The best Romanian restaurants Romania

As its name suggests, "Au chaudron", the dishes are prepared in huge cast-iron cauldrons. You'll be served hearty traditional dishes, at very affordable prices. On the menu: polenta, goulash, stewed meats... The interior is very designer, all wood. The yellow and black chairs add a little pizzazz, and the straw-hat lampshades add a touch of originality. Great value for money. The brand has a second address, based on the same principles: you'll find it at 27 rue Michael Weiss.

Certainly one of the best Romanian restaurants in town, right in the center. The delicious and inventive Transylvanian specialties, served in a vaulted room with a successful traditional decor, attract locals and tourists alike. Prices are very reasonable for the quality of the service, which is impeccable and friendly, while live music livens up the evenings. Note that wine can be ordered by the pitcher or by the glass, which is convenient when you want to taste one or more Romanian wines. Don't miss the delicious local ţuica .

A great place to try local specialties, revisited with originality: delicious soups, Cluj cabbage, balmoș (mămăligă with cheeses), veal goulash, papanași... Accompanied by a good natural syrup or lemonade. The menu also features salads, pastas, grills and a whole host of à la carte breakfast proposals. What's more, prices are very reasonable. The warm, high-ceilinged dining room is a blend of vintage and industrial styles, with traditional Romanian touches.

A must-visit address in Brașov. If you're looking for good, typically Transylvanian cuisine, this is the restaurant for you. The choice is wide and the dishes hearty: grilled meats, șnițel of chicken Saxon style, gulaș with dumplings, Angus beef stew... Here local specialties are perfectly executed and enhanced with a touch of originality. You're greeted in traditional dress, in a magnificent underground cellar with vaults sometimes whitewashed, sometimes of exposed brick. Service is meticulous.

Don't be fooled by its old-fashioned façade and décor: the Grand Plaza offers excellent Romanian cuisine at ridiculously low prices. Moreover, this restaurant in the lower town, which looks like a canteen and has the name of a palace, is popular with the locals. On the menu you will find a good variety of dishes: omelettes, soups, salads, platters of cold meats and cheeses and a whole host of meat preparations. Perfect for a quick lunch on the go or a dinner without fuss. You can also order take-away food.

A good address, serving original cuisine. Part of the menu is inspired by old Transylvanian recipes, brought up to date, such as rabbit stew with caramelized fruit and mămăligă. We particularly recommend the slow-cooked pork with beer sauce. The meat is of excellent quality and well prepared. You'll also find more exotic specialties: Argentine beef entrecôte, chili con carne, etc. The setting is modern and warm, all wood, in a Nordic style imbued with traditional local reminiscences.

To enter this restaurant, you have to pass under the porch of an old merchant's house: it's a nod to history when you know that Ograda cooks mainly with local produce from the Brașov region. The menu therefore gives pride of place to traditional dishes, which are beautifully served and no less tasty. Before leaving the restaurant, you can fill up your basket, as Ograda is also a delicatessen, allowing you to take a little piece of the terroir home with you. Last but not least, the service is efficient and friendly.

This typical little wooden house houses a restaurant as simple as it is cute: a single menu (starter/soup, main course, dessert) that changes daily, a small room decorated in traditional style and a pleasant walled garden at the front, where a few tables are set up, in canteen mode. You'll enjoy good home cooking, using local farm produce. What's more, you'll be greeted with a warm welcome. For the record, the restaurant was created by Andreea, a young woman who decided to bring up her children in the countryside.

This is the capital's oldest inn. Right in the middle of Lipscani, this vast caravanserai(han), built in 1808 by a wealthy Armenian merchant by the name of Manuc Bey, was the meeting point for foreign merchants passing through Bucharest (Jews, Turks, Bulgarians, Greeks...). Completely renovated in 2007, it now houses, among other shops, a restaurant serving traditional specialties. But it's above all to enjoy the ambience of the place that you come to sit here, in the central courtyard or under the brick vaults inside.

Don't miss this restaurant, located right next to the fortified church. Housed in an elegant 17th century building that was once used as a prison, it has recreated a pleasant, warm and unadorned medieval atmosphere, with lots of light wood and a few decorative items (helmets, coats of mail, spears...). They eat very well, at reasonable prices. The menu, which is rather tight, offers chicken and pork dishes, various stews, trays, soups... A terrace occupies the inner courtyard, glued to the bastion.

Vatra ("the home") is one of Bucharest's best traditional restaurants, not far from Cișmigiu Park. Here you can enjoy the great classics of Romanian cuisine, such as the unmissable sarmale or a good meat stew accompanied by mămăligă, comforting and generous dishes, very well executed. The setting is typical, too, decorated in a Transylvanian style: brick vaults, wooden beams and white walls decorated with traditional motifs, fabrics and objects. The restaurant is just as pleasant in summer, with a lovely terrace.

In the hotel of the same name, this is certainly the best restaurant in town, serving delicious Romanian specialties in an elegant, rustic setting, with large wooden tables, handicrafts hanging on the walls and waiters in folk costumes. The atmosphere is warm and inviting, enlivened by the presence of traditional musicians. As for the cuisine, it's simply succulent. In high season, it's best to book in advance.

Not far from the centre, in the district Bălcescu, "the grandmother's house" is a very good address. This local canteen, which occupies a beautiful old house, serves excellent traditional Banat cuisine and original specialities: grilled trout, șnițel Viennese, paprikaș, duck leg with chestnut sauce and beetroot purée. For dessert, you will find homemade ice cream. Moreover, the prices are reasonable and the atmosphere is pleasant, with its period objects, red-checked tablecloths and beautiful terrace.

You have to stray slightly from the historic center to reach it: this large restaurant is located in a small street behind the National Theater, not far from the citadel park. But the setting, rustic without being kitsch, is well worth the trip: the vast rooms, looking like a barn or village square, are decorated with handicrafts, painted icons, embroidery, peasant tools and even hanging carts! On the plate, hearty portions and well-presented dishes, successful but not exceptional.

Situated just below the old town center, on the other side of the Citadel Park, this excellent restaurant offers traditional Romanian cuisine in a rustic atmosphere: the interiors, all carved wood, are like a gallery of popular craftsmanship. The walls feature traditional costumes from the Sibiu region, which are also worn by the waiters. As for the dishes, they are delicious: knuckle of cabbage, homemade sausages, stews, cheese mămăligă ... The portions are generous and the prices low.

This magnificent traditional Romanian restaurant is located right on the edge of the forest. The tightly-packed menu focuses on meat dishes, especially game: venison medallion, venison carpaccio, wild boar fillet, trout fillet, salmon supreme and mushroom tocăniță . Its three lounges are imbued with classic elegance, tinged with rustic touches. When the weather's fine, you can dine on the terrace or at the tables set out in the garden. A folk music ensemble provides the musical ambience.

The most chic restaurant in Craiova, Epoca is located slightly set back from the pedestrian centre, in a beautiful old house. The setting is warm and distinguished, all in moulded woodwork and ironwork. The speciality of the house is angus or Argentinean beef cooked on stone, but the menu of the Swiss chef Jakob Hausmann offers a wide choice of dishes of international inspiration, in line with the seasons. On sunny days, the courtyard of the house hosts an elegant covered wooden terrace, stretched out with canvases. A beautiful culinary experience and a beautiful atmosphere.

An excellent restaurant in the heart of the village. Behind a bright blue Saxon house (open for rental), you'll find a vast barn renovated in country style, with reupholstered wooden furniture and colorful embroidery. In fine weather, you can sit out in the pretty orchard at the back. The menu, which changes with the seasons, features family recipes and revisited Transylvanian specialties, concocted with carefully selected local produce.

We come here for the famous Rădăuţi soup(ciorbă rădăuţeană)! This culinary creation, famous throughout the country, is the work of Cornelia Dumitrescu, who is none other than the chef of this restaurant. It's a sort of cross between the much-loved ciorbă de burtă (tripe soup) and chicken soup. This is obviously the best place to try it: it's delicious and really cheap. The other dishes are equally tasty and homemade with local produce. Excellent value for money.

As the name suggests, this is a self-service restaurant offering a very wide choice of freshly prepared Romanian specialties at very low prices: stuffed peppers, sausages, sarmale, soups of all kinds, șaormă, mămăligă with cheese, baked mackerel, chicken and pork with all kinds of sauces... The ideal place for a quick, gourmet break! What's more, the location is quite central. It doesn't look like much from the outside, and the setting is very basic, but the quality of the food is excellent. You can also order food to go.