Restaurants and coffee shops in Varna that you don’t want to miss

By: Nofar Ronen

Varna is the third largest city in Bulgaria and a seaside resort on Bulgaria’s Black Sea. It’s a cheap destination where you can find beaches, bars, a huge park with attractions fo kids, big malls, interesting museums, and a central street with many restaurants, bars and coffee shops (read our post about things to do in Varna).

We stayed in the Golden Sands area in an all-inclusive hotel. It’s a 20-minute drive from the city of Varna in a taxi.

Recommended restaurants in Varna

Vegetarian and fish restaurant – Jasmin Tea House

We went to this restaurant for breakfast and we enjoyed it so much that I wanted to go back again for lunch. First of all, the atmosphere is very cozy and pastoral (especially if you sit in the beautiful yard). We arrived at the restaurant exactly at the opening time, 11:00, so we were the only ones there.

We sat outside and when we got the menus we didn’t know what to choose. All the dishes sounded good and special. This is a great place for vegetarians and vegans, and there are also fish dishes.

After some deliberation we decided to order for starters a dish with 3 spreads (olive spread, hummus, and a peppers with tomato spread) with Arabic bread and a quinoa salad with peas, avocado, and goat cheese.

The spreads were very tasty. I especially liked the pepper spread. The quinoa salad was delicious; all the ingredients matched well. It was a filling dish, we didn’t even finish it because we wanted to leave space for the other dishes we ordered.


For our main courses Roman ordered a mussels dish and we also ordered a zucchini risotto with white wine and green pepper. Roman said that the mussels were very good; one of the best he had ever eaten. And the risotto was really good and light. Honestly, I was already full from the starters, but I couldn’t not try the risotto.

We also ordered Kombucha (a probiotic tea we tasted for the first time in Thailand and since then we order it on every chance we get) to drink. We ordered the rose Kombucha and it was very refreshing (if you haven’t tried it before, I recommend you to do so. It’s healthy and tasty).

Address
“Petko Karavelov” 26, 9002 Varna Center, Varna, Bulgaria
Opening hours
Every day 11:00-23:00

A traditional Bulgarian restaurant – Staria Chinar

I had received a recommendation for this restaurant from a local through Instagram (it’s a great way to get recommendations for things to do and restaurants). We arrived there for a late lunch and we loved the restaurant’s design. We sat outside (there are many sitting places in the inside and the outside).

The food there was cheap so it gave Roman the option to order many dishes to be able to taste as many as possible 🙂 For starters we ordered a grated cabbage and carrot salad and an Ikara. The salad was seasoned well with lots of lemon, the way I like it. The Ikara was the best we had ever eaten. The texture was good and the flavours were delicate.

For main courses I ordered a meatball dish which turned out to be more like 5 big kebabs. I managed to eat 2 and they were very good (the dish comes with bacon and cheese but I requested it to be without them). And I also ordered a vegetarian Moussaka which also was very good but I only managed to eat half and Roman ate the rest.

Roman ordered 3 dishes of different kinds of meat. The dishes were very big and this was one of the few times that Roman didn’t finish everything he ordered. He said that the meat was high-quality and cooked really well.

If you are looking for a cheap, traditional local Bulgarian restaurant then stop looking. This is the restaurant for you.

Address
“Makedonia” 154, 9000 Varna Center, Varna, Bulgaria
Opening hours
Every day 12:00-00:00

Local chain with good food that is also – Happy Bar & Grill

This is a local chain with 4 branches in Varna. They serve grilled food and sushi (a good combination). We were pretty skeptical about the food’s quality because it’s a cheap touristic restaurant. But our taxi driver recommend us to try it, and we also saw good reviews so we decided to give it a go.

It’s not a gourmet restaurant but the food was tasty and it was definitely a good value for our money.

I ordered different kinds of sushi and Roman ordered grilled calamari. We both enjoyed our dishes. We also ordered a mango sangria which was refreshing and yummy.

We were in the branch that’s located in the beginning of the main street. The restaurant is open 247.

Recommended coffee shops in Varna

A cozy coffee shop – Mafe Cafe

The coffee shop is located about 5 minutes walking from the main street. This is a great coffee shop with many pastries, cakes, and cookies. Its design is modern. The coffee was great. I had a jam cookie and Roman ordered a croissant. We both were happy with our choices.

You can sit inside or outside.
Address
бул.Осми полк 58, 9002 Varna, Bulgaria
Opening hours
Monday-Saturday 07:30-19:30 closed on Sunday

A cafe-bar for a cold drink – Vogue Cafe Bar

A cool cafe- bar on the main street in Varna. This is a great place for a cold drink on a sunny day. They have many different types of coffee, milkshakes, and cocktails.

I ordered a cold coffee with coconut syrup. Since I am not a fan of sweet drinks, the syrup was too strong for me. So I loved this coffee less than others. But I guess that people who love sweet beverages will probably like it. Roman ordered a mango drink that was good.

Address
“Todor Dimov” 18, 9002 Varna Center, Varna, Bulgaria
Opening hours
Every day 10:00-00:00

Bar near the beach- Selfie Bar

This bar is located on the promenade near the beach. We went there after wandering around the park. We went down in the promenade’s direction and saw this bar which looked nice. I ordered a cappuccino and Roman ordered a bloody Mary cocktail. One of the most fun things to do is to watch the sunset with a tasty drink. We enjoyed sitting there and we loved the cool, colorful design of the bar.

Address
9002 Primorski, Varna, Bulgaria
Opening hours
Every day 10:00-04:00

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