Restaurants - Szekely Vendeglo
Also known as the Szekler Restaurant (Secuiesc), Szekely Vendeglo is right behind Gradina Icoanei Parc in a nicely decorated basement. Maybe the marble stairs leading down into the restaurant are not quite in line with the general theme, but apart from that it's almost flawless, with traditional music, painted tableware and a menu which is not recommendable for the diet lovers.In the evening, when one should not eat so much and heavy, the restaurant is almost full, unlike noon, when it's quiet and the food is served very quickly.
Szekely Vendeglo could be, with all its booths, a very good place for having a tete-a-tete dinner, but only if you're both gourmands, because Szekeler cuisine will fill you up in a very unromantic or unsophisticated manner. What makes the Szekelers, and actually all the inhabitants of Transylvanian lands, cook so much and heavy, is hard to say. For example, bean soup in bread loaf, something we haven't seen in other places so far, with smoked pork. Instead of a bowl you have a round bread loaf, with hard thick crust, beheaded and hollowed just like a Halloween pumpkin. When you eat, the walls of the ingenious bowl soften and mix with the soup. It's delicious, it costs 7 lei and it feeds you up for the whole day.
For those who refuse to undego such torture, there is an alternative dish, just as delicious: cabbage soup with smoked pork. Despite the last ingredient, one of the enemies of cholesterol, the soup is really not heavy and it's also 7 lei.
You cannot avoid eating meat in such a restaurant. You can stick with white meat - chicken, with the specialties Fuzzy Chicken -16 lei, Attyla Chicken - 19 lei or chicken schnitzel or grilled - between 12 and 14 lei. If you're in for a treat, you could wrestle a typical smoked pork knuckle (ciolan) - 3.5 RON/100g.
The restaurant really appreciates the wonders of sirloins, especially beef: Budapesta 35 RON, Andras - 28 RON, 300 gr/dish. As a side dish you can have potatoes and cheese, fried or mash potatoes and others. And you might also wanna try the traditional Szekeler gulas at 15 lei.
Maybe you will be tempted by "Hors d'oeuvre of the seven bosses", at 23 lei. In Romanian this might be called "death to the liver" and it has smoked bacon, sausages, grilled pork ribs, rolled meatballs in cabbage (sarmale)... etc.
We chose a vegetarian main course, also swimming in proteins and cholesterol: traditional mushrooms - 9 lei (white mushrooms filled with cheese, rolled in breadcrumbs and egg, fried and sprinkled with Swiss cheese).
The moment when we decided we had to skip the desert was a very sad one, because we could have chosen to chew on A Friend's Ear (coltunasi - some kind of dumplings with jam) - 7 lei Such a festin goes with a good wine: the wine list starts at 25 lei/bottle. But maybe for lunch it's best to stick to water (3 lei/ bottle)
Having a candle lit dinner at Szekely Vendeglo is a good idea, but you can also bring your friends or business partners from abroad, after you presented them thoroughly the traditional Romanian cuisine at your place. :)
The restaurant is on Jean Louis Calderon Street, no 76. Right behind Icoanei Parc.
For reservations call 021 - 210 30 08
Opening hours: 12.00 - 24.00
More photos in the gallery.
