We're coming to the end of our time in Romania and we thought we'd take you out one last
time to show you some traditional Romanian cuisine.
It's definitely been a highlight of our trip.
We've absolutely loved eating Romanian food, so we can't wait to show you a few new things.
So I'm very excited because our food has finally arrived and first up I'm going to show you
this Moldavian pancake.
So it is basically a dough pancake and it is filled with sheep's cheese and cow's cheese
but our server also asked if we wanted bacon inside, so we said 'yes, of course.'
So let's dig in.
I'm going to cut it up and show you what it looks like.
On this inside.
Oh, yeah.
You can see all of the cheese seeping out.
Mmmm.
Yeah, we've had this a few times and they're really generous with the cheese.
Oh yeah.
And you can order all different kinds of cheese.
They have cottage cheese, you can get mozzarella cheese, whatever you like.
Oh, so check it out from this angle.
Can you see the bacon in there?
Oh, yeah.
Oh yeah, baby.
Oh, yeah.
Let's try it.
I'm just eating it like a pizza.
I don't know if is right.
Oh, that's still hot.
Mmmm.
That's really good guys.
Really good.
A little greasy.
My fingers are looking oily.
But those flavors, the salty cheese and then you've got the bacon.
It's real good.
It's a nice little appetizer here.
I like that you can have it as an appetizer or you could also have it as a main.
Like if you were to eat that whole thing it's filling.
Alright, time for myself to cut a slice.
Oh la lah.
It is hot.
Mmmm.
That is just so amazing.
Like, I think this might be my favorite Romanian food.
This is just so good.
These cheese is so salty and I just love anything that kind of resembles a pizza.
And we forgot to mention this can also be served as a dessert.
That's right.
You can get sweet ones as well.
Yeah, sweet cheese and raisins and cranberries.
We haven't tried one of those yet but.
Maybe we should.
Hahaha.
Okay, look over here because this is a pretty cool dish.
Polenta balls.
And I find it really interesting because I've had polenta before in places like Argentina
and Italy but I've never seen the polenta rolled out into a little ball like they do
here in Romania.
And if I cut it in half you can see that it is stuffed with cheese.
Oh, yeah.
Just look at that.
Oh, yeah.
And here it comes with a garlic sauce with dill and also sour cream.
So let's add a bit of sour cream.
Dunk that in the garlic.
Look at that.
Oh, wow.
Mmmm.
That's real good.
That is so garlic-y.
I'm going to have really bad breath after this but it is so good.
It is worth it.
We're going to need to buy some breath mints and maybe some gum.
Alright, so I think I've said this before but I'm going to say it one more time.
The first time for me to try polenta I really was not a fan.
I thought gosh this is so bland but when I started having it with cheese and eating it
more regularly while here in Romania I've really come to enjoy it, so this is a dish
that whenever we get Romanian food we always have to find some way to include polenta now.
Yes, we do.
Hahaha.
Big fans of polenta over here.
This is my first time trying the balls and they're really good.
I like the cheese inside.
Mmm.
What do you have over here.
Can you tell us about this?
Yeah, so over here I have basically, if you look down again, so we can see.
We have basically a pork cheese bake.
So you can see that the cheese is melted on top.
You have pork right here.
And if you look, if I kind of move this around you can see that there is a really nice cream
sauce and there is a lot of potatoes, different vegetables.
Oh, and mushrooms.
And then you have tomatoes all around the outside.
So it is really tasty.
You get a lot of different ingredients happening.
Try some of that.
This is really good.
This sort of reminds me a little bit of a lasagna.
Mmmmm.
And of course we could not resist getting some dessert.
So we are having something called Tort a Lunel.
And I'm probably butchering the name but that is how I think it is pronounced.
And it is basically a dense chocolate cake with Halva, walnuts and peanuts.
Oh, my!
And it is quite hard to cut through but that is just because there is so much chocolate
in there.
It's a very dense cake.
Yeah, and look at that caramel.
Look at that.
Amazing.
Big spoonful of chocolate cake right there.
Oh yeah.
I think it has caramel too.
It is quite sticky and gooey.
Great for chocolate lovers.
Alright, time for me to try this.
Wow!
That is some kind of decadent.
I don't even know how we're going to finish this.
The two of us with one piece of cake.
I find when I'm having Romanian food I am so stuffed by the end of the meal.
Siesta time after this for sure.
Don't worry, I can take care of this on my own if you leave it up to me.
Well, well.
I'm guessing you enjoyed that?
You better believe it.
That was one heck of a big meal.
I'm just basically in Siesta mode already.
Sipping on my coffee.
Not moving at all.
Time for price point.
It was 95 Lei which if we do the conversion according to Sam is very cheap.
Right, Sam?
Yeah, it is just over 20 US dollars and we ended up getting 3 drinks, 3 mains and a dessert.
Not bad.
It is dinnertime and we are at restaurant Transilvania.
In Brasov and we are trying traditional Romanian cuisine.
Let's go in and order some food.
Yum!
So you've got yourself a fancy drink?
Yeah, I'm just diving right in and trying things I've never had before.
This is called afinata and it is a bilberry brandy.
And, woah, it smells strong, so let's try a sip of that.
Good stuff?
Oh, yeah it is so sweet but yet it has like really high alcohol content.
Is it like a syrup?
Yeah, it tastes very syrup-y.
That's a good way of describing it.
Well, very exciting times.
My food has finally arrived.
If you have a look down here I'm having polenta with cottage cheese and sour cream.
And I also got some goulash on the side which I know is Hungarian but it was on the menu
so 'hey' I got it anyway.
So let's start with the polenta because that is very Romanian.
Look at that.
Look at the cheese.
Look at the sour cream.
Mmmm.
Oh, wow.
Is that good stuff?
That's good.
That's real good.
Okay, so tell us about your plate?
Now on the menu I saw something I could not resist ordering.
It was called Dracula pork.
And if something is good enough for Dracula.
It's good enough for me.
So let's take a look at this.
It appears to be pork with some kind of sauce and like a copious amount of cheese.
So it's like a melted cheese and maybe ketchup.
Maybe it is Dracula's blood on your little pork medallion.
Could be.
Dracula's blood!
Would Dracula approve?
I think he would.
Yeah.
That's really tasty.
And I ordered a side of polenta to go with my steak as well.
So I'm going to try a bite.
That's surprisingly tasty.
I have to admit the first time I tried polenta, which was not that long ago, I didn't really
like it.
I thought gosh that is kind of bland.
But it is really growing on me and if you haven't tried it before it's made out of cornmeal.
And it has a yeah a kind of starchy kind of taste.
You just need a good sauce on the polenta for it to taste good I think.
Yeah, I agree.
And we ate all of this.
How are you feeling?
Bulging belly time.
You've tried quite a bit of Romanian food so far.
What are your impressions?
My impressions are that it is quite tasty.
It's typical of other Eastern European cuisines in the sense that it is very hearty.
There is a lot of meat, there is a lot of starchy foods like polenta and potatoes and
there is something else that is really cool is that there is really good wine here.
Wine here is fantastic.
What's your take on Romanian food?
Well, I am stuffed beyond belief so I have to agree.
Very hearty.
Very filling.
Um, I also think this is not a country for vegetarians.
You see meat during every meal.
During lunch and dinner.
Especially pork.
So, keep that in mind.
So even though we're quite full we couldn't resist ordering a Romanian dessert.
So right here we've got sponge cake with chocolate pudding, chocolate sauce.
I think it has orange cognac and whipped cream.
And who knows what else.
So let's just dig in.
That's a huge portion.
We're sharing this.
Mmmm.
Wow.
I wish they had given.
Try that again.
I inhaled it.
We're keeping this.
I'm choking on dessert for eating too fast.
So is it like again?
I was going to say.
I wish they had given me a bigger spoon because it is so good.
I want bigger bites.
Bigger mouthfuls.
But maybe that is not a good thing because I'm choking.
How much did that come to?
That came to seventy three Lei.
And when you convert that into US dollars it was only eighteen dollars.
And keep in mind that was for three mains, three drinks and one shared dessert.
I haven't had a meal that was that good of quality and that good of value in a very long
time.