Restaurants

We have used the following symbols to give an idea of the price per head for a three-course meal for one, including wine:

€€€€ more than 50 leva

€€€ 25–50 leva

€€ 10–25 leva

€ under 10 leva

Sofia

Aubergine €€€ 11 ul Carnegie, tel: (88) 999 18 67. Bulgarian food with a modern twist served in a small house with a lovely, colourful courtyard in good weather. The ever-changing menu is short yet everything on it is a notch above the Sofia average. Usually has at least two excellent beef dishes.

Bai Gencho €€ 15 ul Dondulkov, tel: (02) 986 65 50. As famous for its wine collection as its food, Bai Gencho – a traditional Bulgarian restaurant – is easy to find on Dondulkov, a short walk towards the opera from TZUM. Five shops of the same name sell a great range of wines at various locations around Sofia.

Boyansko Hanche €€€ 1 pl Sborishte, Boyana, tel: (89) 859 29 06. Up in the hills close to the Boyana church, this place serves big portions of classic Bulgarian dishes in a gorgeous setting. Traditional décor and occasional live music can give it a touristy feel, but locals love the place too.

Egur, Egur €€ 10 ul Dobrudzha, tel: (02) 989 33 83. Armenian food, superbly prepared, presented and served in a legendary restaurant owned by Bulgarian-Armenian jazz singer Hilda Kazasyan. Loads of vegetarian options, and a sublime wine cellar. Reservations essential.

Halbite €€ 72 ul Neofit Rilski, tel: (88) 780 40 65. Serves a wide variety of beers from around Bulgaria alongside a decent range of local and international food. Lots of grilled meat and a wider than usual vegetarian selection. Nice beer garden.

Made In Home €€€ 30A ul Angel Kanchev, tel: (87) 688 40 14. Exactly what the name suggests: homemade, organic food served in a quirky setting reminiscent of a cosy country kitchen. Seafood is a speciality, not least the Black Sea mussels and prawns. A small place − you may need a reservation.

Moma €€€€ 28 ul Solunska, tel: (88) 562 20 20. Not cheap – in fact it costs a fortune to eat here – but this is one of Sofia’s greatest ever restaurants. Chic, inventive, even playful food is prepared by a top kitchen team never afraid to try out new things. Delicious slow-cooked lamb.

Pri Miro €€€ 34 ul Murphy, tel: (02) 943 71 27. Bulgaria’s top Serbian restaurant, owned and run by the eponymous Miro, who usually cooks everything too. Great cevapcici, pleskavice and the tangiest ajvar (Serbian relish) in the land. Not to be missed; advance reservations essential.

Pod Lipite €€ 1 ul Elin Pelin, tel: (02) 866 50 53. Bulgarian artists and writers have been eating in this charming house opposite the Borisova garden since the 1920s. The food is centered on slow-cooked, oven-baked meat dishes but has a good vegetarian menu and a great wine list.

Rainbow Factory € 10 ul Veslets, tel: (02) 444 05 56. Good value pitstop destination. Salads, pastries, tortillas, sandwiches, great coffee and always the coolest music playing over the speakers. The young, friendly staff do their best to meet the huge demand at lunchtime.

Seasons €€€€ 1 bul Bulgaria (Hilton Sofia), tel: (02) 933 50 62. Few Hilton hotels in the world have a restaurant to match Seasons in the consistently high quality of its food. For those who can afford the prices, a visit will be a highlight of any stay in Sofia. International and Bulgarian dishes rub shoulders on an interesting menu.

Secret €€€ 12 bul Tsar Osvoboditel, tel: (87) 844 44 74. Probably the best place in the capital to sample new Bulgarian food, a mix of the traditional and the contemporary. Lovely setting with a garden/courtyard at the back in the right weather.

Street Chefs €€ 58–60 ul Parchevich. No more than a food truck parked in a courtyard with a few tables, this is nevertheless where to come for Sofia’s best gourmet burger. Enormously popular during the summer the queues speak for themselves. The fries are as good as the burgers.

The Studio €€€€ 4 pl Narodno Sobranie (Radisson Blu Sofia), tel: (02) 933 43 34. Perhaps the finest dining in Sofia, the Radisson Blu’s flagship diner offers those with the deepest pockets an ever-changing menu of inventive, Modern European dishes based around seasonal ingredients. Fine wines and the city’s best selection of cigars do not help those trying to keep the bill down.

Supa Star € 8 ul Tsar Ivan Shishman. There are salads and sandwiches on the menu at this cheap, colourful place popular with students but as the name suggest the real draw is the great soup, all made daily on the premises. There are always at least seven or eight varieties to choose from.

Around the Country

Bansko

Most of Bansko’s hotels and guesthouses have on-site mehanas – local restaurants – almost all of which are good. The best is the one at Hotel Bansko at 17 ul Glazne.

Baryakova Mehana €€ 3 ul Velyan Ognev, tel: (0749) 844 82. Legendary mehana in the heart of Bansko’s Old Town that comes into its own during the winter when open fires and cheap-as-you-like, huge portions of local dishes are served to local people and tourists enjoying the accompanying music.

Come Prima €€€€ 98 ul Pirin (Kempinski Grand Arena), tel: (0749) 888 88. If the mehanas of Bansko get too much, try this small, exquisite restaurant at the Kempinski. Decorated in imperial, turn-of-the-19th-century style, the ever-changing menu gives you a culinary tour of the Mediterranean.

Dedo Pene €€ ul Bujnov, tel: (0749) 883 48, www.dedopene.com. Probably Bansko’s best-known restaurant, this place is located in the town centre in a traditional building dating from 1820, and offers a boisterous Bansko experience to the tour groups who flock here – which means it is often crowded. Small hotel upstairs.

Obetsanovata Kushta €€€ pl Vazrazhdane, tel: (0749) 822 36. Perhaps the oldest mehana in Bansko, this place will happily serve you an entire pig on a spit if you give 48 hours notice. There are simple grilled meats and local dishes available for the less adventurous.

Voyvodata Mehana € 58 ul Pirin, tel: (0888) 894 284. A huge range of meat and fish dishes, as well as great service make this place a first choice for many returning visitors to Bansko. The garden is a delight in good weather, the cellar rather charming in colder months.

Plovdiv

Alafrangite €€ 17 ul Kiril Nektariev, tel: (032) 26 95 95. Delightful restaurant set in a beautiful National Revival-period house in Old Plovdiv. Well-prepared and presented traditional Bulgarian meals served by staff who really appear to care. Chamber music is played in the lovely courtyard most evenings during the summer.

Odeon €€ 40 ul Otets Paisiy, tel: (088) 797 68 90. Food this good should not be this cheap. Inventive, modern European cuisine cooked and served in a charming setting (it has a lovely covered terrace) just a few minutes walk from the city centre.

Puldin €€€ 3 ul Knjaz Tsereletev, tel: (032) 63 17 20. The best and most historic restaurant in Plovdiv (and probably the most expensive) is located in the heart of the Old Town. Recently renovated, it retains its original charm. Local dishes predominate: try the chuksa banitsa (peppers stuffed with feta cheese), a real treat. Or you can try the Puldin salad, a showcase platter featuring a number of Bulgarian salads. You can eat outside in the garden in the summer.

Smokini €€€ 12 ul Otets Paisiy, tel: (999) 000 996. The pick of Plovdiv’s smart set. Good food served in a highly contemporary setting. The first-floor terrace is a major attraction during the summer: you will need a reservation. There is also a garden, and the wine list is fabulous.

Veliko Tarnovo

Izvora Taverna €€€ Arbanasi, tel: (062) 60 12 05. Located close to the Village Museum of Arbanasi, this is one of the best traditional restaurants in the country. It offers just about every Bulgarian dish imaginable, all served by staff in traditional dress, in a garden complete with fountains and ponds, and playgrounds for children. The excellent barbecued lamb dishes are particularly recommended.

Mehana Gurko €€ 33 ul Gurko, tel: (062) 62 78 38. The best of Veliko Tarnovo’s mehanas is often full with coach parties, so make sure you reserve a table beforehand. It’s all genuine, home-cooked Bulgarian cuisine, though you may have a devil of a time finding the place, on a tiny side street off ul Rakovski. It’s worth the hunt, though.

Shtastliveca €€ 79 ul Stefan Stambolov, tel: (062) 60 06 56. Offering splendid views of the river and lower city, the tables on the terrace and by the window at Shtastliveca are unsurprisingly much sought-after. If you can’t bag one, it is still more than worth your while, as the food – mainly Italian – is the best in the city.

The Coast

Nessebur

Andromeda €€ ul Ivan Alexander, tel: (0554) 42 079. Enjoy the fish and the views at this good-value restaurant in Old Nessebur. Impeccably prepared seafood that is a world away from what you will find in the many tourist traps that litter the area.

Plakamoto € 8 ul Ivan Alexander, tel: (088) 880 72 39. A Nessebur legend, this family-run restaurant serves huge plates of steaming mussels and other treats from the sea all served with stunning sea views. Prices are amazingly low given the location and quality, and the house wine is a drinkable bargain.

White Rose €€ 40 ul Rakovski, tel: (089) 792 52 56. In the new part of Nessebur, this place is hugely popular and given the standard of the food it is easy to see why. Seafood dominates, but there are plenty of other things to choose from, including vegetarian dishes. The contemporary décor makes a nice change from the more traditional hostelries on the peninsula.

Varna

Godzila €€ 37 bul Maria Luiza, tel: (052) 61 29 05. A bizarre name for any restaurant, let alone a pizzeria. Rest assured though, the pizza here is the best on the coast: thin and crispy with generous toppings. Look for the Godzilla statue outside.

Kashtata €€ 9 ul 8-mi Noemvri, tel: (052) 60 59 09. A hidden gem in the old Greek district of Varna. Serves a good choice of Bulgarian food, including a fine selection of charcoal-grilled meats and fish barbecued outside in the garden.

Marche €€€ Primorski Park, tel: (088) 475 40 75. Located in the middle of Varna’s seafront park, just past the zoo, there is no monkey business here: just outstanding food in a classy setting. French dishes and fine wines take the headlines, but there is pizza too.

Balchik

Dabolka € Kavarna, tel: (087) 891 13 77. One of the most famous restaurants in the country. Found on the sea shore at the bottom of a steep hill, Dabolka serves enormous plates of fresh mussels, all farmed right here. Incredibly cheap, no reservations are taken, and you may have to queue at busy times. It’s worth the wait.