Bulgarian restaurants in Bulgaria
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A
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.
reviewed
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B
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.
reviewed
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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.
reviewed
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C
Manastirska Magernitsa
Set in the courtyard of a 19th-century townhouse and decked out like an old-fashioned mehana (tavern) , this is among the best places in the city to sample some first-class, traditional Bulgarian cuisine. The menu is enormous and encompasses recipes collected from monasteries and villages all over the country, with dishes such as ‘drunken rabbit’ stewed in wine and ‘quails in a nest’, as well as salads, grills, fish, chicken, pork and game options. There’s also an extensive wine list, which includes some pricey vintage bottles.
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D
Pri Lipite
[ourpick] Pri Lipite Easily the best restaurant in town, ‘Under the Lime Trees’ is set in the shady courtyard of a house built in 1910 for the then mayor of Burgas. It offers a huge menu of traditional Bulgarian cuisine including stewed boar, roast lamb, chicken kavarma (a traditional seasoned stew served in a clay pot) and veal-tail soup, as well as various yoghurt-based dishes (with all the milk and cheese coming from the restaurant’s own dairy). It gets extremely busy at night, and reservations are advisable.
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Pelelanovska Konak
[ourpick] Pelelanovska Konak This traditional Rodopean mehana may be in the back streets, across the river, but it’s well worth seeking out. Tucked inside a little enclosure, it has cosy outdoor seating and a spacious, hunting-lodge interior with pelts and antlers on the walls. The enormous menu, strong on local dishes, includes the ‘chef’s special’ satch, a riotous mixture of various meats, cheese and vegetables baked in a clay pot. Service is friendly and attentive.
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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.
reviewed
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E
Pri Yafata
Another traditional-style place with agricultural tools, rifles, chergas (patterned rugs) and other rustic reminders adorning the walls. Hearty dishes of duck, rabbit, pork and chicken are on the lengthy menu, which also includes plenty of vegetarian options. It’s a very popular place, and reservations are advisable for the evenings, which regularly feature live music.
reviewed
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Bulgarsko Selo Restaurant
In the Spa Hotel Devin, this place does reasonably priced meat dishes, and more expensive regional specialities. The cosy folk décor is enhanced by the open oven, where you can watch the chef roasting huge, crunchy slabs of bread. The restaurant is also the definite winner of the prize for most hysterical English-language entrée title – ‘girl spittle’.
reviewed
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Mehana Marina
A few steps up the unnamed lane running east from the bus stop, Marina is a folksy restaurant set in a courtyard planted with trees and little fountains. The menu features traditional Bulgarian cuisine such as kebabche (spicy grilled meat sausages) , as well as lots of fish dishes, grills and German fare such as bratwurst and schnitzel.
reviewed
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F
Trops Kâshta
There are several branches of this budget cafeteria around town, offering Bulgarian favourites such as kebabche (grilled spicy meat sausages) and moussaka. The menu is in Bulgarian only, but you can point at whatever takes your fancy and trust to luck. Best to get here early as popular items get snapped up and the remainder get cold.
reviewed
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G
Puldin Restaurant
The magical Puldin is one of Plovdiv’s most atmospheric restaurants. In one dining room, the famous whirling dervishes of the Ottoman Empire once whirled themselves into ecstatic exhaustion, while in the cellar hall Byzantine-era walls and Roman artefacts predominate. Although expensive, the décor alone makes it worthwhile.
reviewed
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Restaurant Elit
Aside from Belogradchik’s two hotel restaurants, the Elit is the only other real restaurant in town. It does some fine – and unusual – chicken specialities, as well as a variety of other Bulgarian dishes. It’s an uphill walk (600m) up steep ul Vasil Levski and then off to the left.
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H
XIX Vek
Pronounced devetnaystee vek, this local favourite in a garden near the pedestrian mall offers traditional satch (a stew baked in a clay pots) dishes, charcoal-grilled shish kebabs and more. Its walls are decorated with traditional implements and décor reminiscent of a 19th-century village.
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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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Starata Kâshta
Also known as the Pamporovata Kâshta, this place offers a short menu of grills and salads. The attractive National Revival–style house (built in 1840) has a few rough-hewn, log cabin–style outdoor tables and benches. It’s up the steps from bul Bulgaria.
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Restaurant Tsarevets
The beachfront promenade, ul Kraybrezhna, is lined with restaurants, while better options (with multilingual menus) are found near the Preobrazhenie Gospodne Church, including Restaurant Tsarevets, which offers grilled pork, chicken and fish dishes.
reviewed
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Black Tiger
A simple place playing punchy Bulgarian music, the Black Tiger goes for the well-lacquered ski lodge look, and is popular with locals even out of high season, serving good mehana (tavern) fare. It’s behind La Bomba on the mountain’s base.
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I
Monte Christo
One of the classier options along this pizza-prone street, serving up excellent dishes such as duck breast with blueberries, salmon with peppermint sauce, and lobster. It also does some tasty appetizers: try the marinated sheep’s cheese with honey and pears.
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Bistro Silva
Set right on the beach, this is a great place to grab a quick, cheap lunch. You can sit on the main wooden terrace or in an old fishing boat alongside that’s fitted out with tables, and tuck into basic dishes such as moussaka and chicken and rice.
reviewed
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J
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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