Tag Archives: Romania

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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Bucharest, Romania — Protest at the Palace of Parliament


Biserica Sfântul Dumitru (Saint Demetrius Church)

On our final full day in Bucharest, Ursula wanted to head over to the Palatul Parlamentului (Palace of Parliament) for a tour of this monstrous edifice that, arguably, got Nicolae Ceaușescu and his wife Elena dates with a firing squad in 1989. Along the way we passed by Biserica Sfântul Dimitrie–Poștă (St. Demetrius–Post Church), which you can see in the photograph above. And in case you’re wondering how “Poștă” got in the name, it derives from this church’s location near the former Post Services Palace.

Large police presence as we approached the Palace of Parliament

As we approached the Palace of Parliament from the north, directly across from Parcul Izvor (Izvor Park), I noticed a very large and growing police presence, which is seldom a good sign when approaching a government building. I got more suspicious when Ursula inquired about getting a tour, which is usually not a problem. But today it was. We were told that the tours were already filled for the day. Say what? Filled? In a building some 3,930,000 square feet/365,000  m2? Uh… okay.

Palace of Parliament — turned away at the gate

Something was afoot, as Holmes would say to Watson. And that was made even more evident as more police began assembling.

Outside the Palace of Parliament

Disappointed, I took a few more shots of Izvor Park and its thick layer of snow, then we headed back to the east an old town. As we approached Bulevardul Libertății (Liberty Boulevard) we stumbled upon a fast approaching demonstration in support of far-right, pro-Putin populist presidential candidate Călin Georgescu. In other words, we had happened upon a Romanian MAGA rally of epic proportions. And they were ticked.

Călin Georgescu protestors at the Palace of Parliament

Even the Romanian Orthodox Church got in on all the fun, presumably at the behest of this fellow, Archbishop Teodosie Petrescu:

Translation: “If we do not guard our Orthodoxy, we will also destroy our nation”

Fortunately, things did not get ugly, but we didn’t spend a whole lot of time here waiting to find out if that would remain the case.

Călin Georgescu rally, Palace of Parliament, 22 February 2025
Călin Georgescu rally, Palace of Parliament, 22 February 2025

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