Places to eat in Bucharest

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A lunchtime visit and warm enough to enjoy the outside terrace. Firstly, just one house brewed beer on offer, but a pretty good wheat beer certainly no complaints. Food next, and the menu only in Romanian but able to spot "sausages" and "vegetarian burger" for herself. Now, it's always a good sign when the chef heads off into the garden to pick fresh herbs and the food was really good, tasty and fresh.
So, inside looked great too, friendly, good food and beer and not difficult to find - a good place to visit for food and beer - enjoyed ourselves here.

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Lovely pub, close to our hotel, with pretty good food as well.
Both enjoyed our meals here, friendly and helpful staff even a few Belgian beers on offer and another chocolate pancake for Mrs B's dessert!
A good place to visit.

I was told that this is the only fish restaurant in Bucharest. I don’t know if it’s literally true, but after trying it I would say that if there are others they must find it very hard to compete with Mamma Leone.

It is situated in a small house, furnished in an elegant and discreet style.

Here one finds a real feast of fish, both from fresh-water and from the sea: pike, perch, bass, turbot, cod, mullet, sturgeon. Some are fried, other grilled and some are stewed in wine-and-vegetable sauce.

Favorite Dish: It is a pity I cannot remember the precise name of the dish, but among the appetizers there was a delicious preparation of sturgeon with various vegetables that tasted like heaven.

Unfortunately the restaurant has closed and has been replaced by a casino full of slot machines - such is progress in Bucharest.

This restaurant specialises in sea food and does it well. It was deserted one Saturday evening, which meant that we were served well and fast. The phone number given in most guides and directories is 021 318 14 92, which connects to the office, which is empty at the weekend and in the evenings! However try the number below and you should be more successful.

Choose your dish with care and you can eat for Euro 10, including wine. Pick the wrong items and it could cost you Euro 30 or more, which is still cheap for the quality.

Favorite Dish: My favourite dish was the hot starter of Romanian meat. I know that it's not fish, but it was tasty and filling.

Living in a country like Romania gives one the chance to witness enough stupidity for a millenium by just trying to... dine out. So, we find ourselves in the city centre, trying to get something to eat at 10 PM on a summer day, and we do not want to get into the pizza, sandwich'n shawarma thing. So we go to L'Harmattan, a Moroccan restaurant. The door is wide open, there is a big board saying they are open until midnight, the waitress is stuck to the bar chatting to the bar tender. We try to enter, the waitress turns her head in disgust and shouts with that impossible to translate Romanian "sictir": "It's closed!". We wonder how that can be in a civilized tone, at which she starts mocking at us. We go on, along the same Franceza Street, to Saint George, a Hungarian Restaurant with which I had previous bad experiences (i.e. if one needs to make a group menu, he/she has to wait for 2 months until the manager returns from holidays and no, one cannot use the regular menu), but to hell, we are hungry. The restaurant is full, but we find a table. The waiter comes, his face sick and tired of yet another group of hungry fools: "Only if you want to drink something from the bar, otherwise it is closed". OK, we walk on, to one of the most narcissist places in town: the Cafeneaua Bucurestiului d'Altadat'. They had their first outlet in Brasov and now they opened this melange of English bar with a touch of French wallpaper and frozen food. Anyway, we sit down, are given the "good" piece of news that if we want to eat, we should hurry for the kitchen closes down in 15 minutes. We choose something and enjoy a glass of wine in the music provided by morons that parked their cars in the bus stop so that, every time the bus passes by, their alarm starts. Time passes by at first unnoticed, as we keep on chatting, but then it becomes painful. It's been half an hour, then more. Eventually food comes. The supposedly thick soup is as light as the French onion soup, and my Thai salad is simply disgusting, but I am too hungry to say no; the meat is hard like the wooden table I am sitting at, it is salty as if it was salt with a touch of meat and not the other way around. The humus that comes aside is tasteless, which makes it for softening somehow the enormous quantity of salt in the meat; the only relatively good thing is the aubergine salad, even though it is pretty obvious it's been frozen and microwaved. The bread they bring is the most uninspiring (and untoasted) toast junk ever, it tastes and feels like chewing gum. We get on a cab and go home. I get off the car at Dristor and remember the line of people waiting at the shawarma place in Dristor at any time of the day and night. Now I see: those people are lucky, for they are being treated more correctly than imbeciles wanting to eat in supposedly high class restaurants in Bucharest. Verdict: no l'Harmattan (if you want to be treated right and to eat well Moroccan food, try Annette in Sofia, that is a totally different place), no St. George (if you want to eat Hungarian food and be treated with respect, go to Targu Mures' Tempo Panzio, or to Tusnad's Fortuna Restaurant), and hell no Cafeneaua Bucurestiului d'Altadat' (if you want to get a glimpse of oldtimes' Bucharest, try Rossetya; if you want to eat local, try Vatra). And just for the sake of it, when trying to dine out in places you do not know, keep a sandwich in your handbag; just in case they are total frauds, as they very well might be.

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My friend and I visited Sheriff’s for a quick bite to eat one lunch time during our visit to Bucharest in March 2008.

This large fast food restaurant, similar to its more famous American counterparts in terms of décor and food options, is located on Bulevardul Ion Bratianu, a short walk north of Piata Unirii. It looks very much like a typical fast food chain, but as far as I can tell there is only one branch in Bucharest. Sheriff’s occupies the entire ground floor of a long block of apartments and adds some much needed colour (with its yellow signs, blue and red logos and a large Sheriff character) to an otherwise grim and faceless residential building.

The menu features a selection of hamburgers, cheeseburgers, bacon burgers, pieces of fried chicken, breakfast items (eg. egg and bacon muffins), fries, salads, soft drinks and hot beverages. At another counter, you can choose from half a dozen different pizzas. Just like McDonalds, KFC, Burger King and the like, there are a selection of “value meals” featuring a burger, side dishes, a drink and a dessert.

A sign above the door makes the rather ambitious (and, in my opinion, completely unsubstantiated) claim to offer the “Best Food in Town”.

Favorite Dish: I opted for:

Medium sized Hawaiian pizza - Cost: 18.50 Lei / 3.70 GBP

A decent sized deep pan pizza, topped with cheese, pineapple, banana, mushrooms and olives. Note the interesting substitution of banana for ham compared with the Hawaiian pizzas we get in the UK. Despite the lack of meat, it was a good pizza and was plenty big enough to fill a hole without the need for any accompaniments.

My friend opted for half a dozen pieces of fried chicken and wasn’t as impressed with his meal as I was with mine.

Large Sprite - Cost: 4 Lei / 0.80 GBP

Typical fast food meals, a short walk from Piata Unirii.

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My friend and I ate at Haveli Indian Restaurant one evening during a visit to Bucharest in March 2008.

This excellent Indian restaurant is located on Strada Episcopul Radu, just off Strada Mihai Eminescu, a short distance north east of the city centre.

Not for the only time during our stay in the Romanian capital, we had trouble finding this place. The restaurant was recommended in our guidebook, so we showed the advert to a taxi driver and asked him to take us there. Armed with a photo of the restaurant and an address, we thought it would be easy enough to find – how wrong we were! It became evident that the driver didn’t know where we were going when he kept turning to us, shrugging his shoulders and saying “Eminescu, Eminescu, Strada, Eminescu…?”. At one point he pulled up hopefully outside a Chinese restaurant and asked us if that was the place we were looking for; it clearly wasn’t! After another 10 minutes, the driver decided to ask for help. He pulled into a side street and jogged off down the road to find somebody who might be able to direct him. We eventually stumbled across Haveli, and the beaming, satisfied smile of the driver made it all worthwhile.

Inside the restaurant, a couple of friendly and attentive waiters (smartly dressed in dinner suits, waistcoats and bowties) guided us into one of the dining areas and passed us English-language menus.

A full online menu can be found on the restaurant’s website here: Haveli menu

Starters include poppadums, samosas and onion bhajis, as well as chicken and mixed grill options. There are also salads and a range of Indian naan breads to accompany your main meal.

The main courses consist mainly of curries, predominantly chicken, lamb, seafood and vegetarian options. All of the chicken and lamb curries (tikka, jalfrezi, vindaloo, madras, mango spicy, korma, rogan josh…) are priced at 29 Lei (approx. 6 GBP), while the vegetarian options are priced between 15 and 20 Lei (approx. 3 -4 GBP). Simple rice portions are priced at 10 – 11 Lei (approx. 2 GBP), while biryani dishes cost around 29 Lei (6 GBP).

Favorite Dish: I opted for:

Vegetable Samosas - Cost: 11 Lei / 2.20 GBP

Two flaky pastry triangles, tightly packed with peas, potato and various other vegetables and spices. Served with a couple of dips (a spicy mango chutney and a mint flavoured dip) and onions.

Mango Spicy Chicken - Cost: 29 Lei / 6 GBP

The waiter asked whether I’d like it mild, medium or spicy. I asked for it to be “quite spicy”, and that’s exactly what it was. The tasty mango sauce had quite a kick to it, but it wasn’t overbearing. The chicken was very good quality and overall I was very satisfied with my meal.

Basmati rice - Cost: 10 Lei / 2 GBP

A dish of white rice to accompany the curry.

2 x mango lassis - Cost: 6 Lei / 1.20 GBP per glass

The cool, smooth lassis were the perfect accompaniment to a hot curry. These sweet yoghurt drinks (I opted for “sweet” rather than “sour” when the waiter asked) work wonders in ensuring that your mouth doesn’t get too hot from all the spices.

Excellent Indian food and friendly, attentive service. Highly recommended!

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My friend and I had a quick lunch at Gara Lipscani during our visit to Bucharest in March 2008.

This simple café/snack bar, offering a variety of cheap snacks and light meals, is located on the pedestrianised Strada Lipscani, in the heart of the city centre.

The café’s name translates as “Lipscani Station” and its external appearance (a red brick façade with the name in large yellow lettering above the door) might give the impression that you are entering an underground railway station. There are photographs of trains on the walls of the dining area as well.

The small underground dining area contains a handful of simple wooden tables and benches. It was full with local students and youngsters when we visited, with the only free table being a two seated table next to the counter with a “reserved” sign on it. Despite the table being reserved, we were told that we were ok to sit there.

The menu features a host of light meals such as sandwiches, soups, spaghetti, omelettes, beef, pork and seafood dishes. Prices are very reasonable, the service was very fast and efficient and the quality of the food was good.

Favorite Dish: I opted for:

Omelette with mushrooms - Price: 3.70 Lei / 0.75 GBP

A standard omelette with a handful of mushrooms in it, served with a portion of bread. Very good value for money.

500ml bottle of Pepsi - Price: 4 Lei / 0.80 GBP

My friend opted for a similarly priced spaghetti dish – long spaghetti in a tomato based sauce and served with crusty bread, and was equally satisfied with his meal.

Good value snacks and light meals in a simple, underground snack bar! Recommended!