If Eastern Europe conjures up visions of greasy carbohydrates and cabbage, fear not for your visit to Bulgaria! Bulgaria's cuisine is thankfully much closer to the Mediterranean diet than the rest of Eastern Europe and vegetables play a major part in it. No meal here would be complete without a large salad for starters - the delightful 'shopska' of tomatoes, cucumber, roast pepper and feta cheese; green salad in the spring and summer, 'kyopolu' a puree made from roast aubergine, peppers and garlic or any number of variations.

Hot vegetarian dishes, too, are to be found on most menus, albeit in the 'hot starters' section. Try courgette or spinach croquettes, battered kashkaval cheese, 'sirene po shopski' (feta baked in a ramekin with tomatoes), baked aubergines and more. Several times per year, in the period before Easter as well as in August and the run up to Christmas, many Bulgarians observe a religious fast. At these times of year most restaurants offer a vegan - 'postno' - menu.

In the big cities, of course, restaurants offer a far wider variety than that mentioned above. Sofia has specialised vegetarian, vegan and health food restaurants, though all of the restaurants in our Mediterranean or International chapters offer a wide variety of dishes, often with a separate vegetarian section. Listed here are our favourite places for vegetarian or vegan fare.