Red meats (lamb, beef and pork), fish, vegetables and fruits, and dairy products are the main ingredients of Romanian cuisine.

This Romania Restaurant Guide gives you an idea of what the traditional cuisine of Romania is like, as well as what you are likely to encounter in Romania restaurants. You could also check out what the dining scene is like in Bucharest or Transylvania. Don't forget to have a look at our Romania Shopping Guide too, for great ideas on gifts, souvenirs and shopping options in Romania.

Food & Cuisine in Romania

Restaurants in most towns generally offer only local cuisine – this is not really a matter of concern since it closely resembles West European food. Bucharest, the capital, has a variety of international cuisines – Mediterranean, French and Chinese. You’ll also find the familiar, international fast-food chains here. Price-wise, these are marginally cheaper than local Romania restaurants. While the quality of food is of international standards, fast-food chains simply do not compare in terms of taste with what you can get in local restaurants. Go for the local fare – you’ll have an authentic and memorable meal at only slightly higher prices.

Vegetarians need not despair. Just ask for mancare de post. During Lent, most Romanians, who are devout Eastern Orthodox Christians, eat food that does not contain any animal element, including dairy products. This dish, which literally means ‘fit to be eaten during religious fasting’, is available throughout the year. Do bear in mind, though, that Romanians are otherwise quite unfamiliar with vegetarianism. Asking for mancare de post outside the fasting period is quite likely to draw curious looks or plain disbelief!

Eggs are a must for breakfast – hard or soft boiled, scrambled, fried or omelettes stuffed with fillings like cheese, mushrooms and ham. Visitors have the option of visiting relatively inexpensive self-service snack bars; otherwise, table service is the norm. Bars have no licensing hours.

In the large hotels in Romania, restaurants double up as nightclubs. Parisian-style cafes also abound.

If you’re interested in eco-tourism in Romania, you’ll thoroughly enjoy staying in a rural home. Food here consists of hearty, healthy, traditional fare. Agriculture in Romania still remains rooted in ancient ways of agriculture. This means farming is essentially organic in nature, completely devoid of chemicals and experiments in genetic modification. Animals, too, feed on lush, green grass and drink clear, spring water.

National Specialities

Romania is famous for its delicious, hearty soups. Meatball soup (ciorba de perisoare) and a vegetable soup with the option of added meat (ciorba taraneasca) are very popular. There’s also tocanita, a filling meat stew flavoured with onion and spices and ghiveci, cooked with over twenty vegetables. You could also try sarmale, a Romanian speciality of sauerkraut rolls, filled with minced meats and rice and seasoned with spices. Tuica, or plum brandy, is usually served with appetizers.

Besides the soups mentioned, Romanian cuisine specialities are rice balls with sour cream on the side, giblet soup and various fish soups. Parjoale are spicy, Moldavian meat patties and mamaliga or cornmeal mush is a staple food. If you’re a seafood enthusiast, try the Nisetru la gratar, grilled Black Sea sturgeon. Round off your meal with a bite of Pasca, the traditional Easter cake.

Street Food

If you’re in the mood to snack, Romania serves up a host of street food options. There are covrigi or warm pretzels, langoşi, a sweet or savoury pancake, gogoşi (doughnut coated with powdered sugar) and spicy, sausage-shaped meat patties called mici. Many shops sell popular eastern fare such as kebabs and shawarma (şaorma). For the sweet-toothed, there are an irresistible variety of pastries (merdenele, poale-n brau, dobrogene, ardelenesti) and pancakes stuffed with all manner of goodies like chocolate, ice cream, bananas and jam.

National Drinks

Wine lovers will be pleased! Romania offers a good variety of wines; from the vineyards of Murfatlar, there’s Riesling, Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris, Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon. You can also try Grasa and Feteasa, both from the Cotnari vineyards (Moldavia). Also available are sparkling wines and Glühwein (mulled wine). Besides Tuicã, there’s also Tuicã de Bihor, a potent brandy that’s also known as palinca.

Legal drinking age: The legal age for consuming alcohol is 18.

Tipping

A 5–10 % tip is the norm in Romania restaurants.