Lack of food diversity

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u/here0for6memes 2d ago edited 2d ago

Simple reasoning - 1) most Bulgarians prefer local food and 2) few people choose to move to Bulgaria and settle down, so "exotic" food just doesn't come here. Decent foreign cuisine that you can find is mostly turkish, middle eastern, italian or greek. There are some East Asia places but I've never had any authentic food from that region so I can't really tell if they are any good

As for restaurants in general I don't agree. There are definitelly places which serve good food.

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u/Blutfalke 2d ago

1) i see. 2) makes sense.

I have been just recently to Türkiye again and the turkish food here is not even comparable to whats being served in Istanbul, quality and taste wise. Same with middle eastern food. Asian food is especially bad to the point that actual asian contacts of mine are mortified...

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u/danisimo_1993 2d ago

I mean I've been to several Korean restaurants, owned and staffed by Koreans. I guess they can't cook their own food? Idk.

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u/Apatride 2d ago

Most of them closed within a year, the "exotic" restaurants that survive are often low quality and also offer Bulgarian and Western food, the only thing authentic/exotic about them is their name.

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u/danisimo_1993 1d ago

Well in my experience Юн is a decent Korean restaurant. There is also this Chinese hotpot place in studentsky which offers a pretty good hot pot experience, I forgot the name. I've been to a few indian places as well that cook authentic food. Id I remember correctly most of these are staffed by locals from their own country.

I don't know exactly what you like but it's not like there are no options at all. Sure you're right, it's not super common but honestly what do you expect?

This is a country that went through a big regime change recently. There are still plenty of people alive that remember and are used to the old days where the choices were few and food limited. So there's still a significant part of the population that just doesn't care to eat anything else but basic home cooked meals every day.

It's mostly the younger people that like exotic food. Also these exotic restaurants are usually considered upscale which means they're likely too expensive for a significant portion of the population.

Considering all this it's understandable why the cities aren't bursting with exotic food.

I'm in Spain right now and it's not much different. Most places serve fast or local food. The most exotic thing I've had here is Argentinian style tapas.

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u/Apatride 1d ago

You are talking about Sofia, not Plovdiv, aren't you? It is not nice to give me the false hope that there might be some hidden gems I am not aware of.

Capital cities usually offer more choice but in many countries, including Spain, most large cities have a decent selection. I went to Malaga quite a few times and I could easily find some good South Asian, South East Asian, South American, North African and other "exotic" restaurants of good quality. Same in Cork, although it was mostly Asian.

In Plovdiv, there was a really good Korean restaurant but it closed rather quickly. It was successful at first but then Maru came up with shitty but much cheaper Korean food. There was a nice Pakistani place but it also lasted a year, same for a proper Taco restaurant that was driven out of business when 4 or 5 absolutely shitty but much cheaper Taco/Burrito places opened in the are (they all went out of business shortly after), the only half decent remaining ones are Sombrero (more quantity than quality and not really authentic). As for the only Indian place in town, I decided to forget about it after an order made it unsafe for me to stray too far away from my bathroom for a full month (even my worst food poisoning in Asia wasn't as bad).

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u/danisimo_1993 1d ago

Yes, I should have said it sorry. I mentioned Sofia because OP mentioned it in his post as well. I didn't mean to mislead you.

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u/Apatride 1d ago

Last time I was there was years ago and many places where I went have been replaced (there was a lot of variety in the marina, now it seems it is mostly Mediterranean). My favourite place is Andino Gastrobar - Centro, on the west side of the old town, I also enjoyed Gaucho in the marina (and that one is apparently still opened). For a quick bite, I like the bocadillos at El Pimpi (not really exotic by Spanish standards) and I really miss El Piyayo. I did not really try Asian food there last time since I had access to it easily where I was living but I have never been disappointed by proper restaurants in Malaga, at least not in the old town. There is a lot of choice and fierce competition which tends to drive the standards up.

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u/danisimo_1993 1d ago

Hmm actually I'm in Malaga right now. Can you give me some recommendations? I've been eating mostly local food where I live.

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u/Blutfalke 1d ago

I couldnt have worded it better. Thank you for sharing your experience. I decided not to write because it usually ends up in inflammatory reactions, especially due to the fact that im a "rich expat" (meant in an insulting way of course) and not a local. Otherwise i would have written pretty much the same as you.

Seems like the comments are split between defensive bulgarians who dont really travel around, or if they do, to cheap places that offer not much more than their home, vs bulgarians who travel around and actually care.

Like, yes, this country went thru hardships, but we are not in communism anymore, so there is no reason to compare the current state of affairs to it and stay within this limited mindset (that will achieve nothing but more stagnation anyways).

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u/Apatride 1d ago

I am an expat as well so this is not really "local endorsement". I also agree that the vast majority of local people haven't traveled much and, when they have, it was often to UK or Germany (not exactly food countries) and often on a budget (so eating fast food).

I think there are several issues that explain the situation:

1) Countries that were occupied for a long time tend to see any other culture as a threat. I saw this in Ireland as well, there was a massive issue with junkies but the government was running ads campaigns about the dangers of under-cooked meat because a bunch of burger places were starting to offer medium rare burgers which is not the Irish way. So local people are not just uninterested in foreign food, they are (often subconsciously) actively against it.

2) Unlike Ireland, the expat community is not big enough to support "exotic" restaurants.

3) A few decades are nothing when it comes to changing mentalities and the Commie way is that eating for pleasure was a Capitalist sin. People are still very much focused on quantity over quality, a good meal is when there is no room left on the table.

4) Bulgaria has been mostly taken over by Germany. Even when the supermarket itself is not German (Kaufland, Lidl...), what they offer is mostly German (and local of course) and Germans are not exactly foodies so people are used to bland food and anyone who wants to open an "exotic" restaurant is likely to struggle to get access to exotic ingredients.

5) As I said, there is what Filipinos call "crab mentality". As soon as a concept works, you will see several other businesses try to copy it but not as good and cheaper. Since the demand is not enough to sustain all of them, the good one closes first since it is the most expensive one, then the others close as well because they are cheap but crap so once the novelty effect is gone, nobody wants to eat there anymore.

Honestly I can't see the issue getting solved anytime soon.

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u/North-Library4037 2d ago

Small country with relatively small foreign representation in it. What do you expect?

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u/Apatride 2d ago

On top of what others said, if someone opens a restaurant with a new concept that works, within months there will be 20 restaurants serving the same thing, usually not nearly as good but cheaper in the same street. Of course, they all end up closing because there isn't enough demand for 20 Mexican restaurants. It happened with Mexican restaurants, hotdogs, it is currently happening with burgers...

Anything truly exotic and that doesn't appear in every US movie isn't popular here, the only Asian foods that are popular are bad Chinese and Californian style sushi, no East Asian (the ones who tried did not survive long outside of Maru which is only Korean by name), no African...

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u/Hot_Distribution_131 2d ago

There is some foreign food in Plovdiv, but not much, yes. Still, you can find Japanese, Thai and other restaurants. In Sofia things are a lot more diverse.

A lot of people cook daily, yes.

Glovo, Wolt and Takeaway are most popular. I don't know about others. Some restaurants like Happy have their own delivery service.

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u/cutesunflower_ 2d ago

We simply do not care and like our traditional food. 🤷‍♀️ the average bulgarian person is not much interested in foreign food usually, exotic places do not survive much even in Sofia. I know a couple of tacos places that closed and they were located on a very communicative places. Same goes with every brunch or foreign restaurant.
The inflation is so bad that we do not even order anymore.

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u/joltai 1d ago

lets stop with bulgarian person is not much interested lol))

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u/Blutfalke 2d ago

But is cooking yourself really that cheaper? I spend about 800-900€ each month, just for groceries and food deliveries. Cooking may be a bit cheaper but it also takes a long time and time is money. Not to mention i cant even cook authentic colombian, mexican, indian or turkish food, because im not from those nationalities. But i primarily rely on exactly those cuisines, i dont like anything else really. Which was not a problem up until moving here, where all you can buy are burgers, pizza and dyuners....

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u/cutesunflower_ 2d ago

It is not cheaper but with discounts - you can make it.
We are very used to cooking that delivery is now a luxury because of the prices. We spend like 700€ per a month on groceries and we do not cheap out on anything for a family of 3. I am a big foodie and use discounts from Lidl, kaufland and Fantastico. It is better if you buy meat in bulk and freeze it for later usage. I am a big foodie and if we are tired - we order or if we have takeaway discounts like today - I spent 20 euros only for 3 course meal for my daughter and one main for me. If you want authentic food, it may come off as expensive due to the ingredients

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u/egati002 1d ago

Cooking is much cheaper. If you spend so much money for food it means that you don't know how to budget + ordering takeout is very expensive, most people don't make food deliveries. Go to the local market and buy whatever you need, go to the local store and buy the staple stuff, learn to cook.

The majority of Bulgarians don't like exotic food or even foreign food overall. They are used to eating specific stuff and usually if any foreign restaurant wants to stay in business for a longer time, like the Chinese restaurants, they adapt to the local taste.

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u/Blutfalke 1d ago

In all these comments, has it ever occured to anyone that some people like myself make over 10 times that amount money in a month (net)? Im not even exaggerating. Time is money, something bulgarians dont seem to grasp. Cooking takes time, especially if cooking something good and not basic european.

Also, maybe if yall wouldnt be so close minded, you would actually ditch your own cuisine too for all the wonderful aromas that exist in most of the world outside of europe. But perhaps yall are just allergic to taste so...

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u/egati002 1d ago

No one forced you to come here 😃 😃 If you don't like it, go somewhere else, you can clearly afford it 😃

Has it crossed your mind that 99% of the population doesn't make as much as you do and restaurants have to cater to the majority? You can always open your own restaurant, hire a fancy chef and eat there if your rich life is sooooo difficult without " authentic colombian, mexican, indian or turkish food"?

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u/Blutfalke 1d ago

And thats why you stay poor. A mindset like this. Im not even saying it as an insult, its just a fact.

Dont worry, i am planning on leaving already very soon. Leaving your country even poorer, even if the difference aint that much overall, it adds up when more follow. Good luck.

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u/egati002 1d ago

Ok buddy, whatever you say 😃 😃 😃

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u/NotoriousMOT 2d ago

How many sushi places outside Japan are run by Japanese people do you think? I can guarantee you you can learn to make really good food from any cuisine if you practice enough. It’s not genetic or anything. You might not have the patience to cook for 9 hours just for one mole sauce like I did last weekend but cooking is a skill and is learnable if you’re not too lazy.

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u/New-Willingness6105 2d ago

Cooking daily when I am back home (but I am living abroad in Asia). The international food is a fucking joke in bulgaria overall.

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u/Salt_Razzmatazz4631 2d ago

Just cook by yourself. Never in my entire life ordered food thats so bad financially

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u/RustCohle_23 1d ago

Damn, brother, I am amazed by the civilized answer you have received here. Try asking that with the same wording and tone in any Facebook group and see what happens.

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u/Blutfalke 1d ago

I prefer not to, i believe you and im just as surprised haha

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u/CashKeyboard 2d ago

There's a few good international choices in Kapana but comes with a price tag obviously, not necessarily geared at everyday eating.

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u/Clear_Aside_2643 1d ago

We ran out of caviar and filet mignon, but I hear they have some in Stolipinovo. Take a walk.

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u/elmago79 1d ago

What do you mean? Food is amazing.

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u/samsly135 2d ago

Bulgaria is only about relatively cheaper sea resort in Europe and nothing else.

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u/joltai 1d ago

well learn to cook mate/ but i agree even ingridients is hard to find - like coriander leaf asian glass noodles and green curry)

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u/bootx2 2d ago

I think it's just that Bulgarians dont really care too much about food, it's more of a necessity to them vs something to celebrate and cherish. There was a pretty legit Mexican place a few years ago but I think the 9 euro price tag for 3 tacos and some Mexican rice was too much for the locals. I mean, you can get 3 dunars for that

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u/HorrorsPersistSoDoI 2d ago

I think it's just that Bulgarians dont really care too much about food, it's more of a necessity to them vs something to celebrate and cherish.

Well said. The average bulgarian only cares enough about food to be able to eat it with his drink, doesn't really matter if it's the shittiest fried potatoes, fried fish or fried meat

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u/ergeorgiev 2d ago

What? Food is like one of the main things for Bulgarians

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u/bootx2 2d ago

I mean…food is a main thing for all living beings. I just think Bg’s don’t try as hard as most other cultures. Yes, people go out to eat and it’s a staple for gatherings but that doesn’t mean they care enough to take the food itself seriously. Just look at the difference between Greek food (minus the seafood even) and Bulgarian. There’s a lot of small things that they do that elevate it that the Bulgarians don’t care to do. For instance, they don’t just blindly throw raw parsley on everything. It’d two very similar diets and I’d would take Greek food 9 times out of 10. I know it seems like I’m hating on BG food but I’m not, I love it. It’s just a different mentality

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u/NotoriousMOT 2d ago

That is certainly a… take. An ignorant one but a take nevertheless.

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u/bootx2 2d ago

Let me know when you see a fine dining restaurant in Bulgaria. Michelin certainly hasn’t found one

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u/Senju19_02 1d ago

Because we have our own

Ask Plovdiv Lack of food diversity

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