over the years and across the borders and I’m not sure there are any traditional diners as such in Sofia ( do correct me if I am wrong!), but then again you may console yourself in trying out all the places that offer dinner 😉
Interior of a traditional American diner
sofiatheinsider 
Funny because at our restaurant The Crimean in Melbourne (Australia) we have the Bulgarian proverb Гладна мечка не може да играе on our menu. We translated it as “A hungry bear cannot dance”. It’s been there for quite a while, then suddenly someone says, that doesn’t say “dance” it says “play”. So now all I want to really know? Is it dance or play? What is the right proverb? Can I trust the internet. Oh, and hi Paromita, see you in either Aprilish or next Feb!!! Frank
the literal translation is play – although the meaning may indeed relate to dancing…maybe some of my other readers can help you out more. Never trust anything on the internet 100% 😉
The verb used in the saying is to play, but it’s also used for dancing. Specifically, you ‘play’ the traditional horo dance. This is different than the verb used for dancing at a club, for example. In that case you use the verb tantsuva. Long story short, I think your proverb is safe.
Dear Frank, it’s quite puzzling to me that the proverb on the menu you’ve mentioned is not correct. The original Bulgarian proverb is Гладна мечка хоро не играе and literally translated it goes: “A hungry bear will not dance horo”… Horo being the common term for traditional hand-in-nand chain or ring dances in Bulgaria. English analogues are: “A hungry belly has no ears” and “No pay, no play”.
Are the owners (or whoever made up the menu) Bulgarian??? I don’t believe so. But I have a guess – maybe the owners have been to Bulgaria at some point and they’ve heard some Bulgarian telling them about a proverb that translates as “A hungry bear cannot dance”. And then, after going back to Australia, they’ve put it through Google translate… 🙂
Great article – such a funny topic! Most of the young Bulgarians speak decent English, but when it comes to translating names and menus they are so creative. My favs are “Cheese undercover” and “Baked old man from Bansko” – you probably don’t wanna know what’s in the dish! I bet they were translated by translate.google 😀
Frank, it’s a tricky question. „Играе“ means really “to play” but in some regions of Bulgaria it has the meaning of “dance” – just like in this proverb. But actually the original proverb is “Гладна мечка хоро не играе“ which means “A hungry bear doesn’t dance horo” – horo is the typical Bulgarian folk dance, where everybody gathers in a circle and follows the same steps and movements. I looked it up online and the official translation is “A hungry bear doesn’t dance” – so you almost got it right 😉 Oh and never trust the internet when it comes to Bulgarian translations – this language is soooo unusual, it can never be translated by a machine 🙂