Romanian food didn’t mean anything to me before going to Bucharest at Easter. I had no real idea on what to expect, to be honest I don’t think I ever ate anything Romanian. At least knowingly. Therefore I was open for everything. Funnily enough we went to a Japanese place for dinner on our first evening.
Yuki is a first rate Japanese place in sector 1 of Bucharest. The tuna sashimi was great, had a really good quality and was probably therefore pricier than in Vienna. Mixed with a plate of marinated eggplant as well as grilled salmon dinner was perfect. just not Romanian though.
tuna sashimi from Yuki @Bucharest
On our free walking tour the next day we learned that a staple food of Romania are mici. The best you can buy at the Obor market in sector 2. But also Caru’ cu Bere is supposedly authentic and the right place to try real Romanian food. so we had the mici twice, once at Caru’ cu Bere and once at the market. I am not sure what’s the right version but I preferred the ones from Caru’ cu Bere. The ones from the market tasted under cooked to me. They were definitely cheap though!
mici from Caru’ cu Bere @Bucharest
mici from Obor market @Bucharest
We had coffee at The Urbanist which is a trendy store and coffee/bar all in one. Despite it being a very charming place the coffee is awful. Stick with the drinks or something else. Coffee overall in Bucharest didn’t convince me. It was mostly too sour.
have a drink at The Urbanist @Bucharest
Dinner on the second evening was a trendy affair. We had gotten a recommendation for CAJU by Joseph Hadad and managed to get an early table. Which turned out to be excellent for the spotlight festival later. The drinks and the Middle Eastern inspired food were a great start for this long evening.
drinks from CAJU @Bucharest
shaorma and salads from CAJU @Bucharest
As you can see this was not a lot for dinner, but there was a reason behind it. I kept some room for dessert at Chocolat restaurant which is right across the street from CAJU. Look at this enticing chocolate bomb.
chocolate dessert from Chocolat @Bucharest
I really believe I had the most Romanian food of my trip while visiting Peles Castle. We had a late lunch at La Tunuri restaurant where I had cabbage rolls, with duck on cabbage, and polenta. The polenta comes in a weird form and consistency. But it tasted better than it looked. The whole meal was no revelation, but it was quite okay. Might have been also the hunger which worked here in its favor.
typical Romanian food from La Tunuri @ Romania
So after a weekend I still don’t know what the food of Bucharest is like. I don’t know what is typical, except the mici of course. These I find okay but nothing to write home about. I did enjoy though the international restaurants in Bucharest. There is a lively scene and best of all were the many bars and cozy coffee houses to relax. Yours, Pollybert
