Signature dishes of Bulgaria in Sofia-Grad
Bulgarian food is grill-heavy, dairy-forward and cheap. Ten dishes cover 90% of what Sofia menus offer.
Shopska salad with white brine cheese on a green plate
The salads and starters
Shopska salad: tomato, cucumber, roast pepper, onion, grated white sirene cheese. $4 everywhere. Order it first, always. Tarator: cold cucumber-yoghurt-dill-walnut soup, $3, summer only. Snezhanka: strained yoghurt with cucumber and walnut, $4. Lyutenitsa: red pepper spread on warm bread, $3. Bulgarian yoghurt is genuinely different — the Lactobacillus bulgaricus strain is unique — so eat it plain at breakfast too.
The mains
Kebapche: minced pork-and-beef sausage grilled over embers, served two-per-plate with white bread and lyutenitsa, $5. Kyufte: the same meat shaped as a patty, $5. Shishcheta: grilled pork skewer, $6. Kavarma: slow pork-and-vegetable stew served in a clay pot, $8. Mish-mash: scrambled eggs with peppers and cheese, breakfast for $4. Sarmi: stuffed cabbage rolls, $7 at Manastirska Magernitsa.
The bakeries
Banitsa: filo pastry filled with white cheese and eggs, sold at every Furna bakery, $2 for a big slab. Mekitsa: fried dough with icing sugar or yoghurt, $1.50. Boza: a fermented millet drink that tastes like nothing else — try once from a Furna, $1. Ayran: salted yoghurt drink, better bet if boza is not your thing, $1.20. Best banitsa in Sofia: Furna on Solunska, opens 6am.
Where to eat them
Manastirska Magernitsa on Han Asparuh for a proper Bulgarian dinner ($25 with wine). Hadjidraganov's Cellars on Kozloduy for old-school village-inn atmosphere ($20). Made in Home on Angel Kanchev for modern Bulgarian breakfast ($10). Sun Moon on Solunska for vegetarian versions of the classics ($12). Skara Bar for a $6 kebapche lunch. Skip anything on Vitosha Boulevard except Shtastlivetsa.
Frequently asked questions
What people ask before they set off on this one.
Shopska salad is the national starter; kebapche is the national grill. Try both on day one.
Yes for salads, banitsa, bean soup, sarmi and grilled vegetables. Vegan is harder but Sun Moon handles it.
Local wine (Melnik, Mavrud), a Kamenitza or Zagorka beer, or rakia as an aperitif — never with the meal.
Skara Bar chain, the Zhenski Pazar grills, and any mehana. Prices $4-6 anywhere honest.
Hotels in Sofia-Grad
Hotels we cover across Sofia-Grad
- Central Hotel Sofia 4★ · 4.4/5
- Grami Hotel Sofia 4★ · 4.4/5
- Hotel Premier Sofia Airport 4★ · 4.4/5
- Hotel Vega Sofia 4★ · 4.4/5
- Hotel Villa Boyana 4★ · 4.4/5
- Oborishte 63 Boutique Hotel 4★ · 4.4/5
- Rosslyn Central Park Hotel Sofia 4★ · 4.4/5
- Rosslyn Thracia Hotel 4★ · 4.4/5
- Hotel Adria 3★ · 4.4/5
- Hotel Atlantic 3★ · 4.4/5
- Hotel Niky 3★ · 4.4/5
- St George Hotel 3★ · 4.4/5
- The Moon Boutique Hotel 3★ · 4.4/5
- Family Hotel Saint George 2★ · 4.4/5
- Hotel Kibella 2★ · 4.4/5
- Family Hotel Madrid 1★ · 4.4/5
- Anel 5★ · 4.3/5
- Sofia Balkan Palace 5★ · 4.3/5
- Astoria Grand Hotel 4★ · 4.3/5
- Best Western Terminus Hotel 4★ · 4.3/5
- Eurostars Sofia City 4★ · 4.3/5
- Hotel Expo Sofia 4★ · 4.3/5
- Hotel Zoo Sofia 4★ · 4.3/5
- Les Fleurs Boutique Hotel 4★ · 4.3/5
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