My stay in Bucharest is coming to an end in 3 days! It’s been about 1 month and 1 week since I arrived at this wonderful city. I have to admit, Bucharest far exceeded my expectations. And I think the food helped. You can literally get a 3-course meal for lunch for just $5-6 (20-24 lei)! But I ended up eating a lot of foods that reminded me of home, AKA Asian food, burgers, Chipotle-like burrito bowls, and more. When I was in Athens I felt deprived of good American/Asian food, so it was extremely refreshing experiencing Bucharest’s food selection. I’d like to share a few places to eat when you miss America – particularly the bay area.
Disclaimer: there is a lot of Asian food…
Burgers
OSHO
My friend was playing Pokemon Go and made some new friends at a lure, haha! Turns out they were from Fairfield and Palo Alto in California. He invited me to eat with them at Osho Primaverii (and kick back at a nice loft afterwards). The burgers were really good. Even if I were at home and had access to good American food, I would still praise Osho’s burgers. And if you’re into steaks, this is a good place to check out as well. Because I ate with a bunch of Americans it really felt like home and it was extremely needed at the time, so Osho will always have a place in my heart!
Cost of burgers are around 32 lei ($8) and include fries. Water/soda/beer = around 8 lei ($2)
Pizza
Squadra
I ate bad pizza in Athens, and I didn’t enjoy the pizza I ate at the Bucharest Pizza Hut. So I’m glad I came across Squadra!
Story time…After attending the Sia concert close to the Parliament, I got hungry and went to the food trucks of Old Town. This street food is only available at late night hours (for the drunchies). It started pouring rain so these older men asked if they could sit at my table as we opened an umbrella tent to huddle under. They bought me a beer and were telling me how they’ve been friends for 30-40 years and would meet up around 3-4 times a year. They were super cool to talk to, and they ended up telling me how one of them used to be a porn star LOL (TMI?) so we made fun of him the rest of the night.
Okay back to the food. IT WAS GOOD. I’m quite plain though and like flat bread pepperoni pizza with a lot of tomato sauce and less cheese. They made their pizzas fresh, exactly how I wanted, so I was extremely happy.
Cost of a smaller portion of pizza is 15 lei ($3.75) and larger is 25 lei ($6.25).
Chipotle-like Mexican Food
Taqueria
After watching a Chipotle marketing video I took a 20 minute Uber ride to this Taqueria, which had a similar restaurant style as Chipotle.
I spoke with the owner who was from New York. He said he started the business because Bucharest lacked good Mexican food.
Taqueria wasn’t as delicious as Chipotle, but it was decent enough to satisfy my needs.
Cost: 24 lei for a burrito bowl ($6), 4 lei for water ($1), 4 lei for guac ($1).
Vietnamese
Toan’s
Toan’s literally saved my life. I’ve had it at least 10 times in Bucharest…they probably know me by now. HIGHLY RECOMMEND!
The pho doesn’t taste exactly like pho you’d normally eat in America. It has a strong flavor, sort of salty and sour, and the noodles aren’t the same…but it’s delicious regardless. There are a lot of red onions, green onions, and bean sprouts (which is probably why I liked it).
I would occasionally purchase the pork vermicelli, which was yummy as well. Don’t get the spring rolls though, you’ll be disappointed if you do.
Cost: Pho Bo = 19 lei ($4.75) and water = 5 lei ($1.25). Their pork vermicelli is 19 lei as well.
Li-Wu
Li-Wu is another extremely affordable Vietnamese restaurant close to Old Town. I would buy dinner here after going to the Impact Hub coworking space because it was located very close.
The food is actually quite good. I experimented with the different menu items and none of them really disappointed. I still like Toan’s better, but Li-Wu was closer to my apartment.
Cost: around 17-25 lei for any menu item ($4.25 – $6.25), usually comes with a drink.
Japanese
Edo Sushi
I was extremely happy stumbling across Edo Sushi. It is rated #1 for sushi in Bucharest on TripAdvisor.
I went to Sushi Ko as well but it was definitely not as good. After going to Edo Sushi twice, we wanted to try their all-you-can eat deal for lunch. Turns out they closed down in August and were re-opening in September 1st…so I’m glad I got my fix when I could.
Cost: They have this sweet deal where you can choose 4 items from 1 selection of sushi, 4 items from another selection, and 4 items from a third selection for 99 lei ($25) I believe. Each of these items can include multiple pieces and can be enough to fill 2-3 people depending what you choose. You can also do the all-you-can eat for 87 lei ($21.75)!
Korean
Restaurant Seoul
I hadn’t had Korean food in about 3 months so I took the metro to Aviatorilor and walked another 20 minutes hunting for Restaurant Seoul. It was funny. When I was close, this elderly man took me up an elevator and to the restaurant. And the workers put on K-pop music videos upon my entering. The restaurant was empty at the time (it was around 2-3 PM) so I guess they felt the need to cater to this Asian girl. The food was legit, especially since I hadn’t had Korean food in a long time. I straight up almost cried while eating…(my eyes were watery).
Cost: 40 lei for japchae/beef/rice meal including appetizers ($10). Coke was 8 lei ($2).
Hope this post got you salivating! At least it got me salivating…
Now that my days in Bucharest are coming to an end and I’m still in Europe for about a month and a half, I am stuffing my face with these good eats in case I don’t come across them while in Berlin and Lisbon (my future destinations).
If you have additions, please let us know in the comments!
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