Cozily nestled at one end of Otets Paisii Street, Odeon Restaurant is like a small jewel of the urban culinary scene. For 15 years now, it has been a favorite spot for residents of the city under the hills, and its secret lies in the clever combination of sophisticated cuisine and attitude towards art.
It has been opened together with the hotel of the same name, but in recent years has experienced a real boom when chef Harry Sopadzhiyan took over the kitchen management and turned the small family business into an attractive place for all gourmet lovers. Although he initially began his career in absolutely another direction - mathematics, the desire to manage his own kitchen and actually cook in it, made him dedicate many years to learning in order to be able to prepare the most delicious menu for his guests. Everything started with a professional qualification at the International Culinary Academy, located in Sofia and Dobrich. He then went to Berlin where he worked at the prestigious Hilton Hotel, and then ended up in California. The restaurant on the west coast of the ocean is with the prestigious Michelin star and there chef Sopadzhiyan managed to develop his culinary potential and fully show his skills in the kitchen. Nowadays, the whole experience gained in various parts of the globe is a solid foundation that gives him the confidence to create and experiment in order to create unique tastes and flavors worthy of the most famous restaurants not only in Bulgaria but also in the world.
The cuisine in Odeon Restaurant can be best described as an international eclectic, in which Bulgarian, Italian, French and Asian motifs can find a place in your dish. Harry manages to bring the whole world into a dish, and his mastery appears in every component - from preparation to presentation. At the moment he is most inspired by Asian techniques and methods, as he thinks they create a sense completely different from the food we are used to.
Menu ideas are most often inspired by seasonal products because the emphasis is on fresh and high-quality food. Every morning before opening, Harry and his wife, Jeni, who is the creator of the dessert menu, personally pick and select the meat and ingredients they will cook during the day. This ensures fresh and appetizing dishes that provide enjoyment to all our senses. The place also offers a unique six-level tasting menu in two variants, which in a unique way reveals the culinary skills of the cooks and intertwines a variety of tastes and textures to make us believe that eating is a pleasure. Great attention is paid to the Bulgarian dishes, which are presented here in a non-traditional way and with an original interpretation of each element.
All customers are delighted and pleasantly surprised that a restaurant at a hotel maintains such high standards and a multi-layered menu. Reviews often range from "divine food" to "one of the best cuisines in the city". Perfectly cooked lean meats and a variety of options for guests on a vegetarian or vegan diet are a small part of the details that distinguish the establishment. Service is always discreet and unobtrusive, but extremely competent when you need a recommendation. All waiters are specially trained to be able to recommend the most suitable wine for any dish in the menu. The wine list is carefully selected and consists mainly of Bulgarian producers while one of the novelties is organic wines.
In addition to the wonderful cuisine, we can’t miss mentioning the cozy interior. The place is furnished with style and artistic sense. The setting implies privacy and makes guests feel at home, not just in a dining room. On the walls, there are various paintings, plastic arts, and sculptures, mostly by artists from Plovdiv. This summer the interior was refreshed, and the panorama to the excavations and the Main Street was completely revealed from the tables in the winter garden.
The advice of the only digital guide under the hills is to trust the professionalism and distinctive signature of chef Sopadzhiyan and his wife and let them pamper your palate because the feeling of tasting unique flavors over ancient Plovdiv is truly unique.
