Is This A Record Bansko Restaurant Rip Off?

OBETSANOVA MEHANA, is a Bansko restaurant that is named and shamed in today’s review from Bansko Blog readers, Patrick and Sylvia from Ireland. Read on to see why their meal was as much fun as having a tooth pulled.

Firstly my many thanks to them for sending this in. Restaurant owners and operators are changing every season: so your up to date reports are sought. This site relies on your feedback like Patrick and Sylvia’a to quickly identify those which indulge in rip offs like this one. For a  positive review on a Bansko restaurant, and my reliable value favourite, I receved nothing but praise for the Victoria restaurant opposite the Kempinski Grand Arena… click here for my review: http://banskoblog.com/victoria-restaurant-bansko/.

OK, so here’s the email from Patrick:

“…My wife and I have just returned from a fantastic month long holiday in Bansko. We took in the Jazz Festival — which was amazing. It was so professional, entertaining and free. We also tried out some of the hill walking tours and visited the majestic Rila Monastery with a great guide, Marin Erinin. Thank you! Marin. We will definitely be spending our future summer holidays in Bansko.

Unfortunately we did have a very nasty and intimidating experience at the Obetsanova Mehana. It is situated immediately to the right of the Church, as you approach the square downhill from Pirin Street.

To cut this long story as short as possible, what happened was as follows :-

1. My wife and I each had a Beer. ( total approx 10 leva)
2. We had a Shopska Salad to share. ( approximately 6 leva)
3. We enquired as to whether a main meal of roasted meats, with vegetables on two skewers, pictured on the menu was sufficient for two —  and the waiter said yes it was. The price beside picture was 29.40 Leva.
4. Total bill expected 45.50 Leva
5. Total Bill presented 158 Leva !

As you can imagine this amount came as a major shock to us.

We queried the bill with the waiter — who said it was correct. He then went on to show that each piece of meat and each vegetable had been priced separately and amounted to the 158 leva shown. When we pointed out that the picture of the meal in the menu had a price of 29.40 leva beside it,  he said “that that was the price for a fish course, and had nothing to do with the meal that we had chosen from the picture.”…

…When we asked him to show us the price of our chosen meal in the menu he said that ” it is not displayed in the menu.”

We decided that 50 leva was the most we were going to pay. So, I put a fifty leva note in the bill folder and presented it to the waiter who had now retreated into the restaurant. When he opened the bill folder and saw the fifty leva note he became enraged. I attempted to leave the restaurant but he aggressively pushed me back in through the door. He then called a man who seemed to be the “owner” of the restaurant — and who had been observing what was happening. He came over to us, looked at the bill and said it was correct.

When I protested further and asked to be shown the price of the meal in the menu he confirmed that that particular meal was not priced in the menu. At the same time he took from his pocket a toy gun and began to stroke it. He said to the waiter “Give them a 10% discount”.

At this stage I felt totally intimidated and frightened. Thoughts of ‘Mafia’ were coming into my head. I made a quick calculation and concluded that our lives were worth more than the discounted price of approximately 140 leva. So, we paid the price and headed for home as quickly as possible.

Lessons learned were :-

1. Don’t select a meal from a menu picture unless you confirm the price.
2. Don’t ever visit this restaurant again.
3. Make sure you tell as many people as possible about the rip-off.
4. This type of rip-off must be stopped in order to protect what is good about Bansko.

In spite of this nasty incident we will continue to love Bansko and it will be our Summer and Winter holiday destination for as long as we live.

(Patrick and Sylvia are fictional names: the story is true)

My comment: Thank you Patrick and Sylvia for sharing this. I really admire how this one bad experience has not put you off. But I have to say Bulgaria’s reputation is pretty poor for this type of thing. I have heard of other intimidation stories when faced with over priced taxis in Bansko (and elsewhere).

So a quick reminder to check charges first and ask for meter to be switched on before jumping in. I’ve been caught out several times. Caution in Sofia as well as Bansko. Especially the airport terminals (check for OK Supertrans and rate — never take a tout), Pliska hotel, Alexander Nevski Church areas, Sheraton hotel, bus and train stations. Please note taxis are legally allowed to charge what they like, as long as the price is displayed in the nearside windscreen. I’ve made this mistake when in a rush in Sofia, so believe me, it’s an easy trap to fall into.

What do you think?  What would you have done — anything different? Please comment below.

I do urge readers to send reviews of restaurants that they have visited whether they are positive or negative. In the case of the latter anonymity is guaranteed… I have changed names here to protect the real persons

In the run up to the ski season, I will not be shy on exposing similar stories… but will also to praise the many excellent restaurants, bars, cafe’s and clubs. Be sure to sign up to get the inside track first.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Tagged as: mehana, obetsanova, restaurants, rip off