The Village

If Google Maps is any indicator, the space adjacent to Bianca appears to be part of a rapidly changing landscape. The current incarnation comes in the form of a Hungarian restaurant not at all ominously called "The Village".

The atmosphere is awkward, to be frank, or at least it was the day we went in around 5-6pm and were the only non-family members in attendance. There's definitely something strange about eating dinner when a half-dozen other people and a small litter of children are just hanging out in the restaurant like it's their living room. But perhaps it was just early on a slow night. Walking by this past Saturday night the place was more or less packed, and not just with blood relatives!

How's the eats? Not bad, and decently portioned. The Hungarian meatballs, which look nothing like meatballs and everything like small hamburgers, were basically flavored like gyro meat and came with ample stacks of chips and salad. Most of the meals fell into the £7-10 range.

I don't think I'll be going back anytime soon, but at least I can check off "Hungarian" from the list of cuisines I've yet to sample.

Green Lanes does great Turkish and Greek food but it's worth trying this place if you're after something different. My first Bulgarian, and good enough to go back a couple of times. Great if you like any or all of the following: meat, cheese or potatoes.

Yes, they serve the usual kebabs etc, but I decided to try one of the Bulgarian specialties Guveche, and it was very good. It was a casserole with olives, fetta, ham, tomato and capsicum the free crusty bread was a good accompaniment. The Bulgarian kebabs looked huge, and I will get one next time I'm feeling a bit hungrier! The Bulgarian Rakia (spirits) was incredibly strong, but was good for warming up on a cold winter night!

Bulgarians are also big on salads, and the salads here are amazing, fresh and tasty. Make sure you order one, even the simple green salad is good!
It was very quiet during a weeknight but I'm told it gets busy during the week. Service was friendly, but don't expect them to be able to recommend anything to you, they'll tell you anything is good.
Oh and it's cheap!

Really good atmosphere - step through the door into another country all together. The walls an ceiling are adorned with trinkets and pictures from Bulgaria. The local clientèle are lively and there was lots of dancing and drinking - pretty cool really.


Staff are very friendly and happy to explain what everything is. Not a massive amount of choice for Vegetarians but the veg kebab is a standard on the Green Lanes. Portions are massive and very filling. We didn't buy a dessert since we couldn't eat any more.


Reasonable price and food was good quality, meat - potato and veg. Bread and olives were provided too. Yum.