Cafes, Bucharest

If you happen to feel like having an afternoon tea, or coffee, while you are in the area near the Palace of Parliament there is no better place than the Vienna Cafe.
It is within the Marriott hotel, one floor down with respect to the lobby. It serves also breakfasts, lunches and dinners, but I can vouche only for the afternoon tea-time buffet and ... oh boys! what a buffet! There is a rich display of cakes and other sweets: Sacher Torte, Esterhazy Torte, tiramisu, puddings ... You pay a fixed price and then you help yourselves to as many sweets as you like. For sure a place to avoid if you are dieting.

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Located well off the beaten path, in Piata Traian area, in a neighbourhood of greatly restored Old Bucharest houses, the Green Tea is a connaisseur place. A finely renovated and decorated house, including an Indian and a Japanese saloon, a nice attic room and a great terrace, with plenty of flowers. Why would you go there? For the many teas on offer, for the usually good, attentive (and also prompt / efficient unless you ask for a water pipe) service, as well as for a relaxed time. Oh, and I have saved the best for the last: order a Krantz, a lovelicious chocolate and candid sugar cake served with nut ice cream. Or vote for some of their exquisite jams, like the green nut jam.

The down side: the young staff they employ has an innocent and usually good approach, but it is also clumsy at times. Cakes can come in a big portion today, just to be reduced to dwarf size tomorrow. As for the guy that prepares the water pipes, his absolute lack of knowledge and impertinence grants him the Stalin Award, Cafe Staff Section. Whatever you do, do not call him to fix the pipe that does not work, for he will mess it up even more, clumsily (or on purpose, who knows) tear apart the aluminium foil on top of the tobacco and then say with a cretin smile that "can't you see? it works!".

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My friend and I stopped off at Blues Café for a couple of beers on our last afternoon in Bucharest, during a visit to the city in March 2008.

This small café, with a handful of outdoor tables, is located on Pasaj Macca, a covered arcade that runs off Calea Victoriei. The setting wouldn’t look out of place in Milan or Paris, with the ornate architecture of the buildings and the vibrant crowds of locals enjoying a beer or a coffee with their friends. It was certainly unlike anywhere else that we visited in Bucharest – and it came as quite a surprise when we turned into Pasaj Macca from Calea Victoriei for the first time.

As well as Blues Café, there are a handful of other cafes in the passage (some serving light meals, and others seemingly serving drinks only), as well as a Chinese restaurant.

We took a seat at one of the outdoor tables and after a short while a waitress came to take our order. We ordered a couple of bottles of Silva Brune beer; a strong 7% dark beer (5.50 Lei / 1.10 GBP per 500ml bottle) and watched the world go by without a care in the world. Ok, that’s not strictly true, we did have a slight concern over the pigeons that were nesting in the roof above us – the mess around our table indicated that we might be within target range!

A pleasant outdoor café on a lively, covered arcade. Good strong beer – but beware of the pigeons overhead!

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Cismigiu Park is a pleasant little park, located a short walk from the People’s Palace in the heart of Bucharest city centre. The park lies just north of Bulevardul Regina Elisabeta.

Within the park, you will find a handful of outdoor cafes. On the sunny and mild spring afternoon that my friend and I visited in March 2008, the park was bustling with families and friends enjoying an afternoon in the sunshine…and spare seats at the cafes were few and far between.

After a while, we found a free table at a lakeside café, and whiled away a care-free afternoon sitting beneath the green Heineken-sponsored parasols drinking cold bottles of Ciuc beer (4.5 Lei / 1 GBP per 500ml bottle) and watching the world go by. The drinks menu offered a choice of bottled beers (no draught beers), a variety of bottled “alcopops”, wines, spirits, soft drinks and coffees. A small food menu (entirely in Romanian) was also available, but most people were content to sit and chat with just a drink.

A more perfect spring scene would have been difficult to find anywhere in Bucharest – the trees were blossoming, the thick winter coats had been left at home and the warm sunshine had put the spring back in people’s steps (well, mine at least!). The only shame was that the artificial lake beside the café was dry at the time of our visit – but in the summer months when it is filled, I believe it is possible to hire out small boats.

The perfect spot for an outdoor drink on a balmy afternoon!

The ambience is that of the Bucharest from the beginning of the century. There are lot of photos from that time also and the music is very appropriate to the occasion.

Good and various menu, excellent service.

Book ahead before going. It is a pretty crowded place.

Favorite Dish: Just having one of the large variety of coffee-based drinks and a cigarette to go with it.

This establishment is located in an old villa and has interesting décor, although the TV screen showing MTV looked a bit out of place, especially as we were hearing different music.

They serve light lunches and cakes. We had soup followed by cakes for two, and two rounds of hot beverages, which came to 66 RON (around £12).

Favorite Dish: French onion soup was maybe not typically Romanian, but tasty and warming.

This is a popular cafe not far from the university.

They do very nice cakes as well as light lunches, and have comfy seating. We visited Bucharest in the winter, and this was a great place to thaw out in.

I can recommend the apple tart and also the chocolate and banana tart. A cheese omelette for lunch was also delicious.

Favorite Dish: The apple tart (pictured) is wonderful.

"Have a seat on Mircea Cartarescu's chair or on Gellu Naum's!" Both names will most likely sound un-known to you, but they're the most popular contemporary writers. And that is the slogan for Carturesti Tea House.
I like to think that best friendships start in Cafes and Tea Houses
Carturesti is actually a separate room in the huge bookstore sheltered by a wonderful old house. Quite, intimate, lost among books, it's ideal for those who seek pleasure in a cup of hot (tasty may I add) tea and a word of wisdom.
Many say that Carturesti is not a bookstore with a tea house, but a way of living. It's a mark of intellectual, a placer where your steps take any seeker for peace.

Favorite Dish: English Caramel tea with cookies