Address: Corner of Rakovski and Tsar Osviboditel
Telephone: 988 1234
Open: 12 noon to midnight, 7 days a week

From its exterior, one might think Tambuktu looks like a strip club. It's not, but its offerings inside are still exotic.
Located in the park across from the Military Club at the corner of Rakovski and Tsar Osvoboditel, you'll find the restaurant easily by the two human-sized, colourful carvings near its front door, along with a new advertisement for sushi.
My husband and I decided to drop in last Saturday evening to test the waters.
Owned by Orlin Popov, Tambuktu is another link in his chain of restaurants that include Captain Cook and Happy. Assisted by USAID support funds, Popov developed a business plan for casual dining, based on the American model, that has translated well to Bulgarian diners.
Guests enter the restaurant through a door that is adjacent to the seafood display. Cooling atop a block of ice are exotic catches of sea bass, bluefish, salmon, sole, lobster and shark. While some might be disturbed by the icy stare of their future meal, I found it reassuring to see the fresh selections.
Arriving at 6 pm meant that we were the first diners of the evening. The entire staff jumped to attention when we stepped inside. "Excellent," we thought. Our chances of getting the best food and the best service were good.
Three large aquariums separate the dining room. We settled into a nice table that had a view of the park. While my husband considered exotic extremes like lobster termidor (129 Leva) and kedgeree from India (14 Leva) - a fillet of red snapper in Indian rice, curry ginger and cocoa milk - I was more interested in the sushi.
Our waiter was professional and spoke perfect English. He helped us with the massive menu. Rejecting the marinated shark with wild herbs and sun dried tomatoes (9 Leva), my husband chose rakia and a Mediterranean salad followed by barbecued sea bass (4 Leva) with barbecued vegetables (2.60 Leva). I am still learning about the subtleties of sushi, but the maki sushi (8.70 Leva) and uramaki sushi (10.40 Leva) contained enough elements to appeal to me: avocado and salmon. I followed those with a sea bass fillet and sauteed potatoes.
Enjoying the easy listening music and smoke-free environment, my expectations remained high as I waited for my order to arrive. Everything about the sushi looked right, but, alas, the taste was disappointing. It was obvious that, as the first diners of the evening, we had surprised the kitchen.
The six pieces of maki sushi seemed to be constructed from undercooked rice and some not-so-fresh ingredients. The uramaki sushi was an improvement, with better rice and a better overall taste. I felt the sushi was compromised by our early schedule.
My main meal, on the other hand, was fine. My husband enjoyed his mountainous Mediterranean salad and sea bass, though the barbecued vegetables were sparse. We will definitely come back to Tambuktu when we have visitors. It's a pleasant place to dine as long as you arrive later in the evening and the kitchen is well warmed up.