Restaurants In Bucharest
- Taj Indian Restaurant, (Calea 13 Septembrie, 127-131), Sector 5, Bucuresti, Near Marriott hotel, Phone: 410.18.20, http://www.tajrestaurant.ro, Hours: 12.00 – 24.00. Good Indian restaurant near Marriott hotel. A good place to be for vegetarians specially. There are not too many vegetarian friendly places in Bucharest, a few Indian restaurants and a one or two other vegetarian friendly restaurants. The restaurant in Intercontinental also serve some vegetarian dishes. Price: little pricey.
- POEM Restaurant, Suter Str. 23-25 (in the Carol park area), +40-21-3363377,. Bucharest’s most exclusive restaurant, in the famously elegant CPH atmosphere. Excellent international chefs, but very pricey.
- Red Lion Cafe, strada Academiei 1A (in the Universitatii area). Nice atmosphere, budget prices, very good pizza.
- Jariştea, strada George Georgescu 50 – 52 (near the crossroad of Regina Maria Blvd. and Libertatii Blvd), +40 021 335 33 38 (mailto:stabiliment@jaristea.ro),, M-Su 11AM -last customer. Beautiful historically themed restaurant, live traditional music, old Romanian specialties…but always check the bill thoroughly. Reservations are compulsory.
- Burebista (vânătoresc), strada Batiştei 14 (in front of the US embassy, near the National Theater), +40 021 211 89 29 (mailto:restaurant@restaurantburebista.ro),. The hunting orientated place of the Burebista restaurant chain, it has bear, wild boar, venison etc. specialties at relatively affordable prices.
- Cafeanua Actorilor, aka the Actor’s Cafe, strada Batiste (located at the National Theater). Attracts a lot of Americans, because of good food, and the U.S. Embassy and Intercontinental are right across the street. The salads, especially the one called “Act II” is a meal all by itself. Service tends to be excruciatingly slow, driving away many locals.
- Chelsea Bistro-Cafe, Str. Joule Michelet nr. 9, just off B-dul Magheru about halfway between Piaţa Romana and Piaţa Universitatii, Phone: 0788 330 130, 0788 330 129, 317 33 78. Offers many different kinds of pizza and a wide variety of drinks. Price: 14-28 lei/32 cm pizza.
- La Mama (6 outlets around Bucharest, Barbu Vacarescu 3, Delea Veche 51, Episcopiei 9, and Carrefour Orhideea being the largest ones, +40-21-2124086) – a favorite amongst locals, focusing on traditional Romanian food. Reasonable prices (and the standard by which most locals would grade restaurants).
- Cuptorul cu lemne, B-dul Pache Protopopescu nr. 63, +40-21-2522414, another favorite with locals, having one of the best pizzas in Romania. A nice pizza place with a nice outdoor summer garden and a relaxed atmosphere (the restaurant also houses a caricature club). Low prices. Tends to be very crowded during weekends.
- City Grill, a chain of steak restaurants (7 locations in Bucharest), usually frequented by locals during the lunch break. One of the few places in Bucharest selling natural grape juice (must). Prices slightly higher than average, but with larger portions than average.
- Casa di David, Soseaua Nordului nr. 7-9, Tel. 021/ 232 47 15. Opened in 2005, it is a hangout of the city’s nouveau riche. It comes complete with a German car ads at the entrance and an extensive wine list. Food (Italian inspired) and ambience are at best good, but portions are small and prices are far above average for Bucharest. A 3-course meal for two with local wine will set you back over 400 Lei.
- Shark, (Turkish restaurant), Strada Buzeşti nr. 35, just off Piaţa Buzeşti near the MacDonald’s there, Phone: +4021 312 31 44, 312 31 55, 312 31 66, Hours: 11:00 am to 8:00 pm. You choose cafeteria-style from the tasty, often spicy Turkish specialties on display, then they are served at your table. The amiable and gracious multilingual host will aid you. No alcohol. Price: 20-40 lei/person.
- Rossetya, 9 Str Dimitrie Bolintineanu, classic style restaurant with prices a bit higher than average, but with a very neat and cultivated atmosphere, outstandingly friendly english-speaking personnel, high food quality.
- Silviu’s Restaurant, 44,Louis Pasteur Street, cotroceni, gabil74@hotmail.com, Hours: 11a.m. to 1a.m.. unique location,excellent cuisine,outstanding service,near Bucharest Opera House and Cotroceni Presidential Palace Price: 20-40 euro.
- L’Harmattan, 56, Str Franceza, cotroceni, 3141250, 0723248810, resto-lharmattan@clicknet.ro, Hours: Monday-Thurs: 18-23,Fri, Sat: 12-23, Sun: Closed. Average French-Moroccan food.
Tags: Bucharest, restaurants
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October 15th, 2009 at 7:49 am
Taj: Used to be very good until about two years ago. Now the food is frequently blitzed from frozen or swimming in grease.
Getting a tad pricey these days though, but still, it’s a great central location.
Red Lion: Love their hot pizza!
La Mama: McDonalds for Romanian food.
Cuptorul cu Lemne: Never quite understood why everyone raves about this place. The pizza is ok, but nothing special.
Cafeanua Actorilor: Yes, service is slow, but if you can get a seat outside on a lovely summer’s evening and aren’t in a rush to get anywhere, then who cares?
One of my favourite restaurants was Thang Long. What a pity it shut. Has it moved elsewhere? Franz Joseph (oh, that starter of four cheese with apples, pears and jam!) was also great but shut down a long time ago to make room for another ubiquitous Trattoria-style Italian restaurant serving pasta from the packet and frozen re-heated bolognese.
Another good restaurant, sadly to be missed, is L’Harmatan, the Moroccan place in Lipscani. I used to go there a lot till they changed/sacked/lost/labotomised the chef and started serving cheap cuts of lamb, frozen tasteless sauces and running out of starters by 7pm (even though though they only have seven of them! How can grated carrot and pasley be ‘off”? Sure, I could understand fresh, hand-dived scallops being off the menu, or them running out of wildebeast meat, but carrots? Parsley? Come on!)
October 15th, 2009 at 9:26 am
I’m not sure about La Mama being the McDonalds for Romanian food. I think for the money it’s pretty good :p
Also not sure whether Thang Long has moved i’m afraid; that’s one of the things I really miss, being in Bucharest – good asian food.
If you have any more restaurants you want added to the list Mikey, i’d be happy to.
October 16th, 2009 at 11:41 am
About LA Mama, it always reminds me of 90s UK pub food – not actually bad, always arrives quickly, generally hot and cooked throughout, but with an out-of-the-pack lack of zing.
Good Asian food seems hard to find here, you’re right. I sometimes use Wu Xing as their home delivery service is pretty good and you can order online. Their food, while not mind-blowing, is generally tasty. I ordered a couple of times from another place, Templul Soarelui I believe, but the food was pre-cooked, tough, reheated or swimming in grease – really not pleasant to eat. I’ve eaten at Templul twice, once at the one on Eminescu, and once at the one near Foisor. The first time, in about 2005, was pretty dire, but the second time in Foisor was a much better experience and the food fantastic.
One nice place readers might want to try is Papa la Soni. The menu is often quite limited and in the summer he moves off to the Black Sea coast to cook on the beach there, but I had a decent meal there. Informal and modest place, but cheap and tasty food, mostly with an Ardelenesc slant. Their tarragon and smoked pork soup is gorgeous.
October 17th, 2009 at 10:13 am
I ate once at Templul Soarelui – I remember having jellyfish which was quite interesting if not tasty. I’ll have to try Xu Xing although i’ve heard it’s pretty expensive.