Timisoara Restaurants

I really liked Cafe Colt; which btw stands for corner cafe, because of the ambiance and service. I also really like the fact that I was sitting at the bar one night with my brother and it was about 1:30am so naturally I asked the bartender when they close and he said: "we don't". I live in Calgary, Canada now but was born in Timisoara. For me it was also cool being half a block away from the school I spent grades 1 through 4 at. I was 25 when I went back and it was my first time in 14 years going back and I gotta say that I was surprised with the peoples hospitality, willingness to speak English and to give you a great experience. This was definitely the case at Cafe Colt. I'd have to say that the best thing about Timisoara was the good food and the easy to talk to and beautiful girls.

Enjo

Don't get fooled by the italian name, most of the dishes are Romanian.

The owner worked a few years in Italy, hence the name. The owner and her daughter are serving in the restuarant.

It's small, nice, most of its customers are regulars.

I'd say it has the best cook in town, even if there are other, larger, restaurants, which look better and serve more ellaborate dishes.

The recipes are nothing out of this world, but taste great.

Every day, there are a few extra dishes, which you cannot find on the menu, which the cook does for the sheer pleasure of cooking. Don't foget to ask about them, in the unlikely event that the waiter forgets to tell you.

It may be full during weekends, especially at the end of the summer and in autumn, so it may pay to make a reservation.

They're experts on food, but not on wine. You can freely leave the waiter to choose the food for you, but don't expect too much advice on wine.

They also have traditional drinks on stock which aren't on the menu, and the waiter won't tell you about them: plum brandy (single and double distilled) and home-made sour cherry and blue berry licquor - these last two are very sweet (we call them women's drinks), and are intended for desert.

Favorite Dish: I can't recommend one special thing. I'll put up two menus:

First, the one for professional eaters:
Starter: Aubergine cream (don't miss this, you can't get it anywhere else in the world)

Soup: Pork belly soup (Germans call it Kuttelsuppe)

Main dish: Sarmale (sour cabbage leafs filled with a mixture of meat, rice and spice)

Desert: you have to ask for what's not on the menu - the usual suspects are an excelent, very aromatic apple pie, sour cherry pie, chocolate cake, all prepared in-house

Drinks:
You may have a beer before the soup.

Get a "Feteasca neagra" for the main dish. Take care to finish it before desert.

Then ask for a "vishinata" or "afinata", or a coffee, to accompany desert.


Second, a lighter menu - but you don't get most of it in winter:

Starter: a plate with
"cash" - a sort of fresh cheese, very milky and soft in its taste, also very soft in its texture - they don't have this all the time, it's available only fresh, and it doesn't get made in winter

traditional fumed bacon - it has very little fat

tomatoes - these are a must, their very good taste is what makes the whole combination exquisite.

Soup: a simple chicken soup with noodles

Main dish (well more of a fast food, if you ask me): mici (pronounced "mitch" - minced meat mixed with spice, formed into little, sausage-like dumplings, and grilled), ideally with horseradish and bread, no other side dish - IMO any side dish takes away some of its taste. If there _has_ to be a side dish, ask for french fries

Desert: same as above

Dinks:
ask for a "tsuica" (plum brandy) right after the starter, drink it up in one gulp right before you start eating the soup (you may not want to do this if the weather is too hot)

You may have a beer with the mici, but a red wine (for instance a Shiraz - it's pretty new in Romania) also goes well

For Desert: same as above

I like this restaurant because the prices are very affordable, the atmosphere here is really chinese: the waiters and waitresses, even if they are Romanians they dress like Chinese. The place itself is also very beautiful with a lot of chinese details.

Favorite Dish: "Gong Bao" chicken and fried spaghetti with vegetables.

The Millennium is quite good, in spite of its appearance: a lot of plastic furniture and fixtures, and the fact that its lit signs present it as ‘Fast Food’, in the Millenium most food is presented on its counters, which, if you can’t speak Romanian is very useful.
Service can be a bit slow, as the good-looking waiters seen to be students, but you are not in a hurry, are you?
The Millennium seems to do very very long hours.
The food is good value for your money. Small selection of local beers.

Favorite Dish: In the Millennium I could really get my teeth in some lovely Romanian dishes.

After having spent several in the Balkans with its somewhat limited culinary options i was really pleased to find this little Indian/Pakistani restaurant in a corner of beautiful Piata Unirii. They serve very decent food at reasonable prices (considering the prime location) and the proprietors are extremely friendly.
The usual suspects such as Samosas (7lei) and Pakoras (12lei) were nice and the house speciality 'chicken kebabs' (15lei) was delicious.
Recommended!

Newly renovated this coffee shop is my ultimate favorite in the city! The coffee is amazing, the dessert is to die for and the location is perfect!

Favorite Dish: Dobos cake (7 layer chocolate cake..UMMMM) with a cappucino!

This is one of the 2 Mcdonalds in Timisoara.
The restaurant located in Victory square under an old building that need a lot of renovation... it is a pretty big place. The menu is the same like in any mcdonalds on the planet. Most of the time its full of people, a lot of tourists...

Favorite Dish: Big Mac!!!