Bulgarian restaurants in Central Balkans
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Mehana Chiflika
[ourpick] Mehana Chiflika The enormous Chiflika is an excellent mehana with traditional furnishings, live music and a wide range of grilled meats. It’s a place for hearty eaters, and the rustic charm is only enhanced by the sight of some dishes being served up on what are essentially chipped-off tree stumps.
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Dom na Architekta
This wood-and-stone traditional tavern has great Bulgarian specialities, served in a balmy back garden in summer, moving indoors in front of a crackling fire in winter.
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Pri Fabrikadzhiyata
With a curious name that literally means ‘at the manufacturer’s place’, this somewhat posh restaurant in the courtyard of the Hotel National Palace serves an extensive range of good Bulgarian dishes and features somewhat bland live renditions of forgotten pop chestnuts on most nights. There’s seating indoors, outdoors and (when there’s enough of a crowd) in an atmospheric 18th-century house next door, which once belonged to a famous revival-period industrialist, Dobri Zheliakov. The restaurant’s prices are relatively steep, though the food is good, with the roast lamb being downright succulent.
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Nazdrave Restaurant
This cosy place on the opposite bank of the river is good for an evening meal, and has a relaxing summertime terrace – better than sitting indoors when the loud and decidedly non-traditional Bulgarian pop blares from the TV. The Nazdrave is also a great breakfast nook, with crepes accompanied by local strawberry jam and, if you can handle the sourness, very thick, village-fresh ovcho kiselo mlyako (sheep’s-milk yoghurt).
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Restaurant Toma
This lively mehana outside the Hotel Toma has a typically large menu of traditional Bulgarian specialities, including parts of animals you might never have expected could (or should) be eaten – but never mind, the food and the atmosphere are great, with live Bulgarian (and sometimes Greek) music performed nightly, and diners weaving between tables in the throes of traditional Balkan dance. Hotel Toma guests enjoy a 10% discount.
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Starata Loza
The Old Vine features eccentric traditional décor (wood carvings on the interior, wine casks sticking out of the walls) and has a big menu of inventive Bulgarian fare, plus 27 kinds of rakia (fruit brandy). The specials, such as pork stuffed with onions, sausage, mushrooms and walnut (11 lv) are expensive, but worth it. It’s on the cobblestone street opposite the entrance to Daskalov House.
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Pod Starata Krusha
Right next to the bus station, this cosy little tavern is a nice choice for a traditional evening meal or a quick breakfast (it even has Turkish coffee) before your bus departs. Renowned Targovista wine from the Veliko Târnovo area is served, accompanied by traditional Bulgarian music.
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Mehana 20 April
This friendly place, on the edge of the square of the same name and close to the Tourist Information Centre, offers a short menu of traditional Koprivshtitsa dishes, as well as deliciously done freshwater fish. Dining is enjoyed indoors or (much better) in an attractive back courtyard.
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Mehana Popsheitanova Kushta
This wood-framed traditional restaurant has big outdoor benches and big portions, too. Try the chicken shishle ‘special’ (skewered chicken interspersed with cooked red peppers, onions, tomatoes and a little mushroom on the side).
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Leventa
This gourmet eatery is not exactly central, though it is excellent. It boasts a winery, and produces an aromatic red wine characterising the vino of the Danube delta. Food is both inspired Bulgarian and international.
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Mehana Chevermeto
With its traditional décor and soothing setting along a leafy pond, this restaurant of the Hotel Ezeroto has plenty of ambience and great food, too – as expected, mostly of the traditional Bulgarian kind.
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Voenen Klub
Ploshtad 20 Yuli has numerous restaurants and cafés; the best are on either side of the Sherev Hotel, with the Voenen Klub bar-restaurant on the opposite side of the square deserve a mention.
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Restaurant Dublin
Yes, it serves Guinness, but no, it’s not a pub; the Dublin is in fact one of the city’s better restaurants, with a big menu of inventive Bulgarian and international cuisine.
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Gostilintsa
Almost diagonally opposite the Starata Loza, this classy place is uninvitingly located behind a wooden door. The service is excellent, the meals are not too expensive and the menu is in English.
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Biraria Regal
Like the Dom na Architekta, this traditional mehana (tavern) further east on ul Tsar Osvoboditel enjoys a leafy garden setting and offers a good selection of grills and salads.
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Deboya Restaurant
The fairly cavernous Deboya is very central, located next to the Hotel Sliven’s front parking. It’s a popular place for pizza and traditional Bulgarian dishes.
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Restaurant Tryavienski Kut
This atmospheric restaurant in an imposing National Revival–style house has worn wooden floors and carved ceilings, and a good range of homemade Bulgarian cooking.
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Mehana Billaya
Up the cobbled street from the Gallereya, the Billaya is equally atmospheric, if you don’t mind the loud live music during the evenings.
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Tri Lovetsa
This tavern across from the Hotel Balkan does good traditional-style Bulgarian specialities, and has a breezy terrace for summer dining.
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Mehana Gallereya
Located beside the eponymous Art Gallery, this mehana features a large courtyard, good service and very tasty food.
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Tsesar
Tsesar serves up excellent Bulgarian grills in a rustic courtyard, decorated by a faux windmill.
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Starata Mehana
Another dramatic location is found here, with great views and traditional, good-value cooking.
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Gusto Pizza & Grill
This place inside the Hotel Balkan does decent Italian and Bulgarian food as well as pizza.
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Restaurant Dionisi
Near pl Sveti Nikolai, Restaurant Dionisi does hearty, home-cooked fare.
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