3 Best Restaurants in Bulgaria

Stone walls and floor, beamed ceiling, and roaring fireplace combine to create a charming medieval-style tavern. Red embroidered tablecloths and pillar candles resting in a candelabra bring further warmth to the 50-seat space, whose walls are dotted with antlers. The outdoor tables sit on a covered patio and the restaurant's idyllic garden has rustic wooden tables shaded by trees and a little playground. The menu is well-rounded enough to please everyone; there's trout for pescetarians and a hearty chicken stew for carnivores. For vegetarians, some light salads, including the shepherd's salad, a Turkish dish of diced tomatoes, cucumbers, onion, and parsley. The shopska salad is similar to the shepherd's but with peppers and sirene, a white brine cheese that akin to feta. For kids, a juvenile dream come true: French fries with cheese.

This warm weather restaurant and sister eatery to BBQ Dunava (right next door) is on boats docked in the Danube. The extensive menu puts American seafood shacks to shame. There are more than a dozen salads, ranging from the simple caprese to the captain's salad, with white and red beans, pickles, purple onion, roasted red pepper, and smoked mackerel. Goat cheese with honey and walnuts makes for a pleasant appetizer and a nice compliment to the main event: ultra fresh seafood. Those who don't eat fish can tuck into pastas and risotto or chicken and pork dishes.

Christine and Michael Cooper moved from England to Bulgaria in 2008 and in 2013 opened this lovely social enterprise café. The goal of Phoenix is to educate disadvantaged youth, giving them a chance to aquire skills and do meaningful work. Trainees work at Phoenix for two years, and Michael's hope is that they'll be able to use the skills and knowledge they've gained to find a job. Michael's training as a chef and baker has paid off; he and his staff produce wonderful food–soup, salad, sandwiches, quiche, and delicious desserts best enjoyed with Phoenix's proper coffee and tea.

The café is part of the Coopers' NGO Phoenix Inspire, which works to support the struggling local community and has grown from a place to eat into a small social center, where people can read and exchange English-language books.