New places in town

By Oana Vasiliu

Check Le Bab for oriental with a twist How about some Hungarian delights?

Bucharest Christmas Market has opened up in Universitate Square, with winter magic sparking joy for both children and adults until December 26. As a bonus, there are many caravans serving delicious street food – a must try is Amis de la Fête and their raclette with Jamon, chorizo or veggies.

For sunny winter days, try HARE (in Herastrau Park) or Sera Eden (37 C.A. Rosetti Street), two recently opened urban gardens with cocktails & food.

For an experience that comes close to fine dining, check out GRAI Restaurant (40 Logofat Luca Stroici Street), Soro Lume (33 Fluierului Street), and MOM (2-4 Franceza Street). There, well-known chefs from the local food scene are mastering the kitchen business with new techniques and local ingredients.

If you are up for trying international dishes with a hipster twist, your first choice should be Maimuca Restaurant (Edgar Quinet Street) or some Hungarian goodies from Transylvanian Csíki Sör Craft Brewery & Restaurant (6 Covaci Street). Also check out the new Le Bab, in Arcul de Triumf square, for some oriental flavours.

In terms of discovering new places, we strongly recommend walks around the Cotroceni area, where you’ll discover charming small cafes (La petite bouffe, Zissou Coffee Shop, RePlace) or places with a great vibe (Infinitea).

The Aviatorilor/Dorobanti area has recently attracted more places

to eat and drink, such as Steam Coffee Shop, Strada CoffeeShop, Beans&Dots inside MARe Museum, adding to well-established places like Poesia, OSHO, Zexe, and Kaiamo.

Calea Victoriei is another area worth being (re)discovered, with a bunch of new entries: The Saint and Balkon Resto Garden are the latest, but there’s also the entire Amzei Square, where new/old food businesses are changing the local gourmet scene.