Aylyakria Restaurant — Restaurant in Plovdiv

If you want to please your taste buds with delicious food while enjoying a cosy street of Kapana Creative District, then Aylyakria Restaurant is the place to go.

Location & Atmosphere 4/5

Contrary to most restaurants and cafes in Kapana that are situated on main streets, Aylyakria Restaurant is in the outskirts. This gives you the opportunity to enjoy your food without hundreds of tourists and locals passing by your table (especially important considering the pandemic at the time of writing this review). The restaurant also has tables indoors spread over two floors, but the space is pretty small. This is the only downside in terms of atmosphere - in case of bad weather the capacity of the restaurant is no more than 8 tables (if I counted right).

Food 5/5

The restaurant has a small menu (only 2 pages of dishes), but everything we ordered was nothing short of amazing. The pulled pork sandwich was among the best ones I've tried, the grilled pork breasts were juicy and perfectly balanced and the baby spinach salad was fresh and filling.

The pricing was also very reasonable, considering the quality and deliciousness of the food. A main dish varies between 13 and 15 levs, which is pretty much the standard for a restaurant in Kapana. Let's just say that if you liked the food in Pavaj, you will love it in Aylyakria.

Service - 5/5

I guess the only thing better than the food was the service. At all times there was an availalbe waiter, just sitting in the corner, ready to take orders, bring you the bill or for anything else (like pack your food). The staff was polite and showed attentiveness that you see in very few restaurants. Without any hesitation I rate the service 5 stars.

Overall - 5/5

This review may seem as if it's praising the restaurant all too much, but I firmly stand behind every word. I am not a huge fan of Kapana Creative District (any more), because most of the restaurants and cafes there seem to have become too arrogant, resulting in increased pricing and decreased quality of food and overall experience. So, when you happen to eat at a restaurant that still values every customer and provides them with the best, it just...

After receiving recommendation from the hotel, we had a dinner in Aylyakria with a group of four. Food was good when it finally arrived after a long 45-60 minute wait. This surprised us since the restaurant was practically empty.

The reason for the low review is the service level. Our server was rude and unprofessional, he made the whole group uncomfortable, the way he addressed us, ignored our requests and was just generally uninterested, was sad to witness. Good examples were: 1) server pouring water to glasses by just literally pushing through while we were eating with arm his touching your face, an absurd experience. 2) A Greek radio channel was played high volume, we asked if it could slightly be adjusted lower since it was a bit hard to talk and enjoy (we were in 2nd floor), but server said its not possible since it would also lower the downstairs bar area music, so we sat there listening to greek radio advertisment in full blast in a small room by ourselves. 3) Asking for the bill took another 10-15 minutes. Instead of just bringing the bill to us so we could finally pay and leave, the server started to take and deliver drink orders for the new group that just arrived next to us. So we waited some more and finally after the wine tasting was over in the other table, we got our bill. At this point we were not sure if the server did this on purpose and was messing with us, or is just so untrained that he didnt know how to prioritise/split tasks. 4) This was the first restaurant in Bulgaria where we could not swap french fries to something else (we had 2 x grilled chicken & 2x meatball dishes). Coleslaw was the only thing that the server finally offered after he went to ask from the kitchen, but it would have been an unreasonably high added cost (10 lev each) so we ordered two starter Sallads instead and left the fries on the plate, which is really silly.

Before writing this review i checked the other reviews, you can see the manager responding things like ”i checked the surveilance tapes, why did you…”, which clearly shows us where the unprofessionalism is...

Aylyakria is located in the hard of Plovdiv’s Old Town, in the Kapana District. It is an absolute must while visiting the city. The restaurant is based in a 100-year-old building. Exposed brick walls, wooden beams, and stylish decor create cosy atmosphere. Heaters allow dining outside during colder days, blankets are available.

I visited the restaurant on the 9th of November for lunch and I fully enjoyed it that I re-booked for dinner to provide my friends with unforgettable experience.

The restaurant staff, I came across, spoke fluent English which is uncommon in Bulgaria. Being warmly welcomed with a SMILE, and directed to the table on the top floor of the restaurant by the host showed me true hospitality. Marin exceeded high expectations; friendly, professional, and attentive - valuable member of the team, for sure. Well done and it was a pleasure to meet you.

I tried some of the tastiest dishes I have had while visiting Bulgaria. All dishes tasted fresh and were well balanced - Tarator with buffalo yogurt, Salad with fresh green mix, roasted pumpkin and beetroot, Bean Stew With Porcini Mushrooms, Horsemeat Pleskavitza, Soft Bao Buns with fried chicken and Asian glaze, Homemade salty eclair filled with foie gras pate, and Teteven green cheese. Fresh, homemade bread is a must! All that accompanied with regional delicious beer and bottle of red. Negroni was well made too.

It is highly recommended to make reservations in advance, however, they always try their best to allocate walk-ins.

Overall 10 out of 10. Well done, and keep...