The Tea House

Even before I started this blog, my intention was always to let the world know about my favorite coffee/tea place in Burgas – The Tea House aka Чайната (Chai-nah-tah).

My favorite things about the Tea House:

1. An abundance of teas, mostly imported and great quality.

2. Knowledgeable staff.

3. Very friendly service.

4. Vegetarian/Vegan/Raw food – all homemade (or mostly homemade, I’m not 100% sure, either way, it’s great!).

5. Great ambiance.  Similar to an independent American coffee shop – that must be part of the draw for me.

6. Occasional live music, cultural events, art showings, original art on the walls, etc.

I love the food!  As a disclaimer, I’m a major veggie lover, and everything I’ve had is good, natural, and well made of fresh ingredients.  Recently I had a great salad with julienned veggies and fried tofu.  Every day there’s a new, fresh, menu of the day made with local produce and ingredients.  When my mom and I visited a couple of weeks ago, we had this great Chocolate Strawberry (Raw) Torte.

Some of my favorite teas include the Yogi Teas, Nina’s – they have some great black and green teas with fruits, and the Earl Grey is pretty good too!  If tea isn’t your thing, they also have coffee, beer, wine, and other beverages.

Personally, I like to buy the tea to bring home also, as it’s great quality and more economical when you make it at home.

All I have to say is just check it out.  You’ll understand why it’s one of my faves.  Salud!

Just to make it easy, here’s how to find them: Tea House Burgas

Incanto – I’m in love

By far my favorite restaurant in Burgas, “Incanto” never fails to impress.  

I first visited this restaurant about 6 months ago, and I have dined there at least once or twice a month since then.  I’ve introduced it to many of my friends who visit the city (or from Burgas) and everybody loves it.

The cuisine includes Pasta, Salads, Seafood, Sushi, Steaks, Pizza, Soups, Desserts, Wine, and Drinks.

There are a few things that I specifically appreciate about this restaurant.  Firstly, they have great food.  Fantastic food.  And the presentation is really impressive.  My favorite salad, which I order almost ever time, is the Red Pepper and Cheese Salad (I don’t remember the name in Bulgarian).  It includes a soft, creamy cheese that is mixed with herbs and piled with red peppers and a tomato based mixture.  Some oil drizzled around the edge scattered with tiny green onions makes it look nice and compliments the flavor of the salad.  I usually order it with the Rosemary Sea Salt Flat Bread.  Like a pizza crust, it’s rolled very thin and seasoned before baking; it’s thin, crispy in the middle, soft around the edge, and delicious!

As I said, I tend the order the same thing often because I LOVE it, but I’ve also tasted a few of my dining mates’ dishes.  The pizza is good, soups are homemade, as I understand, and the meat and chicken is always cooked very skillfully.  I don’t eat much meat these days, but my mouth was watering when I say my friend C.’s plate with some chicken breast and broccoli.  The color was great and the meat looked very tender.  My friend K. ordered the Seaweed Asian Salad yesterday – it was tasty.  And super healthy.

They also have Sushi.  I’ve heard it’s nice, I’m just stuck in a rut ordering the same dish because, as I said, I like it so much.  I’ll try something new soon!

Another thing that I love about this restaurant is the atmosphere.   It feels so comfortable, yet elegant.

It is decorated superbly, in my humble opinion.  A plethora of textures and patterns make it interesting, yet not overdone.  Painted brickwork, shelving with books and items, painted text, and slate board looking menus as a room divider.

Above is a view of the second floor, which is the smoking area, so I haven’t dined here, but there’s also a patio just off one side that offers a decent view of the city (there’s an ugly construction project that’s been abandoned which is a bit of an eyesore, but certainly doesn’t need to take away from the ambiance) and some nice sunshine during the day.

On the right is a view of the main level.  Classy, comfy, and recently updated (though, it looked great before too!).

A third reason that I love this restaurant is the attention to detail and consistent, good service.  From the plating to the cleanliness to the table setting, every detail is attended to.  In my experience, only a handful of places in Bulgaria offer  such positive, consistent attention to detail without being snobby or absurdly overpriced.

Also, the waitstaff are kind, well-trained, prompt, thorough, and all that I have interacted with speak at least a communicable level of English.  They’re knowledgeable of the menu and understand how to take care of the customers.

For the level of service they provide, I think the prices are great – probably medium-high for Bulgarian standards, but well worth it.  My favorite meal – salad, flat bread, water and a Cappuccino at the end might cost around 14 leva (7 euros).  There are steaks and salmon which will run you a bit more, but it’s a nice treat once in a while.  Also, they have a great wine list starting around 16-18 leva (8-9 euros).

Located near Troikata Plaza, the address is Baba Ganka 4 on the first and second level of a new, modern looking building, facing a large construction site in the middle of the center of town.

Thai Food in Burgas? Not yet…at a restaurant at least.

So, I recently read a blog post of a fellow blogger in Bulgaria who went to try out a new Thai restaurant in Sofia.  I got a little jealous.  And then decided to make my own Thai (well, technically Thai inspired) food with only ingredients that I can find at the local supermarkets here in Burgas.

Unless you shop at a larger chain grocery store in Bulgaria, you’ll find little more than the basics and typical Bulgarian fare, and chocolate and liquor and packaged cookies and croissants and all other packaged carbohydrates and some sausages and yogurt.

I feel a little spoiled as I live near a Piccadilly and can find most items that I’m used to finding at a big North American grocery store.  I mean, I still run into a few items that I can’t find here – unflavored marshmallows, black beans, and fresh cilantro to name a few that I’ve recently unsuccessfully scoured the city for – but those aren’t exactly necessities.

I love Thai food.  And I say that unsure of whether or not I’ve ever eaten true, authentic Thai food.  I’ve been to a few restaurants that claim Thai connections, but I also know that once a cuisine is taken out of it’s original context, it may easily be influenced by the new locale, the availability of certain produce or products, and the chef.

Irregardless of the technicalities, here’s my attempt at Thai food in Burgas: Coconut Thai Curry with Vegetables and Cumin Infused Tofu

There are a couple of brands that have made their way onto the Bulgarian supermarket shelves.  “Exotic Food” and “Thai Heritage” are two of them, I also bought rice noodles from Exotic Food; they have a variety of products.  I prefer curry paste instead of prepared curry sauces because that means I get to regulate the spiciness and flavor of the end product.  In the photo, I have Coconut Milk (used as the base of the sauce), chick peas (or garbanzo beans, as they’re also called), Red Thai Curry Paste, and Coriander Paste (yaaayyy! I finally found cilantro, albeit in jarred form).

I find recipes to be more or less a recommendation, so I make a lot of exceptions depending on what I have at home and what’s available.  When I make curry, it’s often a matter of “what do I have in my fridge already” instead of “what should I buy for the curry?”  It changes every time.  But to give you an idea, here’s the recipe I used:

1 small onion, diced

1 carrot, diced

1-2 cloves garlic, smashed or chopped into small pieces

1 Tablespoon of curry paste (more or less to taste)

1 can Coconut Milk

1/2 can (about 3/4 cup) garbanzo beans (not dry beans)

1 small spoon (2 Teaspoons) of Coriander Paste (the jar I bought was the Thai Heritage brand, optional)

1 pinch of salt

1 Tomato, diced

1/2 cup frozen peas (let them thaw while preparing the other items)

Small block of Tofu, mine was infused with cumin – yum! (If you prefer chicken or meat, saute it before or with the onions and carrots)

Something spicy – dried crushed chili pepper, some kind of hot sauce (optional)

Rice noodles, boiled separately in hot water (Or just rice!)

Instructions:

1. Saute onion and carrot in a medium/large saute pan in a little oil for a few minutes until the onion is slightly translucent.

2. Add garlic and curry paste to onion/carrot mixture and stir often for about 1 minute as the garlic cooks a bit.

3. Add coconut milk, garbanzo beans, coriander paste, salt, and tomato.  Stir and simmer for a few minutes.

4. Add peas and tofu, simmer for a few minutes until everything is hot and the flavors blend a bit.

5. I like it spicy, so I usually add a little hot pepper flakes or spicy hot sauce.  Test the flavor and add what you think it needs.

6. Serve with cooked rice noodles.

Easier than you ever thought, right?

Great additions or substitutions might include: red or green peppers, other veggies you might have on hand, and/or chicken.

Welcome to The Burgas Review!

Bulgaria is known around the world for a few things.  (Some of them more well-known than others.)  Cheese, yogurt, rakia (Bulgarian brandy), roses, highly sexualized pop-folk singers, traditional Balkan vocal music, wine, and more recently, tourism, EU membership, and probably other things that I can’t think of right now.

I arrived in Bulgaria about 7 months ago.  When I found out that I’d be moving to Bulgaria almost a year ago, I didn’t know a thing about Bulgaria, for which I thank a specific North American educational system, and I also just accept my own ignorance.

Luckily for me, I got placed in the best city in Bulgaria: Burgas, or Bourgas, depending on how you want to spell it.  It was actually voted the best place to live in Bulgaria a year or two ago, and I agree!  Not too big, not too small.  On the sea.  Lovely downtown and sea garden areas.  Variety of things to do.  Nice restaurants at very nice prices.  An easy going attitude in general.  Oh, and of course, beautiful beaches – not only in Burgas, but in the surrounding areas – Sozopol, Nesebar, Sunny Beach, and a few other small towns that I haven’t explored yet.

So, what I’m going to do is let you know what I find and how it is!