Hotel Hanu' Berarilor

The food was excellent and came out quickly, and our server was kind and friendly. There are several toilets, and they take both cash and card. You can add the tip to a card payment. Choosing between sitting inside and outside was confusing. A few different “colleagues” gave us conflicting answers: one said we needed a reservation to sit inside, another said we could sit there if a table was free. We ended up sitting outside.

The grilled meats were delicious, and I liked the decor with all the green plants. It gets noisy inside, but the atmosphere is cheerful, like a big dining hall.

The terrace is lovely, and the restaurant itself is in a beautiful historic building. I’ve been here a few times, and on my last weekday lunch there was live violin and piano music, which made the visit even more special. The menu is varied and reasonably priced. For Romanian food, this is my favorite place, and one of the most beautiful too.

The lunch deal was pretty good at 39 lei per person: soup, a side and a main, with a decent choice that changes monthly. The soup arrived quickly, but we waited around 30 minutes for the rest, which felt slow for a lunch menu. The food was above average for Bucharest, though not the best we’ve had, and the pompanasi dessert was very good. The local beer was fine, nothing I’d put on a must-try list. The waiter was the worst part. He was impatient, and once he realized we didn’t speak Romanian, he treated us like we were stupid. There were also lots of smokers in the outdoor dining area, so the cigarette smell was hard to avoid.