The national meat of Bulgaria is pork, closely followed by more pork, pork, chicken and pork. The other thing that all Bulgarian restaurants serve is a wide selection of salads, usually smothered with shredded cheese. Salads can span 3 out of 4 pages in a menu, and while they are wholesome and excellent value for money, I find them, like the pork, a little tiresome after a while.

So every time I visit Varna, I have to repair at least once a week to the restaurant at the Musala Palace Hotel, lovingly run by Lubimir, a very well-travelled sommelier and maitre’d. And when I say, lovingly, I mean it. Lubimir does not just work here, he is married to this restaurant and he influences everything that goes on in it. Which explains why this restaurant has been consistently and officially voted the BEST restaurant in all of Bulgaria. I will never quibble with this assessment, having sampled a wide range of Bulgarian establishments. This is the only place in Varna which one can call a gourmet restaurant.

The secret to the Musala is that Lubimir understands fine dining and has painstakingly assembled a team that can do justice to the fine (and rare) ingredients that he has somehow managed to procure from the Bulgarian countryside. This is the only place where one can order pink duck, rare beef, quail, pigeon, etc, all rarities in other restaurants, prepared by cooks who have learned their trade from top chefs who have been convinced to come and train in Varna. The serving staff is young, keen and always pleasant but often needs the presence of Lubimir to ensure a smooth flawless service.

The atmosphere and decor would not be out of place if one is in a top establishment in Paris or London or Berlin. It is refined, elegant, contemporary and rather sybaritic for Bulgaria. There is simply no other restaurant like this in the country. The hotel is owned by a Ukrainian businessman whose only lavish goal is to make the place the best hotel and restaurant in Bulgaria, to hell with the cost, and he has succeeded grandly, at least with the restaurant.

However, it is regrettable but it is unlikely that the place will attain the Michelin star that it deserves, because the whole setup is rather let down by the unavailability of fine wines on the wine list, as Lubimir himself confesses apologetically. Most of the wines there are Bulgarian local wines, all passable, some even drinkable. There is a growing number of New World wines which are much more palatable but the lack of good quality claret is very noticeable and incongruous in the environment.

But understand please that this is not a criticism, more a comment on the state of supply within Bulgaria. One should never, ever pass up on a chance to have dinner at the Musala Palace. You will be more than pleasantly surprised, especially by the bill at the end. :o)