Category Archives: Restaurant Review

Fun Food Friday — Bucharest Gem: Caru’ cu Bere


Caru’ cu Bere — Strada Stavropoleos 5, București 030081, Romania

Caru’ cu Bere is not your typical dining establishment. Indeed, there is nothing “typical” about Caru’ cu Bere on any level. This place opened as a brewery way back in 1879. Hence the name, which translates to Cart with Beer. Thus, it’s a beer hall that morphed onto a restaurant featuring some really great Romanian food. And it does not cater solely to tourists. I was immediately struck by how many Romanians head into this establishment. Especially as it’s not exactly cheap to dine here. You can find their website at this link.

Caru’ cu Bere Historic Marker

As they say, you only get one chance to make a first impression, and quite the impression this place makes when you step inside. The place is filled with rich, carved wood:

Caru’ cu Bere

Stained glass:

Caru’ cu Bere
Caru’ cu Bere

Detailed mosiac tiled flooring, and massive exquisitely detailed vaulted ceilings:

Caru’ cu Bere

And that food! Wow! Let’s take a look at the menu:

Caru’ cu Bere menu
Caru’ cu Bere menu
Caru’ cu Bere menu

And in case you’d like a more detailed look at what Caru’ cu Bere has to offer, here is there online food and drink menus.

Of course, it’s not a beer hall without beer to haul:

Caru’ cu Bere — one of their many beer offerings

The bread looked wonderful, so we cordered some before the meal:

Caru’ cu Bere — Fresh bread

Naturally, we just had to try the bean soup in a bread bowl, and it was phenomenal:

Caru’ cu Bere — Bean soup in a bread bowl

For the main course we opted for a traditional mititei, which is a skinless sausage made from seasoned ground beef, lamb, and pork. Way to filling, and next time I’ll be tempted to try other items as the nearby tables had some really tempting offerings.

Caru’ cu Bere — mititei and fries

Next week I’ll show you our next stop on this two-month excursion — Cairo, Egypt.

Слава Україні! (Slava Ukraini!)

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Romania — Brasov and Lunch at La Gustări


Casa Sfatului (Council’s House), Brașov, Romania

After our narrow escape from Castle Dracula (Bran Castle), we headed northeast to Brașov to catch our breathe and grab a quick bite (see what I just did there?). So, after alighting from our coach, we headed to Piața Sfatului (Council Square). Unfortunately, the sun was already sinking and time did not permit a lengthy investigation of this enchanting place. If it had, we definitely would’ve hit the nearby Biserica Neagră (Black Church). But by this time I was uncertain if we could take close proximity to either garlic or holy water, so we headed out for a very late lunch before we were due to rejoin our group.

Piața Sfatului (Council Square)

There are a lot of very interesting buildings surrounding Council Square. The silver domed structure below is Librăria Arhidiecezana Brașov (Archdiocesan Bookstore Brașov):

Librăria Arhidiecezana Brașov (Archdiocesan Bookstore Brașov)

That structure lies just north of Casa Sfatului within the row of buildings lining the square in a gentle arc from north to northeast.

Casa Sfatului

Our guide gave our group several recommendations for eating establishments here, and we chose the one he said had the best selection of true Romanian dishes. That restaurant is La Gustări:

La Gustări

These photos of the menu are the best I could do, so my apologies:

La Gustări menu
La Gustări menu
La Gustări menu
Drinks lined up; Ursula waiting for some Romanian chow
And your blogger waiting across from her

We opted for the Brașov Specialty, which included various meats, potatoes, and other Romanian treats:

Brașov Specialty

We then we treated ourselves to two desserts — “Pancakes” (actually crepes) with jam and papanași, a Romanian “doughnut” filled with a soft cheese (ricotta perhaps?) and topped with sweetened cream and sour cherries:

“Pancakes” with jam
Papanași

This week I’ll finish up this series on Romania, including a wonderful review of an historic restaurant that opened in 1879 in this week’s Fun Food Friday. But first, on Wednesday, I’ll show you the Palatul Parlamentului (Palace of Parliament) and the demostration march that developed around us. Starting next week we leave Romania behind and continue on to our next destination on this two-month odyssey — Cairo, Aswan, and a cruise up the Nile to Luxor.

Слава Україні! (Slava Ukraini!)

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Filed under Photography, R. Doug Wicker, Restaurant Review, travel, vacation, Wine & Food

Miami Restaurant Review — Suvi Thai & Sushi


Suvi Thai & Sushi; Miami Springs

Ursula and I both adore good Thai food. The problem is that “good” is sometimes hard to find. But if you’re ever staying near Miami International Airport, I have just the place for you. It’s so good we ate there two days in a row, the second time with daughter Tracy after our visit to Coral Castle. Behold Suvi Thai & Sushi:

  • 5683 NW 36th Street
  • Miami Springs, FL 33166
  • (305) 887-2212
Ursula and Tracy

The food here is simply scrumptious, with a menu that is extensive enough to please pretty much anyone. Even the salads are great, with an intensely flavored ginger-based dressing:

Suvi Thai salad
Me photobombing the good looking, smart one

Having lived in Japan for several years in my youth, I’m a bit of a tempura snob. Suvi Thai’s definitely passed muster. The batter was delicate and crunchy, not oily, and certainly did not overpower either the vegetables nor the shrimp:

Vegetable and shrimp tempura

For my main I went with the Bangkok Surprise, a delightful combination of chicken and shrimp topped with a classic Thai peanut sauce.

Bangkok Surprise

Add the house fried rice to your combined order and you’ll get a nice serving of rice that’s not over salty from too much soy sauce. It worked out well for all of us.

Nicely balanced Thai-style fried rice

Ursula goes crazy for a good Thai curry, and her Gang Gai (Red chicken curry) did not disappoint. She let me try it, and it ws delicious:

Gang Gai  (Red chicken curry)

Tracy is a Pad Thai kind of girl, and hers was one of the better ones either of us have tried:

Pad Thai with chicken and shrimp

I highly recommend Suvi Thai & Sushi, as it’s affordable, the food is well prepared and nicely presented, and the staff are simply wonderful. I’ll just leave you with this final image of my selection:

The “surprise” in Suvi’s Bangkok Surprise is that it’s so surprisingly good

Слава Україні! (Slava Ukraini!)

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Filed under Fun Food Friday, Opinion Piece, Photography, R. Doug Wicker, Restaurant Review, travel, vacation