Invited Review: Vintage Bulgaria

My Ratings: 5 Stars

Cuisine: Western/International/Bulgarian

Location: 1E Jalan Sungai Kelian (a.k.a. Hillside, Opp Coptone Hotel)), 11200 Tanjung Bungah, Penang

Non Halal

RM30 - 40 per person

Contact: +604-898 1890

Open Daily 4pm - 12am (Happy Hours 4-8pm)

Website: http://www.vintagebulgaria.com/

GPS coordinates: N o5*27.879 E 100*17.547

If you are hungry for the real deal authentic Bulgarian fare, then head out to Vintage Bulgaria. This family orientated restaurant and bar is owned and run by a Bulgarian family who love Penang so much decided to stay on the island and lucky for us gave us Penangites, offers a taste of Bulgaria, right here on beautiful Penang island and saved us the plane fare to Bulgaria

At Vintage Bulgaria, you can expect great food and a feel of Bulgarian hospitality and culture, from the castle decor of the restaurant basement, Bulgarian village wall mural painting at the private function area, signages in Bulgarian alphabets and the owner/hostess's greeting in the native Bulgarian tongue. Every time I stepped in, I feel at home in Bulgaria ( I swear)

Vintage Bulgaria also specially imported Bulgarian wine and liquor to compliment the food to totally immerse diners with the Bulgarian experience and culture.

In fact, this is not my first time at the restaurant. The first was a romantic couple's dinner, then there was a time I organised a blogger's gathering, All ended with a high note and toast to the hostess, Sylvia!! for a job well done

The restaurant cooks many kind of dishes to showcase the best of Bulgarian food and culture, from soups, salads, wraps, meat dishes (especially if you need a pork fix), seafood and desserts

My favourite has to be its pork dishes. My recommendation is the Pork Plovdiv Ribs, Roast Pork Djolan, Bulgarian Shashlik, Orley Wraps and Bulgarian Platter (contains beef). All true Bulgarian fare. If you are not a meat person, then the Shopska Salad is another way to experience Bulgaria. To finish the meal, try the Sweet Pumpkin Pie and/or the Chocolate Soup. Also drink Bulgarian house wine by the glass throughout the meal. If you do not want to try my recommendations all at once, then set dinner menus are available

Great place to meet up with friends over food and drinks, catch the EPL fever at the bar. Great place for families to have a meal together (served children's menu). Service is good. Ambiance is great...cozy, always gets me into the mood. Food selection is wide from Bulgarian to international. Try the restaurant, you won't be disappointed and leaves you with a sense of Bulgarian culture and hospitality and thoughts of coming back for more (to try other dishes) and to bring your loved ones to experience the same experience which you had

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Vintage Bulgaria

MyRatings: 3 Stars

Cuisine: Bulgarian
Location: Hill Side, Tangjung Bungah, Penang

Non Halal

RM40-50 per person

This is a new place just recently opened by a Penang local who married a Bulgarian wife.

It has a bar and full serviced restaurant serving Bulgarian food. The deco and ambience is nice. Kinda look and make you feel you are in a Bulgarian castle. Two levels. The upper deck has the bar while the lower dek is for mainly dining and more cozy.

A lot of waiters. The bar is well stocked and you can either dine in the bar area or a mini "basement"/lower deck. Basically I prefer the lower deck coz the ambience is cozy there but because we did not make a reservation, we were sitted near the toilet and stairs leading to their office. Bummer!

The menu has the standard choice of salads, soups, mains and dessert. plenty to choose froom. Hey it even have my favourite Ceaser's Salad. Price starts from RM10+

I had Chicken Spindle (chicken breast wrapped in ham and cheese). [RM22+]Hey, isn't this sounds like Chicken Cordon Bleu? Well the senior waitress recommended me this after I said no to her first suggestion which is a beef dish. Well I am a non beef eater if you must know.

I ordered Pork Spare Ribs [RM28+] for my wife, knowing she likes ribs a lot. Both dish comes with vegetables. We also ordered a Chicken clear soup [RM10+] from the entry with bee hoon to share.

It took a while for our food to arive but we were not in a hurry. I wish they served us some dinner bread coz I see there a side plate on our table but we waited in vain. Where is my dinner roll?!? What's the side plate for if they are not serving dinner rolls???

The food came. The chicken is good (really like Chick Cordon Bleu) but I have some comments about the Pork Ribs. We were expecting juicy, moist, tender and succulent ribs but we we ate was a dry, boney, tough and chunky ribs (4 pieces). What a disappointment! The soup was OK.

The service was OK. The waitress came and asked how's our food was, I did not sare to coment on the pork ribs. Perhaps, that's how they prepare ribs in Bulgaria. The waiters were courteous but I guess they try very hard to give a 5 star dining experience with they catchy red & black uniforms but I see some areas of improvements. First, I did not get my dinner rolls. This is very important! Cost almost next to nothing but it is one critieria to be a full serviced restaurant. Second, the entry and main cutlery is already set out like it is already buffet style eatery They did not bother to set the table according to the food ordered. The soup spoon came out with the soup. Third, is the dammed wooden floors. Look nice but makes a lot of noise when they are walked on especially when there is a lot of waiters. Irritating for such a restaurant that is trying hard to sell the dinning experience.

Overall, go try it out. Good ambience and good food generally

Call 04-8981890 to book a table.

Let's see what other foodie's review on the restaurant:-

- JulieTan