What Travel Maker’s Bucharest Food Tour Taught Me in Bucharest, Romania!
I came to Romania knowing the bare minimum about the local cuisine so I was excited to take a Bucharest food tour to taste and learn about good dishes. What I got as well as the local food was an insight into the history of Bucharest, a tour of two areas of the city and learned about customs practiced here.
Having learned a fair bit on this tour as well as having had a unique experience, I’m going to share my review of TravelMaker’s Unhealthy Food Tour of Bucharest and include some of the things I ate and learned about along the way.
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About Travel Maker
TravelMaker are a Bucharest-based company specialising in small group tours led by local guides to help tourists enjoy the country, learn about the history, taste the food and visit other regions. From a Bucharest day tour of food to a tour in search of the real Dracula, TravelMaker want to ‘enrich your travel experience’ in Romania. Read more on the TravelMaker website.
Unhealthy Food Tour of Bucharest
As always, I won’t be including the tour food and stops because it will be so much better for you to experience for yourself but I am going to share a few of the great things this tour gave me.
The Food Tour Bucharest Meeting Point
Lupa Capitolina is the she-wolf statue is the meeting spot for the start of the tour which is next to the Rome Passage and just a few metres from Travel Maker’s main office. I arrived early and my guide came 10 minutes before the tour began.
Note: The wolf statue has had various locations around Bucharest so always double check the welcome email with instructions. My information is correct at time of writing.
Address: Bulevardul Ion C. Brătianu 36, București 030167, Romania
Read Next: How to Find Dracula’s Castle in Romania
What I Did & Learned on the Bucharest Food Tour!
Riding the Tram
An unique aspect about the Unhealthy Food Tour is the journey on the local city tram with your guide and group. Usually food tours remain in one neighbourhood but this one takes you elsewhere.
The good thing about this is you get to go to the biggest market in the city which is 15 minutes by tram from the meeting spot but the downside is it takes a chunk out of your tour time.
I learned how to use the Bucharest trams and seen two parts of the city!
Visiting Obor, The Bucharest Food Market
The best part of the tour, only made possible by riding the tram, is that you are taken to Ober Market. This is Bucharest’s largest and most popular market and packed with locals and local produce.
Just walking through the market is an experience as the senses are awakened, especially the smells from fresh fruit and lavender bunches to the grilled meat wafting from outside.
The guide gave me lots of insights into the fruits, vegetables, meats and cheeses here so I learned a lot about Romanian cuisine. For example, he showed me the home-made liquid that is used to make the famous Romanian soup called Ciorba, the refillable milk station and the herbs people buy to brew their own tea (although Romania definitely has more of a coffee culture, see more below).
Devouring and Adoring Bucharest Fast Food: Mici
Hands down, the best Bucharest traditional food, and Romanian food in fact, is Mici. My favourite part of this Bucharest one day tour was trying Mici for the first time, learning about the legend behind it and how to eat it like a local.
After the tour, I ate Mici four more times around Romania, it’s THAT good.
Mici is minced meat in the shape of sausage but without skin and you usually get portions of 3 or 4 at restaurants alongside bread and mustard.
I learned that it’s custom in Bucharest to order a beer with your Mici. If you want to know the story behind this famous dish, join the tour and enjoy trying it while listening to ‘beer music’ which the guide also explains at this stop.
The Food Enjoyed at Occasions
During the tour, while visiting Ober Market and one of the restaurants, I learned about food that is eaten on occasions in Romania. For example, at the market the guide explained how Cozonac is a sweet bread loaf filled with chocolate that is always eaten on Christmas Day or Easter (but can be found at bakeries in Bucharest all year around).
In addition, I found out that Romania have their own ‘day of the dead’ celebrated at the beginning of every season and at these events, as well as funerals, Koliva is commonly eaten to commemorate the dead!
Papanasi – Romania’s National Dessert
Papanasi is the national dessert in Romania and is truly adored. For good reason. It’s the most unique doughnut I’ve ever tasted (and tasted many, I have). Papanasi is a doughnut that is made with a sweet cheese in the pastry and has a soft, bread-like texture. It’s then covered in sour cream. Yes, sour cream.
I thought the Bucharest tour guide meant to say cream but he confirmed that it’s sour cream. Then it’s topped with a warm, fruit jam. I enjoyed a blueberry jam (also with wild blueberries on top) but there was the option to have cherry jam instead.
I discovered that the cheese doughnut, sour cream and jam combination works and with this tour you go to the oldest restaurant in Bucharest!
Bucharest History
As with many food tours I’ve done, I’ve learned a lot about the history of the city in which I’m taking the tour. In Bucharest, I was informed about aspects of communism in the city that you still see today through derelict buildings, older-styled trams and places like Revolution Square and Victoriei Square.
But the guide also told me about Bucharest local food like pretzels and sana (yoghurt) which was regarded at the communist breakfast and how bad the coffee was in Romania during the communist time but now you can get a great cup in Bucharest among the big coffee culture.
Miscellaneous Learnings
I can’t list everything that this tour taught me as it will ruin it for you if you’re thinking of joining. But a few other general things I got to know was how Pork is essential in Romanian cuisine, that Bucharest street food includes tasty Shawarmas, and recommendations from the guide for other food to try in the country such as pickled Watermelon because everything in Romania is pickled. Therefore don’t be surprised when you have something pickled accompanying your food here.
Tips
- Take the food tour early on your trip to enjoy foods mentioned by the guide later in your time
- Bring water with you as is good to have between stops and the tram gets very hot
- Please don’t be put off by the unusual name of this tour ‘Unhealthy Food Tour’. The first thing you try is yoghurt which isn’t unhealthy in my opinion, plus you walk around the city and market and sweat on the hot tram! 😉
How to Book on the Bucharest City Tour
If you want to experience this tour about food and history of Bucharest, find the link here to book on to the Unhealthy Food Tour of Bucharest. You can also discover more tours that Travel Maker run below:
Other Food Guides
Are you joining the tour to try the Bucharest best food?
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Please note: As is common in the travel industry, I received a complimentary tour from Travel Maker. The opinions, passion and words in this review, however, are all mine!