Restaurant Romanesc Transilvania
I just had to take a break from the office the other day and have a proper lunchtime relax. I took myself off down Braunstone Gate, to make a change from the usual down the city centre and I’m glad I did. The Romanian Transilvania restaurant has not been around for a long time, so of course I was keen to try somewhere I haven’t been before. Although it’s light, airy and very cafe clean in its decor, the first thing that hits you when you walk in the door – literally – is the blasting Europop music. I thought at first they might have just opened and had the tunes blaring while they were preparing for the day, but the music persisted at the same level throughout. I think this would have been a bit of an impediment to conversation had I been visiting with a guest, but as it was it was just me and so I wasn’t really bothered! I do hope they tone it down a fraction in the future though!
I was shown to a table by an extremely friendly Romanian waitress who was very attentive and couldn’t do enough to ensure I had everything I needed. On the tables was a pizza and pasta menu, which baffled me a little bit, although it all sounded nice and reasonably priced. However, the waitress then brought me over the Romanian menu – now we’re talking!
There were all kinds of fun things on there that I am looking forward to trying. In particular I think the Ciorba de Fasole sounds delicious – a thick bean and smoked bacon soup. I’m also interested to try the Transylvanian Bulz – a polenta cake with cheese and bacon. Ooo, and I’m intrigued to see what Romanian grilled sausage is like too. Here’s a little sample of part of the menu to get your tastebuds watering.
In the end though, I settled on the deep fried cheese. Perhaps not a very adventurous choice, but immediately it reminded me of my one foray to Eastern Europe in my teens, when I visited the Czech Republic and deep fried cheese came into my life for the first time! Ah, the nostalgia.
It was exactly as I remembered it too – triangular hunks of a pale, lightly flavoured and slightly stringy cheese with a crisp golden crumb. It came with about a hundredweight of fries, and also a basket of bread! ALL THE CARBS! That made me happy. It was all well cooked, although I think it would have benefitted from the freshness of a side salad – perhaps just some salad leaves and peppers to give a bit of colour and additional texture to the dish – and to break up the carbohydrate a little bit!
However, I have to admit I thoroughly enjoyed it! Super naughty with the additional benefit of being super nice. That said I am now keen to try the quality of some of the dishes that don’t come with fries. Along with a pretty decent cafe latte, my lunch came to £6 in total – perfectly reasonable considering how full I was at the end (I couldn’t eat all that bread).
The menu is really reasonably priced overall actually. I can see The Boy is going to be popping in there when we next visit the West End Brewery to give their 6 chicken wings and fries snack a try – especially at £2.49!
What do you reckon? Will you be giving Romanian a try? Have you already visited? I’m dying to see some pictures of their other dishes. Once a food blogger, always a food blogger. Just give me menus to read and food pictures to look at and I’m happy.
