Saturday, August 24, 2013

Caru' cu bere, Bucharest

Caru' cu bere is one of the oldest beerhouses in Bucharest, started in 1879. It is situated in the centre in the crowded pedestrian street of Bucharest. The cooking type is Romanian, and the place was always full, made it hard to find a table at dinner. Since I m not used in Romanian cuisine, and I know little about it, this post will be one of my shortest.

Bean soup, with smoked bacon served in a bread bowl. Very good. 


  

Squash stuffed with minced meat, tomato sauce, served with sour cream. Pretty good.




Pork canned in lard, fried and served with polenta (called mamaliga) and cabbage. Bad 




Chicken breast, pork fillet, Viennese sausage, minced meat rolls, smoked sausage, turkey breast served with baked potatoes with bacon and red onion. Good




Pan fried crepes filled with cherry jam. Good




The interior is very impressive, so I would suggest that you take a table indoors and not outside the restaurant. The service is fast and polite and the price very reasonable.  



Sunday, August 18, 2013

Paul, bakery and patisserie

Paul, the famous bakery and patisserie chain from France started at 1889 in Croix a town near Lille. Now there are stores in every corner of the world, some of the them in high end streets of city centres, others on train stations and so on. 


Paul Bucharest 

I have visited Paul's stores in some countries. The quality is on the same level in all stores, but the pricing may differ between them. While being around the world, if you want to eat something french, like croissants, pain au chocolat, artisan bread, tarts, macarons and so on you can go to Paul, as a safe choice, but in France I m afraid not. In any French city there are bakeries and patisseries to do something better. 

Paul's burger. Very good with full meat flavor patty, excellent sauce inside, artisan bread but bad french fries.



Kisch lorraine with chicken and mushrooms. 



Eclair au chocolat. The first time, the choux pastry was a little bit burned(!), the second it was just good. 



Tarte au rhubarbe



Melon tarte, good with nice butter base. A mango tarte was also nice.






Croissant. Very good




Macarons were good, in taste and texture but nowhere near as good as at Laduree, my benchmark in macaroons.    



The best pastry I had from Paul was a choux pastry filled with chantilly cream and raspberries. Also dont miss the caneles.

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