About Us
We, Mark & Herta, are currently backpacking through Europe, and eventually planning to settle in London. Beyond that? The possibilities are endless.
Read Mark & Herta’s full story.The Romanian cuisine is heavily influenced by its Balkan neighbors, yet still quite distinctive. While there are far more options then we have listed below, these are our picks for must-try foods on a tight schedule. We recommend ordering on-time, about two hours before you think you’re going to be hungry, as eating out is a delicious yet lengthy endeavor.
We started out our lunch with an eggplant salad platter, which contained three different dips. The first, Salata de vinete, is a traditional roasted eggplant salad mixed with lemon, mustard, and sometimes mayo. Second, the Fasole Bătută, a white bean dip, and finally Zacuscă, which are eggplants mixed with peppers, onions, and tomato paste similar to ajvar. Our favorite was the Salata de vinete (green), with its very distinctive and creamy taste.
For our main we shared a gigantic portion of Sarmale with Polenta; cabbage leaves filled with minced meat and spices, paired with cornmeal, cooked in the same way as porridge. This is quite a popular dish in neighboring countries as well, however we quite liked the Romanian version. It’s very heavy though, so you will most likely need a siesta after.
We finished off our meal with Papanași, the Romanian donut, which is basically fried dough filled with a soft cheese and sour cherry jam. Although it sounded good in theory, we were not big fans of this dessert.
Around Bran Castle and the general Transylvania area we found a lot of these delicious sweet dough treats. We had seen them before in Czech Republic, but in Transylvania they generally had different toppings on them like sugar, or almonds.
Most of them were sold pre-packaged and cold. We preferred the Czech versions, which are usually prepared fresh, so therefore warm and soft. There is also the choice to fill it up with ice cream or whipped cream, which makes for a delicious contrast.
We absolutely loved these freshly baked filled pretzels. With toppings like mozzarella, olives, or salami, the choices were endless. This is about as close to fast food you’re going to get. Quite popular with the locals and super cheap, these make for a delicious quick treat on the go.
This strong spirit is the national drink of Romania and resembles raki, however is produced from plums instead of grapes. It’s common to kick back a shot of Țuică before eating as it increases your appetite … safe to say that after waiting for over an hour for our food the Țuică didn’t help. Still, it was quite an interesting and complex spirit that is definitely worth a shot.
Romania has quite a sizable production of wine, and in the recent years its export boomed. We actually didn’t know much about Romanian wines and to be honest only tried a bottle from the supermarket, which was just okay but not great.
Since living in London, we have noticed Romanian wines being featured in several wine bars. Its comparably lower cost, yet high quality has increased its popularity around Europe. We tried a Fetească neagră medium bodied red, which was quite delicious, and have been on the look-out for Romanian wines ever since. If you have the time it’s definitely worth exploring Romania’s wine region located in the northwest.
We, Mark & Herta, are currently backpacking through Europe, and eventually planning to settle in London. Beyond that? The possibilities are endless.
Read Mark & Herta’s full story.