Sofia Restaurants

  1. Background

    Attractive courtyard restaurant offering an upmarket menu (in English) featuring things such as duck in port sauce, tagliatelle with truffles and chicken breasts with roasted brie. The food is good, but it's a little let down by slow waitstaff.

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  2. Bakehouse

    A good place to pick up a variety of banitsa and other cheap street eats.

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  3. Cafe de Sofi

    This sociable summer outdoor café beside the Central Hali Shopping Centre makes a handy pit stop for drinks and snacks.

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  4. Cafe Theatre

    Beside the imposing Ivan Vazov National Theatre, this summer-only pavement café is a pleasant spot for drinks and cakes.

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  5. Central Hali Shopping Centre Food Court

    There are several outlets in the upstairs food court in this market complex that sell cheap fast food such as kebabs, pizzas and ice cream, as well as beer at half the price of the snazzier bar downstairs. Despite the official opening hours, the food court closes down by about .

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  6. Club Lavazza

    A chic, continental-style spot for coffee and cocktails, Lavazza also offers a brief food menu. It gets very smoky indoors, but in summer there's outdoor seating.

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  7. Dream House

    Although not the easiest place to find - look for the door on the left inside the small shopping arcade and climb the stairs - this vegetarian restaurant is well worth seeking out. The menu includes dishes such as grilled tofu, algae soup and various stir-fries; there's an all-you-can-eat buffet on Sundays and beer and wine are available.

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  8. Egur-Egur

    Hearty Armenian cuisine is served up at this convivial restaurant, with plenty of kebabs, steaks, stews and other meaty offerings available (though there's also a decent range of vegetarian dishes).

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  9. Happy Bar & Grill

    Big branch of the dependable nationwide chain offering a menu of fairly standard but tasty salads and grills. You can sit outside and watch the sports channels on the numerous silent TVs, or inside among the Planet Hollywood-style mess of movie posters, guitars and saxophones, while friendly, micro-skirted waitresses flit between the tables. It's packed out in the evenings.

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  10. Kibea Health Food Restaurant

    Kibea offers a refreshingly different menu of mostly vegetarian and vegan dishes such as barley risotto with squash, although a limited choice of chicken and fish dishes are sometimes available, too. It's probably the only restaurant in Bulgaria to completely ban smoking, and there's a bookshop downstairs.

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  12. 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, and fish, chicken, pork and game options.

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  13. Olive's

    Walls splashed with vintage advertising posters and mock newspapers for menus give Olive's a quirky twist, and the international cuisine on offer is excellent, featuring dishes such as chorizo sausages, chicken skewers, pasta, steaks and burgers. It gets very crowded at night.

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  14. Pizza Troll

    Dozens of pizzas fill the menu pages at this bright and cheery outlet. Those who've tired of cheese can choose from plenty of pasta, chicken and fish dishes, too.

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  15. Pizza Troll

    Dozens of pizzas fill the menu pages at this bright and cheery outlet. Those who've tired of cheese can choose from plenty of pasta, chicken and fish dishes, too.

    Read more about Pizza Troll

  16. Pri Yafata

    A 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.

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  17. Sladak Svyat

    Typical simple bakery serving up a tasty selection of banitsa , bread rolls, cakes and other street-snack fare.

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  18. Spaghetti Company

    Discreetly located in the courtyard at the back of the Tsum Retail Centre, this Italian restaurant has become a popular spot for lunchtime business meetings. It serves up some good, if relatively expensive, pasta dishes, and offers a short wine list.

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  19. Tambuktu

    One of the very few restaurants in Sofia specialising in seafood, this is a big, bright and slightly tacky-looking place, dressed up with lurid maritime knick-knacks. However, the fish and crustaceans on the large menu are expertly cooked.

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  20. Toba & Co

    Hidden away in what was once Tsar Ferdinand's butterfly house, in the gardens at the rear of the Royal Palace, this discreet café is a charming spot to indulge in an alfresco cocktail, as well as ice cream and cakes.

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  21. Trops Kâshta

    There are several branches of this budget cafeteria around town, offering Bulgarian favourites like kebabche (grilled spicy meat sausages) and moussaka. The menu is 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 remainders get cold.

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  23. Victoria

    In the shady courtyard of a grand neoclassical building next to the Officers' Club, Victoria is a big hit with locals who drop by throughout the day for the excellent pizzas. Pasta and chicken dishes also feature.

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