Trip to Central Sofia, Bulgaria

Costa Coffee, Sofia

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Restaurant | "Good Coffee Shop in Sofia"

Costa Coffee, Sofia Photo - Sofia, Bulgaria

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Costa Coffee SofiaThis is an espresso bar chain that have coffee houses across England and many cities in Europe. The reason that I went into the coffee house in Sofia, Bulgaria was that it was located right opposite the Hostel Gulliver. I also enjoyed that the coffee house in Sofia was located to some of Sofia main tourist attractions. To the left of the coffee shop is an ‘Emporiki’ bank and to the right is a Bulgarian clothes shop. Costa coffee also have an outlet in the Mall of Sofia and may have elsewhere in Sofia.About the coffee, it is a Italian type of mocha coffee. This restaurant as in all Costa coffee shops sell cappuccino, espresso, Americano, tea and hot chocolate d...Read More

Costa Coffee Sofia

This is an espresso bar chain that have coffee houses across England and many cities in Europe. The reason that I went into the coffee house in Sofia, Bulgaria was that it was located right opposite the Hostel Gulliver. I also enjoyed that the coffee house in Sofia was located to some of Sofia main tourist attractions. To the left of the coffee shop is an ‘Emporiki’ bank and to the right is a Bulgarian clothes shop. Costa coffee also have an outlet in the Mall of Sofia and may have elsewhere in Sofia.

About the coffee, it is a Italian type of mocha coffee. This restaurant as in all Costa coffee shops sell cappuccino, espresso, Americano, tea and hot chocolate drinks. The prices of the coffee ranged at around 3-5 Bulgarian lev. Also the Panini sandwiches also were around this price range. From a price perspective this was around 20-30 per cent cheaper than you would find in a Costa coffee in England.

What I like about the coffee is that it is nice and smooth in texture. Regularly I find that the mocha around the sides of the cup, is evident when purchasing a Cappuccino at a Costa Coffee. The coffee tastes consistently in terms of quality regardless of which Costa coffee is being visited. I found the taste of the coffee slightly weaker than a Costa Coffee shop in London. Another thing I like about Costa coffee is that on cappuccino products there simply is good level of coffee and milk mix and its smooth consistency flows almost throughout the drink.

The ambience and décor is interesting as locals of Sofia were seen inside the Costa Coffee shop in Sofia. The music played is European soft popular music which made my trip to the coffee shop even more worthwhile. The window at the coffee shop also allowed people to see the traffic and some good road views. The coffee shop had nice wooden flooring in the coffee shop and had red and white tiles, which is the same style and layout as in a English Costa Coffee shop. I liked the peach coloured walls which were well presented and had around 4 nice Italian style painting art deco. Also I found it interesting that the Barista shop workers were regularly seen being busy moving around the Coffee shop and collecting empty cups and trays. The same furnishings and fittings are the same identical features around the Coffee shop as you would expect to see in England.

I ordered two Panini sandwiches and two medium sized cappuccinos and paid 14,60 Bulgarian lev. This price paid in English money is around £7.

I saw some slight variation in the Panini bread taste and there was a good level of salami, emmenntal cheese, and rocket salad. Overall I found there to be slightly more filling content inside the paninis in this Sofian Coffee shop, than perhaps I would receive in a British Costa coffee.

Another interesting feature is that people can smoke inside the place as there are designated smoking areas. For non smokers it is also good as there are around half of the coffee seating area divided up between smoking and non smoking accordingly. The smoking section tends to be a good distance away from the bar area where the food and drinks preparation is located.
During our travels in Sofia, we noticed when we found the Hilton hotel in Sofia, the price for two medium Cappuccino coffee was 6.50 Bulgarian lev each (£3,20 ish). This was an extravagant lifestyle choice of visit in Sofia, Bulgaria, as we wanted to see some another form of service and price comparison. We found that the atmosphere in the Hilton coffee lounge to be more business and formal surroundings, and we noticed that the coffee which was well made and nicely presented to us, was simply not as good as the Costa coffee version. Also the staff at the Hilton provided pleasant and better service and provided a straightforward and no rush service. Where as I tend to find the service at Costa Coffee to be somewhat basic. Also on my travels to Sofia, there were a few other small kiosk and coffee shops that were serving espresso coffee for much cheaper still, than what you would pay at the Sofia Costa Coffee shops. I visited another place close by to the Costa in Sofia and I paid less than 1 Bulgarian lev for a good Bulgarian coffee which was superb.

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Member Rating 4 out of 5 on March 18, 2010

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Joya Bar and Dinner Grill Restaurant

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Restaurant | "A Very Nice Restaurant in Sofia"

Our food order at the Joya Bar & Dinner Photo - Joya Bar and Dinner Grill Restaurant, Sofia, Bulgaria

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Joya Bar and Grill, SofiaWe considered this to be a conveniently placed restaurant in Central Sofia, near the administrative area of Sofia. We were pleased by the good standard seen at the Happy bar and grill, and we had a quick look at the outside of the restaurant and decided that this was a nice and appealing restaurant to enter. The one thing that slightly hinders the restaurant slightly, is that there is a strip club to the right of the restaurant. We did not let this affect us, and we decided to proceed with our restaurant visit to this place. Before we entered we had noted that the place was open 24 hours a day, which to me indicates that there is some popularity with this restauran...Read More

Member Rating 4 out of 5 on March 19, 2010

Joya Bar and Dinner Grill Restaurant
19th Kniaz Alexander Dondukov Blvd.
Sofia, Bulgaria
+359 2 481 06 40

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Happy Bar &Grill Restaurant

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Restaurant | "Good Restaurant Chain in Sofia"

Happy Bar and Grill Restaurant Sofia Photo - Happy Bar &Grill Restaurant, Sofia, Bulgaria

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Happy Bar and Grill Restaurant SofiaIntroductionWhat I liked about the Happy Bar and Grill restaurant, was that it was easy to find in the cultural and administrative area of Central Sofia. The location of this restaurant is opposite the Sheraton hotel, and is also a stone’s throw away from the churches of St Nicholas and Alexander Nevski. There are other Happy Bar and Grill restaurants around Central Sofia in that I noticed one in the Mall of Sofia and another restaurant in the North area of Sofia. The chain boasts a good number of well located and pleasantly inviting exterior that draw us into the restaurant. I also read a review about Sofia in General that recommended this r...Read More

Member Rating 4 out of 5 on March 15, 2010

Happy Bar &Grill Restaurant
4, Sveta Nedella Square
Sofia, Bulgaria

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Hostel Mostel

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Hotel | "An Excellent Hostel in Sofia"

Hostel Mostel Bedroom Photo - Hostel Mostel, Sofia, Bulgaria

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Reserving a roomWe had looked at hostelbookers.com website and they had a wide variety of hostels to choose from to stay in Sofia as well as other destinations. Though we had already booked a flight to Sofia, and we realised that the Hostel Mostel was the top rated hostel in Sofia, and the 6th highest rated hostel in Eastern Europe. These claims were taken from the hostelbookers.com website. We decided to stay two nights out of four that we had planned to stay in Sofia. On the booking website, we had our reservation confirmed back in January, we paid a 10% deposit, and we were not asked for the full balance, until our stay was over. This helped us greatly in terms of budgeting as well as w...Read More

Member Rating 5 out of 5 on March 10, 2010

Hostel Mostel
2 DENKOGLU STR
Sofia, Bulgaria
011359889223296

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Hostel Gulliver

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Hotel | "Good and Basic Hostel in Central Sofia"

Exterior View of Hostel Gulliver Photo - Hostel Gulliver, Sofia, Bulgaria

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==Introduction==This was our first visit to Sofia in Bulgaria. I found out of the two hostel's that we stayed in recently (March 6th - March 10th) that this was second best of the two Hostel's visited. I shall describe the Hostel in detail before comparing this to the other hostel that we stayed in called Hostel Mostel. Both of the Hostel's we stayed in for two days and were both located inside the town centre of Sofia. Make no mistake that for the price paid for both visits represented a budget friendly amount to spend, as well as being a City break destination that is highly memorable as well. It is located a few minutes walk away from the Administrative and Cultural centre area of Cent...Read More

Member Rating 3 out of 5 on March 14, 2010

Hostel Gulliver
Dondukov Blvd. 48
Sofia, Bulgaria
+359 2 987-5210

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Pri Yafata

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Restaurant | "My Favourite Restaurant in Sofia"

Restaurant interior view Photo - Pri Yafata, Sofia, Bulgaria

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==Decor Ambience==The good thing about the ambient room temperature was nice and warm which did the restaurant well in providing a good level of heating inside as outside the weather was cold. What we noticed was a wide range of decor details that impressed us, as when we walked in to this restaurant we noticed a very traditional interior that also replicated itself throughout the restaurant. There was a cloakroom which I found slightly unique and interesting in that we could leave our coats and jackets guarded and looked after by a member of the restaurant family members, who I must say appeared friendly. The bar area was interesting in that there were interesting traditional decoration a...Read More

Member Rating 5 out of 5 on March 13, 2010

Pri Yafata
Cherno More Hotel, bul Slivnitsa 33
Sofia, Bulgaria
+359 2 980-1727

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