The best restaurants Cluj-Napoca

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.

This central restaurant is a highly recommended address for its copious Romanian cuisine, as well as for its low prices. In this canteen with its minimalist decor, most of the customers are locals. If the service is sometimes long, all the interest is in the plate. There are many Romanian dishes on offer, but the house's great speciality remains cabbage (varză), which is available in many recipes, including of course the varză has Cluj, which has the same ingredients as sarmale, but cooked au gratin.

Located a 15-minute walk from the National Theater, in the pretty bourgeois neighborhood of Andrei Mureşanu, the Gook artisan bakery-café is popular with locals for its atmosphere, specialty coffees, bread (the best in Cluj) and for its garden. Here, all breads are made from 100% natural ingredients, and you can try out original creations such as beet bread or turmeric bread. There are also a number of pastries, such as the delicious lemon-poppy seed cake. A lovely, quiet place to take a break.

Excellent and elegant restaurant of Hungarian and Transylvaine cuisine. Here you can find good trout (pastrav).

Small restaurant in a charming area. The reception is nice, and the rustic decor is a success. Plats-style dishes font. In short, a highly recommended address for dishes that do not exceed 7 €.

A self-service of Hungarian specialities. The bottom room is particularly friendly. On the floor, the room is more class and favours the hotel guests. In any case, the choice is wide and we eat it very well.

For those put off by the abundance of meat in Romanian cuisine, here's an excellent alternative, with this vegetarian restaurant located just outside the city center. With its light tones and zen atmosphere, the interior decor invites you to relax. The menu includes starters, soups and oriental specialities, as well as excellent burgers, pizzas, pastas and even sushi, all in vegetarian or even vegan recipes, as indicated on the menu each time. Please note: the restaurant also serves as a tea room.

Located on the university campus, this restaurant offers varied cuisine at very affordable prices. We can eat for 3 €.

One of Cluj's most sought-after restaurants took up residence many years ago in a 180-year-old mansion that has seen the passing of illustrious families. While the magnificent garden is busy during the summer months, the upstairs dining room, designed by Cristian Corvin, welcomes you in a warm, bohemian chic setting. On the menu, Romanian specialties rub shoulders with elaborate international cuisine. Save room for the desserts, which live up to their reputation!

Just a stone's throw from Piața Avram Iancu, this restaurant is an Italian family affair born in the 1990s, and now run by the second generation. Don't be fooled by the unlikely building that houses it and its "Clubul CFR" sign (named after the local soccer club, CFR Cluj): the designer interior is quite chic and the garden at the back is magnificent. We recommend the authentic Neapolitan pizza (with different dough options), but the homemade pasta is delicious too.

If you're looking for a taste of traditional Hungarian cuisine, you've come to the right place! This historic building once belonged to the illustrious Rhédey family and now houses the restaurant of the same name. While soups and goulash are the stars of the menu, the other dishes are not lacking in interest. Portions are generous and service impeccable. The establishment has a loyal following among Cluj's Hungarian community, a sign of authentic cuisine. In fine weather, a pleasant terrace overlooks Piața Unirii and the Catholic Cathedral.

Nuka Bistro boasts an attractive mix of brick, stone and wood walls. Calm and serenity are the watchwords here. The menu is small and efficient, with simple dishes such as homemade pasta, bruschettas, hamburgers, salads, paella and slow-cooked lamb. A special mention goes to the mature cheese platter for sharing. As for drinks, the wine list is exhaustive and the variety of beverages, hot or cold, with or without alcohol, makes it a good place to relax, whatever the time of day.

The name of this pension-restaurant owes much, of course, to the setting. Situated near the centre of Cluj, at the top of the citadel hill, you will be able to contemplate the whole city and the surrounding hills. At an altitude of just over 400 m, the view from the terrace of the establishment is truly exceptional. On the plate side, you will enjoy good Transylvanian cuisine, with many snacks, a lot of soups, fish and meat dishes, as well as vegetarian dishes and homemade desserts.

Via is at the crossroads of an ^18th-century mansion and a contemporary, minimalist design, with two dining rooms and a vaulted, stone-walled cellar where you can watch the cooks at work. Located in Cluj's historic district, the restaurant is considered one of the city's finest gastronomic addresses. The menu features international cuisine with Romanian touches, including soups, fish and meat, as well as local products such as cheese from Colțești, a village south of Cluj.

Maimuţa Plângătoare, or "The Weeping Monkey" in French, is a 90-year-old restaurant serving excellent Romanian cuisine, both traditional and refined. This ranges from breakfast, available from 9am to 12pm, to meals with grilled meat, fish, but also salads, pasta and soups, in a wide range of prices and generally inexpensive. A fine wine list is also available. Finally, especially at weekends, traditional Romanian bands perform here.

Romania on the walls and on the plate. Restaurant Roata ("wheel" in French) is made up of several charming little rooms, authentically decorated, with white tablecloths embroidered with red thread drawing traditional motifs, and dark wooden furniture. In terms of cuisine, we're treated to a wide range of Transylvanian specialties: varză a la Cluj, papanași, grilled meats, mămăligă, tocăniță, chicken soup with semolina dumplings, sarmale... A truly typical restaurant, at prices that remain affordable.