Advantages: Not too busy, good value for money, green Disadvantages: Not many "attractions", not much for children
capital city, Sofia has the usual wide range of eateries covering all price brackets and styles of food. Bulgarian food is very good and quite varied so visitors should aim to go native at least once. My recommendation is "Tsentrale" - a traditional style "inn" serving hearty local dishes; the service is good, the prices reasonable and in summer you can dine outisde in the pleasant beer garden. A rather different but very Bulgarian experience is to eat at the Happy Bar and Grill - a Bulgarian chain which offers an enormous menu of grills, salads, vegetarian dishes and desserts. They have menus in English and fantastic colour photographs of the dishes. There are several Chinese restaurants, two sushi restaurants and there are pizza and pasta places everywhere.
Dedicated bars are less easy to find and there are more of the "cafe-bar" variety ...
Advantages: Great large town, that's compact and safe to explore Disadvantages: Probably only enough for a weekend; the Cyrillic language
For the first time theediscerning is hereby dabbling in foreign climes - no, not a first trip abroad, but a debut excursion into the esteemed realm of Ciao travel writers. That's what these competition thingies are for, of course.
To start with, a smallish city both tucked away in the middle of Eastern Europe's old Soviet / Warsaw Pact areas, yet far enough away from us in the UK to have some of the mystery and oddity the near east brings - Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria.
You will increasingly see this as a location for a long weekend holiday, for it is yet another fine eastern European city falling under the tourism industry's eye. With Bulgaria possibly entering the Eurozone in 2007, the urge is to go before it all gets changed.
The history of the country is far too complex to summarise here, but just one corner of Sofia ...
theediscerning 27.08.2005
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Sofia (Bulgaria)
Advantages: Always one close by, quick turn out, children are welcome and catered for. Disadvantages: Toilets can be quite disturbing, not all dishes taste as good they are described.
Harvester RestaurantsRestaurant Reviewed: Stag and Hounds
Winchester Road
Basingstoke
Hampshire
(next to Comet and Home Base)
The Harvester chain of Restaurants have over 2000 outlets across the United Kingdom and owned and operated by Mitchells and Butlers, who claim to be the UK's leading operator of managed pubs, bars and restaurants. Harvester claim to offer healthy eating, drinking and entertainment in one reasonably priced outlet.
**** Parking and Getting a Table *****
As with most of the Harvester's I have visited, there is usually ample free parking at the rear of the establishment. However on Saturday evenings and Sunday lunch times these places are heaving with customers, so avoid the crowds, go early and if possible ring and reserve a table. The Stag and Hounds is no exception but fortunately ...
