The best restaurants Balkan Mountains

The restaurant of the Gurko Hotel offers a wonderful view of the meanders. The wooden decor makes the place very cosy. The dishes are delicious and the traditional cuisine of the mehanas is here enriched with some happy originalities such as gyuvetché (recipes cooked in terracotta casseroles in the oven) and satch (dishes cooked on terracotta plates). The wine list is quite varied and we will advise you perfectly. The desserts are appetizing. Quality service, smiling, pleasant atmosphere. To be tested.

On the main square, in front of the Kazanlak hotel. This café-restaurant offers pizzas, salads and pasta dishes at affordable prices, in rather generous portions and with a quality service. As its name suggests, the spirit is very American, in its decoration and in the atmosphere that emanates from it (American music, for example). But here we serve Italian cuisine, which is a bit different from the atmosphere, and which finally gives it a certain cachet. To be tested.

A few meters away from the Thracian tombs, this restaurant, installed in a neat house, is an excellent table and provides a quality service. The decor is traditional, even the dishes, with potteries scattered in the room, an exposed well... The dishes are delicious, varied, the portions generous. Very good welcome and warm atmosphere. The wine list is varied; ask for advice on the best vintage to accompany your dish. Desserts are just as succulent. In short, a good address that should suit all diets.

In this restaurant, you can enjoy traditional cuisine. We settle down in a small shady terrace overlooking the street and the Topolnitsa river when the weather permits and enjoy the dish that has been served to us. The plates are generous, good, the dishes varied, the desserts tasty. As for the wines, the menu is varied and we will be able to advise you to choose the best vintage to accompany your dish. Warm and typical atmosphere, impeccable and smiling service. The house is also a hotel if you are looking for a place to sleep.

Open from 10am to 6pm, this mehana is located in the village museum, by the river, with open-air tables. It is very pleasant to have lunch there when the weather allows it. One eats there obviously (and fortunately, otherwise it would detonate with the desired atmosphere of the place) a traditional Bulgarian cuisine. The restaurant is not always open in low season. Rather generous plates, a service of quality and smiling, a cordial and rather tourist atmosphere. A good mehana at absolutely cheap prices.

It is the tavern of the charming hotel of the same name. Chic and natural setting, traditional quality cuisine. The interior is decorated with traditional objects and the flowered and wooded terrace is very pleasant. The menu is in English and German and the waiters also speak several languages, ensuring an efficient and friendly service. Warm and friendly atmosphere. Good food and a wine list from the country and elsewhere. The best restaurant in town.

In the historic centre, opposite the Daskalov Museum, the Starata Loza is an excellent address. It serves traditional cuisine as well as western dishes. All succulent and well presented. The decoration has been designed in the National Renaissance style. You can eat under the vines (pod asmata) in an intimate and warm atmosphere. Good wine list (ask for advice, we will be able to tell you the best vintage to accompany your dish). Impeccable service. Equally succulent desserts. A pleasant meal in perspective.

Close to the Place du 20 Avril, on the banks of the river, this traditional restaurant offers authentic and quality cuisine in a warm atmosphere, thanks, among other things, to the fireplace, which is very appreciated when the temperatures drop. The dishes are good, generous, the atmosphere is friendly. You can even ask for a traditional dance performance beforehand. The service is impeccable, attentive and efficient. Good wine list too. The restaurant is housed in the eponymous hotel, for those looking for a room.

The Uniqato is undoubtedly the best Italian restaurant in the city, not to say the region! On the ground floor of the eponymous hotel you can enjoy a delicious aroma of pizzas, pastas, mozzarella, pecorino, cheesecake... irresistible! This charming trattoria also offers a selection of vegetarian dishes and you can even have them delivered if you don't feel like going out. Don't forget to mention that the service is warm and smiling, and the atmosphere is friendly. If you feel like Italy, you know where to go.

With its large inner courtyard, this traditional house, built in 1830, represents a unique combination of restaurant and museum. In spite of its rooms with carved wooden ceilings, one will not resist sitting at the table under the vines or even lying on the lawn after a succulent traditional meal. Plates are beautifully presented and served quickly. You will be delighted and enjoy the good atmosphere of the place. Quality service with a smile.

Le Rest - "the rest" - is a warm restaurant with impeccable service. As its name suggests, everything here invites you to rest and simply enjoy a delicious meal in a warm and subdued atmosphere. We offer good food at affordable prices. Meals are served à la carte or as a buffet. There is no lack of choice and all diets will be satisfied. Very good wine list (judicious advice from the waiters), without forgetting the very tempting desserts, presented on the plate with class.

A little far from downtown, but a meal in this restaurant is worth it. The décor is vintage with burgundy leather sofas and old-fashioned desk lamps on the tables. The lights are dimmed and there are plenty of trinkets hanging on the wall. The plates are of good quality, varied (fish, meat, pizzas, good desserts...) and if you don't understand English well, just point to the dish you want on the menu as everything is in pictures! It is also possible to order take-away. Impeccable service.

To eat in a jewel of heritage! Good table in the old town, at very affordable prices for the quality. A place full of history (building dated 1858) and a little secret place! You have to pass a porch, then once in the courtyard go to the back, to the right, you are there. The decoration is old-fashioned, in a magnificent vaulted cellar. Bulgarian specialities, beautiful plates and beautiful wine list. The service is impeccable, discreet and professional.

It is with pleasure that we find this sign also established in Sofia. The room of this Shtastliveca, along the main street of the old city, offers a breathtaking view on a meander of the Yantra, on the island, the imposing museum of History and its greenery. Right in front of the suspension bridge is the huge disused building of the former Interhotel, with its "brutalist" architecture. You can enjoy Bulgarian cuisine, grilled meats, pizzas and other risottos in a lively atmosphere.

There are two Ego restaurants in Veliko Tarnovo, each located on the downtown boulevard with a view of the valley and wide open spaces, some of which are a bit secluded. The service is continuous, as it is most often the case in Bulgarian restaurants, and they serve traditional local dishes, but also a variety of pizzas and grills. Vegetables are not forgotten and soups are delicious. You can choose a drink from the menu of beers, aperitifs and local wines or not. Also bosa, yaran and Devin mineral water.

It is one of those good panoramic restaurants on the central boulevard with a view of the valley, the mountains and the steep old town. The Ethno restaurant serves, like its neighbors, excellent Bulgarian cuisine, grilled meats, pasta and Italian-inspired risottos. A large room and a terrace overlooking the void invite you to a pleasant moment. The service is efficient. In summer, it can be a little slow because of the large number of possible seats when all the tables are occupied. Come then rather between the peak hours.

A very nice and cozy tavern in the heart of the historical center, at the beginning of the cobbled Slaveikov street, 20 m from the bridge. The carved wooden sign is a tribute to the skills of the Tryavna craftsmen. There is both a café-tea room and a mehana in the basement, and in the inner courtyard you can stop by at any time of the day or evening in a warm atmosphere and historical environment. The dishes are tasty and generous. The wines are from two neighboring estates. A good address.