Restaurants

I do not usually have enough time for home cooking. Yet, I am not a big fan of take-away food. But frufru has easily become one of my favorite spots for a quick snack and even a complete meal.

Apart from being one of the friendliest and most joyful eating spots in the city, it is always a healthy option for breakfast, lunch and dinner: fresh ingredients only, simple and tasty recipes, 100% organic sweets and snacks, a young and colorful brand identity, good service. Recommended for vegetarians, vegans and even raw.

My favorite options in the menu are the mushroom low bread, the 4 pesto pasta (4 formaggi and pesto) and the tomato soup with basil.

The nice and enthusiastic people behind this successful brand encourage the consumers to be ”fru fru” themselves. Because being ”fru fru” is all about good food and fun eating.

If I’ve managed to capture your interest and you’ve already decided you want to be ”fru fru” too for at least one day, there are various places where you can experience the frufru positive vibe: 2 venues, numerous fresh corners in office buildings and one home delivery service.

My frufru is, of course, close to home, in the University Square. You can find your own frufru by checking the website.

Enjoy your healthy meal!

Personal quote of the day:

If you don’t want to ruin my day, please don’t mess with my food!

You wake up, you go to work, have a cup of coffee, grab a sandwich for breakfast and then your day goes on as usual, with variations involving small/big, good/bad surprises.

And then, before you know it, it’s lunch time already. Deep inside, you’ve waited for this from the moment you made the great effort of getting up early to make it to work on time. And somehow, all of a sudden, you’re confronted with a dilemma. And now what?

If the description fits you as well, then why not try Omnivore’s Dilemma? One’s daily consultant in culinary dilemmas, a small food bar with a big soul, good answers and friendly prices.

This place has recently made my day in such a way that there was no more place for dilemmas the next couple of days in a row. It all started early in the morning with pictures on Facebook. I am going to name only two of the subjects here: Mrs. Lasagna with Spinach and Soft Cheese & Mrs. Semolina and Dried Apricot Tart.

Every day, dear vegetarian/vegan or meat lover, your dilemma is answered to by this lovely food bar and the people behind it with one soup, three main courses, three different sandwiches, two salads and three desserts.

So this is to simple and attractive menus for happy days with excellent culinary experiences!

And a cozy atmosphere!

I personally adore kitchens: my grandma’s kitchen, my mom’s kitchen, my best friend’s kitchen. I even started to be quite fond of my own tiny kitchen, ever since I began to carry out culinary experiments in there. And when ”a kitchen” goes from private to public, this is when it becomes a ”must-see” in my mind.

Violeta’s is not actually a kitchen, but a very small family restaurant in the center of Bucharest. It is all about childhood tastes and memories and slow food. Slow food, good food I would say, because everything is homemade and therefore, extremely healthy and tasty.

The menu is different everyday and it includes a variety of dishes ranging from breakfast goodies (such as special omelets and pancakes) to salads, soups, pies, fish and deserts.

Excellent for vegetarians and health-oriented people and extremely appealing if you just want to feel like home in the center of Bucharest.

It is not cheap, but it is worth it! As I write this, I am actually in the mood for Violeta’s onion soup with Cheddar cheese croûtons and vanilla cheesecake with cherries-cognac sauce.

Care to join me?

Even if ‘Ali Baba’ isn’t a Romanian restaurant, I really must tell you about it. It is a great place for any meal of the day.

‘Ali Baba’ is an oriental restaurant of which I am very fond. I have great confidence in this restaurant as most of its clientèle is Lebanese. This is a great quality assurance for most of us.

At Ali Baba, one can find most of the common dishes like ‘Baba Ghanoush’, ‘Tabuleh Salad’, ‘Humous’ and so on.

An important aspect which I must mention is that the prices at ‘Ali Baba’s’ are great, I mean, pretty affordable. For only 10.00 Euro, you can have a real meal including a drink.

I highly recommend ‘Lahmagiun’ which is only 2.00 Euro and of course you will have a free tea with it.

Besides the fact that Primus is very well located, it also offers unforgettable atmosphere. It is a place where many foreigners hangout and this gives it an international feeling.

Not long ago, two friends of mine were having a glass of wine when a middle aged man came to their table. Without questions he sat down telling to the waitress that everything is on him. It seemed that he was well known at Primus. At first, they started making fun of the nosy man; Imagine two young girls being approached by a an over 60 year old man. They were pretty surprised to found out later that the nosy man was Brian Cook, second unit director for ‘The Shining‘ & much more…

Many movies are being made in Romania for the cost advantages it offers. Hence, many people from the movie industry can be met in Bucharest.

Coming back to Primus, they are very proud of the beer they have and they do have a decent selection.

Primus is located next to Terminus and these two go hand in hand as the second one is also a very well known club. Both are owned by the same company. At Primus, very often you’ll find ‘Muratura’ (Pickle) who is a jack russel terrier. He is owned by the bar and extremely friendly. I’m sure you’ll love him.