Following good food with METRO: a stop in Blagoevgrad

One of the pleasures of trying somewhere new

is not knowing which dish will have you planning a return. When pizza, a poke bowl and well-cooked duck share a table, the choice gets interesting. We’re heading to Blagoevgrad with the Gastronomic Guide from METRO to try FRAME. Launched in 2023, the guide brings together restaurants from across Bulgaria and the variety of its contemporary food scene. The fourth edition, in 2026, continues to seek places where quality ingredients, kitchen skill and different culinary traditions meet. FRAME opened in 2009 with a straightforward idea: good food and a personal welcome for every guest.

Today its menu follows several culinary directions, with a new pizzeria, EATalian by FRAME, recently opened next door. We began with the poke bowl, one of the restaurant’s bestsellers, with 30 to 40 portions prepared daily. For a lighter start, the avocado toast with a poached egg is another option, particularly for weekend brunch. Next came duck breast with mashed potato, sautéed mushrooms and homemade blueberry preserve. The duck’s full flavour meets the soft mash, while the berries add a balancing sweet-sour note.

Next door at EATalian by FRAME, pizza with speck and mascarpone awaited.

The Italian cured meat’s smoky saltiness meets the gentle creaminess of mascarpone, giving the pizza a richer character than the familiar classics. The meat is sliced on site, and the pizzeria had been open for only about 20 days when we visited.

For a sweet finish, we chose a homemade cake with biscuits, mascarpone and Nutella, and French toast with fruit. One gives chocolate-and-biscuit lovers a familiar pleasure; the other pairs golden toast with fresh fruit and blanched almonds. FRAME makes a worthwhile brunch stop if you’re heading to Blagoevgrad.

Every dish we tried was made with products from METRO.

Good menus depend on good ingredients and people who know what to do with them. That connection lies at the heart of the Gastronomic Guide.

It begins with a simple idea: discover good food closer to home. Since 2017, METRO Bulgaria’s “Grown with Care in Bulgaria” programme has supported small and medium-sized producers of quality food with a traceable origin. In 2023, the Gastronomic Guide joined that mission, gathering restaurants around the country and encouraging people to explore flavours without leaving Bulgaria.

METRO follows the route of good taste, from the Mediterranean to Asia (in Bulgarian)

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