Restaurant touring

Here are some interesting and unusual places you could visit during the holiday. In case you don't have the possibility for a real vacation and all you need is to escape from the city for a couple of hours, restaurant touring will do the trick. All you need is your car, a little gasoline and good company.

Sofia

"Chef's"
(after the village of Pasarel – 0896 72 32 22)

17 kilometers away from Sofia, after the village of Pasarel, on the road to Samokov, there is a fine restaurant, which looks like it has been shifted there with a magic stick from Western Europe. In Chef's you could enjoy the food prepared by all gourmet standards and perfectly chosen wine selection.

“Lyutite chushki” (“The chilly peppers”), Dragalevtzi district
26 “Krairechna” St., 02/967 22 20

The valley of Vitosha mountain has lots of restaurants and hotels, but most of them are at a medium level. Considering the smell of over-used oil and frozen chicken, “Lyutite chiushki” in Dragalevtzi is quite a descent restaurant. Not that there are no faults there, but the shkembe chorba and the BBQ in “Lyutite chushki” are one of the best you can taste in all of Sofia's surrounding.

Plovdiv

“Dzamurka”

On the road to the Bachkovski Monastery, right before the entrance to the village of Bachkovo, on the right you'll see the turning to the restaurant “Dzamurka”. The strange name comes from a very old local specialty – dzamura, which is similar to a small sausage but is made of chopped meat and spices. The juicy dzamurkas accompanied with French fries are complemented by the beautiful river view.

“Skadarlia”

29 “Dunav” Blvd. (032/ 95 50 93)

The cute, casual bistro “Skadarlia” is one of the tastiest places for BBQ, if you are in Plovdiv. The tortillas are baked momentarily, while the personal has special attitude towards the food and drinks and will serve you with skill.

“Hemingway”
10 “General Gurko” St. (032/ 26 73 50)

“Hemingway” is the more wanted version of “Skadarlia”, and is found in the centre of Plovdiv. In “Hemingway” you will also find a rich collection of wines, fish specialties and salads.

“Fado”
12 “Kuklensko shoosse” Blvd. (032/ 60 65 93)
“Fado” is exactly “a restaurant at the end of the city”, but it is still a discovery. With pleasant interior in pastel tones, good and soft seating boxes, in “Fado” there are hardly 40 seats (occupied during the whole day) and this completes the feeling of stopping by to see old friends. The secret is in the excellent provisions, cold-pressed olive oil, fine cheese selection and spices; in other words the Mediterranean cuisine gives the final form of the menu.

“Vesselo selo” (“The happy village”)
53 “Dunav” Blvd. (second circle of the Fair) 032/ 955 118

Not exactly a restaurant, not exactly a mehana and not exactly a fast-food spot – is probably the closest description of what the “Vesselo selo” is (or it is not). The large noisy premises with wooden tables accommodates the bar, show-cases with fruits and vegetables, ovens and grills, hot-plates with boiling kettles with the soups for the day. Obviously it's attractive and most of the times it is delicious.

“Istanbul”
“Trakia” highway

The restaurant “Istanbul” is one of the tastiest places for a snack on the road. Don't allow the terracotta tiles and low-class tables chase you away from “Istanbul”, fore Turkish baklava, shish-kebap, and sesame bread baked on wood, are waiting for you.

Bansko

“Makedonia” (“Macedonia”)

The beautiful house – mehana in Dobrinishte is away from the crowd which overtakes Bansko, and is like a dream-come-true for the tired skiers with fire-place, juicy BBQ and exquisite shekmbe chorba. And something else truly rare for the region – the music is not loud but rather serves as a background.

“Molerite” (“The brick layers”)
41 “Glazne” St. (07443/84 94)

Molerite appeared as a natural continuation of the most visited mehana in Bansko – the old “Molerova kushta”. The new mehana preserved its name with dignity. The new one is as successful as the old one; it also has from the famous small flat sesame loafs; they make their own pickles, they smoked their own meat as in Parma; they buy bull milk from local producers, as well as home-made rakia, but unfortunately the “Molerite” is just as crowded and noisy. In most of the cases that makes no influence on the service.

“Tamplier”
“Pirin” St. (07443/ 64 43)

The restaurant “Tamplier” is more or less the only attempt for a place different from mehana which we would actually determine as a rustic style. There you can in fact order goose liver, pumpkin soup-”cappuccino”, beef steak and so on.

“Glazne”
2, “Panayot Hitov” St., (07443/ 80 26)

The restaurant of hotel “Glazne” also differs from the typical dimmed noisy mehanas in Bansko. Besides, there you will find good, fresh products, ideal service, very decent wine card.

Stara Zagora

Pizza “Venetzia”

“Kolyo Ganchev” St. (opposite Bulbank)

This is a classic pizza place, where typical thin Italian pizzas are baked on wood. There are also fresh salads, pasta and polenta, and besides the obligatory (for such places) beer on tap, you'll also find rich selection of Italian wines.

Karlovo

“Edno vreme” (“Once upon a time”)
9, “Rakovski” St. (0335/ 50 19)

Whenever I pass by Karlovo, I stop by at “Edno vreme”. It is simply obligatory to enter, because the traditional Bulgarian house with a garden and excellent kitchen, with typical regional recipes is a true pleasure for every admirer of slow eating. Besides, they make their own rakia with Balkan herbs.

Veliko Turnovo

“Shtastlivetza” (“The lucky one”)
79 “Stefan Stambolov” St.

Also classic (but very tasty) Bulgarian pizza place with a great number of salads and pizzas. The difference is that you can order a diet-flour pizza for example.

Varna

Bistro “Evropa” (“Europe”)
11 “Slivitza” Blvd. (052/ 60 39 50)

At first sight bistro “Europa” doesn't differ much from most of the cafeterias and pastries situated along the main street of Varna. The similarities with a pastry shop are amplified with the best croissants and cakes (their own production) in the whole region. But the main culinary accent falls on the clams, delivered from the clam farm in the “Dalboka” bay (The deep bay),which attract most of the guests.

La famiglia
1 “Bregalnitza” St. (052/ 61 02 90)

Any local person will tell you that this most certainly is the best Italian restaurant in the city. That's right. Salad “Caprese” is salad “Caprese”, the pasta is home-made, and the whole place smells exactly as in Italy.

Georgian restaurant
5, “8th November” St., (052/ 63 26 22)

Not only in Varna, but in the whole country, this certainly is the most delicious (if not the only) Georgian restaurant with Georgian meals and Georgian wines. It's really worth it, especially if you like cinnamon, lots of walnuts and pomegranates.

“Sezoni” (“Seasons”)
Seaside park,
Area Saltanat, (052/33 59 18)
opposite Flower centre “Mimoza”

Simple, intriguing, stylish interior with a kitchen in the same spirit. Fusion suggestions with classical taste and exquisite selection of Bulgarian wines.

Sozopol

“Ksantana”
33 “Morski skali” St. (05514/34 54)

After the tourists invasion, Sozopol is no longer the same. This mostly affected the legendary pubs in town, which are now replaced by pseudo-luxurious bars. I suppose everyone keeps in the heart a memory of at least one favorite place in Sozopol, and after a lot of mistakes, mine is still “Ksantana”, for both it's cuisine and the beautiful view.

The village of Varvara

“Pri Dimo”

It's hard to find such a pub on the South seaside, where it is possible to meet all your friends during the whole year, where you can taste fresh cheese, granny's meals, fish and home made tarama caviare. I give it an A especially for the atmosphere.