We may get some idea when the first visitors of the season return. the resorts don't really get going until June.

Patka

Thanks Patka, I may be one of those people so will be sure to update the list for future visitors

hi mcfester a must visit is the miami in the village of sveti vlas you can get a bus but we always go by taxi it is a really lovely place top class there is no entertainment as such but if you get a good crowd in it certainly gets lively when we go vesco the owner and his family move the tables to one side and we dance round a fire that he lights in a big tin in the middle of the floor he also gets sparklers out and we wave them and sing to music you can also get a traditional bulgarian meal in there but that has to be pre ordered and a deposit left and if you like your sweets you must try a baked alaska yum yum cant wait to get there my self when they bring it out they turn the lights out and every one starts to clap its got sparklers in it as well if you can go saturday that is the best night the other one we like is in between the mercury and the jupiter hotels cant think what its called but they do a wicked sizzler its enough for 2 it come out on a big sizzling plate its full of meat peppers onions mushrooms and they also do the big long kebabs if its still there i know the miami is cos my friend works there have fun i cant wait

Thanks top of the tower, your resturant has been added. If you do remember the name of the other one, let me lnow

Thanks

One of the things to bear in mind about recommendations from last year, is the lack of stability from season to season in some parts of some resorts.

There might be no trace of the restaurant or bar you thoroughly enjoyed last year, or the staff you got on with might not be there, or the superb chef might have be replaced by one who hasn't a clue. All these things have happened to us over many years.

It's the Good Food/Pub Guide syndrome, recommendations soon become out of date and downright misleading, and in any case are at best matters of opinion anyway.

Surprisingly, some people actually like McDonald's for change whilst on holiday.

Peter

I'll need to try Miami. I've mentioned a few other places in St Vlas that are worth a visit in other topics.

I cant think of any place I've tried there that was bad, or not that bad I'd want to have a rant on here about it.

Sunny Beach has a few that I wont be going back to, but sometimes it can be hit and miss. The staff may change from year to year.

Guess I'm lucky going back to Yalta, which sits nicely between SB and Vlas, spoilt for choice.

P.S. On the road from SB to St Vlas, has the St Vlas sign been moved a few hundred metres closer to Vlas ?
I'm sure I didnt imagine it. I think the builders may have done it thinking it would make their properties easier to sell if they could say they were in Sunny Beach ?
Maybe it was too much sun or beer, or both.

peter of york the miami is definatly still there we are good friends with the owners and my friend also works there i understand what you are saying though the first year we went in 01 there was a lovely italian restaurant opposite the kuban it was a wooden building we went back the next year and it had gone we went 4 years on the trot and all the places we liked were still there so fingers crossed they have not moved them

Hi topofthetower,

A great deal depends on the sort of fees charged to the restaurateurs by the resort management organisations for what is, realistically, a very short season. Many restaurants (certainly in the Northern resorts), which had been around for years have ceased to exist.

DOA has posted on another thread that the rent being asked for a restaurant & (mandatory) section of beach in Sveti Konstantin (a very much smaller resort than Sunny Beach) for the forthcoming season is 86,000 Leva - you need to sell a heck of a lot of Kavarma/Shopska Salata/Kebapcheta/Kyufteta to recoup that sort of rent (albeit at inflated resort prices) in Bulgaria, even before you consider the purchase of foodstuffs, drinks, staffing costs, etc.

Baldur

I don't know about Sunny Beach, but Baldur is spot on about the Varna area.

The very high rents charged on a weekly basis are one of the main reasons why the various services and facilities open late and close early in what the travel companies consider to be the 'season'.

Unless businesses see what they consider sufficient tourist numbers to justify the rent, they don't open at all. If a seasonal rent was charged it might be different the Bulgarians have told me many times.

Peter

The very high rents charged on a weekly basis are one of the main reasons why the various services and facilities open late and close early in what the travel companies consider to be the 'season'.

The problem is not restricted to the Northern coastal resorts, Peter, as this item from today's Sofia Echo about the Burgas waterfront demonstrates.

Baldur

I liked the comment about the usual Bulgarian mess. They are experts at shooting themselves in the feet. Tourists who find nothing or little open after being flown out by a travel company don't go back. What is worse they tell all their friends and they tell theirs and so on.

Peter

We didn't eat out very much this year. Djanny's was excellent as always and the service great but is was beaten for quality this year by Salt n pepper @ Vlas marina.

It may have been a bit more pricey and there were only a few couples there but the food was exquisite.
Breads were offered as a free starter. Bottle of wine.
Mains had sea bass and a steak.
Now I don't do dessert but the chef came out with a huge plates of 5 mini dessesrts "on the house". they were amazing. can't describe how good they were. a mini cheesecake, ice cream, lemon mouse, a sponge, and chocolate tart type thing.
If you go I hope you get these as all were very very nice!

came to about £40 quid in all.

Tried ANTONIO, just new on the main road from Sunny Beach to St Vlas. Really nice place.
Just beside YALTA. A few folk from Yalta apartments told me to give it a try. Only managed to go in once, but loved it.
Food was great, decor is really good, and prices are better.
Will be going back in August.

just got back last night

Djannys - was excellent and very reasonable price - menu takes some reading mind it is huge - and some stuff is quite posh (went twice), be wary when very busy you may have to queue outside for a short time. But don't worry this restaurant is open 24 hours a day 365 day a year..

Filipopol (on the front) - looks rubbish outside - the people trying to get you to come in are annoying, but the dinner time burger and chips was superb and on the evening i had a Sword of fillet meat, which was the best meal i had over the two weeks. for four adults and 2 kids we had two courses each, two bottles of wine and 3 beers and kids drinks and it cost about 130 lev. and we got a lot.

Friends - steak house - (next to Victoria Palace hotel) - excellent broad menu, good breakfasts, pizza's and wine. the bolognase pizza is the best i have had. - price wise very reasonable - around 80 lev for all of for evening meal with starters and alcohol

Daytime we were to pizza and grill beachside bar for a drink and snack (opposite the majestic hotel) and we had toasted sandiwches and wedges each. There was twice the amount of food we expected (we struggled to eat it all) and it cost 19 lev. (this end of sunny beach is quieter as well)

the best recommendation i can make is avoid if you can the restaurants around the boulevard area (the area around hotel kondor - looks like blackpool) the mexican restaurant there was double the price of every other restaurant we went to and the food was tasteless and some inedible.... we did get some money off. there werew two adults and 2 kids (8 and 2) and the bill was 90 lev for one course and we had one drink each... ...

as i remember more i will let you know

My wife and I found a cracker of an eating place called the REAL bistro,it is situated almost next door to Mlados the big red supermarket,we went there every second night as we could not find a better one.Service and quality were first class and if you wanted you could go inside to karoke.Did not like Djanny's this year it has dropped standards but raised prices.Avoid Garfields as they served us COLD lasagne ,also avoid Avalon Hotel as they were just a joke we ordered 2 x macaroni and cheese with chips ,we recieved 1 x macaroni and 2 x chips which were paltry portions and when I asked for MY macoroni the waiter just shook his head.A nice Bulgarian place to eat is the ADAMO near to the beach,nice people and good prices.Hope this helps someone to have a nice time and we will be back next year.

I would definitely recommend the FUZEN restaurant. Looks a bit too luxurious at first glance, but isn't that expensive. Great sushi, almost as good as in London, and excellent service. Just near the entrance of the so called MALL of Royal Barecelo Hotel.

welcome to HT evgeny Just back from holiday?

never went in the fuzen, its part of the grand hotel oasis.
stayed there this year and booked for next year.
favourites this year were... bistro billy's, malina and bombay grill.
worst one was central on flower street, fat cats wasnt anything special and didnt rate djanny's much

I've just got back from sunny beach myself. although we were half board we decided to eat out most nights as the food in the hotel was a bit bland.
as mentioned on last years thread, I would recommend the marbella bar, the food was good and reasonably cheap. we also ate at chilli peppers a few times, it was a little more expensive but the portions were very generous if you like that kinda thing
the staff in both places were very pleasant and couldn't do enough for you. quite a few times we were talked into to trying different restaurants by friendly pr's only to find the staff too busy talking amongst themselves to even show you to a table.
I know I might sound a bit of a moaner but I find first impressions are a pretty good reflection on the place in general, so if we weren't impressed with the initial service, we left.