Elbarr
Address: 22 Batinova Dolina, Rogachevo
Tel: 0579/ 685 18
Open: every day, 11.30 till late

I’m not one for English pubs in foreign settings, but Rogachevo’s latest addition to the Brit bar roster is a delightful surprise.

Rogachevo is a small hillside village eight km from Zlatni Plyasutsi (Golden Sands). Up until a year ago the only form of social entertainment was a beer outside the village shop, a self-made youth club in the bus shelter or a game of football in the square. A Bulgarian restaurant and holiday complex opened up and broke the gap in the market for somewhere to dine, but more recently a British family, three generations, in fact, moved into the village and converted a shabby bed and breakfast hotel into a bar and restaurant. Elbarr was born, originally with the idea of serving the expat Brit community. The Union Jack flapped in the background, Sky Sports blared with all of the latest football matches and the menu offered traditional Brit cuisine; all-day breakfasts, chip butties and Sunday roasts. But the first visitors were not Brits or even expats; they were Bulgarian builders in need of lunchtime sustenance.

Originally anticipating a purely British crowd, owners Barbara and Ian Burchell were surprised at the number of Bulgarians who started to drop in for food, beverages and entertainment. While the village has a Bulgarian restaurant, it would appear that the place is somewhat intimidating to the average Bulgarian who prefers a cosy, homely setting, traditional cuisine, rakiya and the added benefit of Sky TV.

The Burchells quickly adapted to this turn of events. They brought in a Bulgarian chef to teach them some classic dishes, had their daughter translate the menu into Bulgarian during one of her Bulgarian classes and posted fliers in both languages around the village to invite people in. In the space of eight weeks, they attracted a regular weekday lunch crowd of extremely polite Bulgarian builders, a teatime group of bored Bulgarian teens, and a mixed evening group of all nationalities including German and Slovakian. At weekends people gather from neighbouring villages to enjoy games of bowling, baseball, tennis and golf, all played interactively on Elbarr’s Wii TV game system. Saturday nights are devoted to traditional British sports of horse and greyhound racing – again the races are provided interactively through the bar’s television game system. “The Bulgarians go crazy over the race nights, they jump up and scream at the TV and are elated when they win,” says Barbara. “Some of our English crowd mix in with the Bulgarians, but many keep their distance, I think the language barrier and true British reserve keeps a lot of them from mixing in.”

The owners are delighted by the way country natives and newcomers have felt that they are welcome at the English bar. Ian says: “It makes the atmosphere enjoyable for everyone, when the two nationalities fuse together.” The members of staff are hard working, and go to all lengths to create a happy relaxed atmosphere.