Bulgarian food, like its architecture, is a mixture of different cultures. The dishes epitomize Balkan cuisine, but there’s also a some Russian and Middle Eastern style food thrown in the mix. Not to mention the Western dishes that became available in the region after the fall of Communism. I’ve had a taste of wining and dining in Sofia, and I have to say that this mix-match of dishes suits the capital’s restaurant life very well.

Authentic Bulgarian

Moma
The first restaurant my friend and I visited was recommended to us by the staff of the Magic Castle Hotel. My favourite hotel of the whole trip! They assured us the restaurant would be great for authentic Bulgarian food. They didn’t mention the added bonus of sitting in a cute courtyard. Moma is a little gem just off the main shopping street (Vitosha Boulevard).

The waiters are very kind and patient, regardless of the fact that it was difficult to communicate in English – you’ll find that in a lot of places in Bulgaria. There were many exotic dishes on the menu such as rabbit stew and ‘Banski’ sausage kebab, and I ordered pork ribs in honey & paprika sauce. This pick excited the waiter so I guess I chose one of his favourite dishes. The dish was so delicious that I ended up basically licking the plate to enjoy every last bit of sauce on there. I basically licked the plate, so to say that it was a top-choice is an understatement.

Gorski Kut
Bulgarians love to fish. Next to the Rila mountains, in the south of the country near the aptly named Rila monastery, you’ll find many forest streams. These streams are filled with trout, at least that’s what the restaurants along the road would like us to think. They all advertise the same dish. During the tour to the monastery (more about that in the next post) we made a stop at Gorski Kut, one of the many restaurants serving trout (grilled trout, friend trout, baked trout) with potato (baked potato, roasted potato, fried potato).

Most people on the tour ordered the obvious.

Since I’m not a fan of a whole fish – with all the different ways to prepare trout they weren’t able to just fillet it – I didn’t order this staple dish. I ordered chicken in mushroom sauce and it was delicious as well.

Vitosha Boulevard

In my previous post I professed my love for Vitosha Boulevard, the car-free shopping street of Sofia. This street is not all about the shops though, scattered among the shops are cute restaurants with terraces which give the street even more charm.

The busiest of all restaurants was Raffy Bar & Gelato, so when in doubt go to the busiest place. This statement rings even more true in the case of Raffy, the first time we had dinner there it was so good and the atmosphere was so pleasant (and the sushi on the menu looked so delicious) that we ended up having dinner there twice. The first night I had pizza and my friend had ribs.

The second night we had sushi!

Let’s not forget about the delicious Nutella ice cream crepe we had after the main since sushi is hardly a filling dish.

Ale House

We didn’t go out in Sofia, even though the city is known for its nightlife because of the big amount of students living there. I planned the schedule in Bulgaria way to full, so every morning we had to go somewhere – either a tour or to another city. Even though we didn’t go out, we did find a great bar, namely the Ale House in Sofia and it has a great concept! You have a tap at your table which contains ‘live’ beer.

Live beer versus bottled beer is comparable to fresh juice versus long-life juice. Live beer means it’s unfiltered, unpasteurized and it doesn’t contain any preservatives. This bar is a novelty because normally you can only taste live beer in breweries, now you can try it at your own table.

Aside from the obvious attraction of the beer tap at your table, the bar is also nicely styled. It’s a basement bar with a big screen TV in case you’d like to watch any sports matches. The clientèle is young and local, which shows that it’s a great little bar just off Vitosha Boulevard.

Airport Terminal 1

My last place to have dinner in the city is more of a warning than a recommendation. Don’t wait to have dinner or lunch at the airport when you’re flying low-budget from Sofia. Airport Terminal 1 doesn’t contain any nice restaurants. When I arrived, only one restaurant was open but it had already turned off the oven, which meant that all the cooked dishes – pizzas and baguettes – were unavailable. Luckily, the second restaurant opened after an hour which did have an oven. The pizza was mediocre, but at least it was food after I had skipped lunch hoping for a good dinner at the airport.

Conclusion

As you can see I’ve mainly explored the area around Vistosha Boulevard. There are so many more areas to explore in Sofia. The statement I’ve heard somewhere that Bulgarian cuisine is bad is certainly not true for the capital, nor for Plovdiv. Sure, these are all major cities and not small villages which serve more local food, but from what I have seen I’d like to experience much more from Bulgaria so don’t be surprised when I report back from small villages in the countryside in the next few years. For now, let’s just stick to the main message which is that Sofia is a fantastic city, not just for its dinner scene but for its friendly atmosphere and beautifully large buildings.