restaurant recommendations: gura humorului and maramures

Not so interested in Italian or Chinese or Mexican or the kind of ethnic food you can find in the States.

Don't worry you're not likely to find Chinese or Mexican restaurants in Bucovina and Maramures, even if you'd look for it! :-)

Romania is not New York! :-)

I've seen your other posts and unfortunately I don't have specific tips for these places, but in general you should lower your expectations when it comes to restaurant food in Eastern Europe. Of course you can eat well, and there are certainly exceptions but Eastern/Central/Southeastern European countries never had such great cuisines like Italy, Spain, France, Japan, China, etc. Also the 40-70 years of communism ruined the cuisines just like everything else and it's a long way to recovery, where the general poverty doesn't help!

I'm only telling this because you say how important good food is for you. It's better not to expect anything and find some surprises, than expecting great food and be disappointed!

Hi HUNSzeker

Well, it seems sometimes that even smaller towns in Albania or Lithuania shockingly seem to have at least one terrible pizzeria. Nice to know Bucovina and Maramures aren't so internationalized yet.

I'm familiar with the quality problems of Soviet-era food; I've seen a lot of Eastern Europe, have had some totally awful meals, but also some really great ones.

Despite the Communist era, there are still plenty of grandmothers and homecooks making good food (plenty of family recipes that never disappeared.) I'd like to think that some of those grannies might have restaurants or homestay places. I'd like to find something like that--good home cooking, but in a location accessible to the travelers. What about all of these agrotourism/homestay places in Maramures I've been reading about?

Surely there must be variations in quality and specific eateries that are worth seeking out.

Pizzerias they have, that's sure! :-)

Homestays are a good idea I think! I don't know your travel plans and unfortunately I haven't been yet to Maramures and Bucovina, but there is a great village I can recommend you in Transyilvania, not only for the food but the beautiful traditional houses and untouched nature.

It's an ethnic Hungarian village called Torockó(read: Torotskoo) - Rimetea in Romanian. It's certainly not an undiscovered gem, because it's a favourite destination for Hungarian travellers since more than 10 years and just about every house is a homestay, but hardly any foreign(non-Hungarian) travellers know about it.

[http://www.welcometoromania.ro/DN75/DN75_Rimetea_e.htm]

I recommend the Aranyos panzió, the owners speak English and the food is great!

[http://www.welcometoromania.ro/DN75/DN75_Rimetea_Pensiunea_Aranyos_e.htm]

I was in Maramures last summer, staying at Sighet and touring around the villages. We stayed in homestays in Transylvania, and I can say with pretty good assurance that the best food will be in a private home. We never had a poorly prepared meal in a homestay, although the cuisine was not exciting for us. Some were excellent along the lines you suggest such as soups, meatballs, stuffed cabbage.

Sighet does have the terrible pizzerias and pubs that populate other towns and cities. We ate at 1 fairly good restaurant in Sighet, unfortunately I forget the name, and the only reason it's worth seeking out is that it's not bad--most are.

Although we had a couple restaurant meals in Romania that were fairly good, none were worthy of note in any way.

If you're not staying in homestays, I don't know if it's possible to arrange for privately cooked meals. I recommend getting in touch with Robert Larcombe who runs Cobwobs Hostel in Sighet. Even if you don't stay there, he's a fount of information and won't lead you astray with regard to possibilities in food or otherwise. website is: www.cobwobs-hostel.freehostia.com.

Therre are a couple of good little resteraunts in Sighet Coswella is probably the one Frida talks of it is on the road to the Ukrainian boarder on the right hand side. Sadly they also started selling Pizza but dont be put of the food is excelent and not expensive. There is also a bar on the road out of town towards Sat Mare it has a silver rail going up to the entrance but i dont know the name. For Mici try the sellers in the Market good suff. For home stays look at the villages of Budesti especialy if you will be in Maramures for Easter its a lovely festival.Otheror villages might Poienna Isa or Borsana but look at your rooms firat home stays are very hit and miss around Maramures.

If you visit Maramures and Transylvania you will be well fed. I think in some "pensiuni" you can also taste great food (they provide accommodation but you can also eat there). Many of them are family businesses and usually the lady of the house is a good cook, even if she is not a TV-proclaimed "domestic goddess" and did not publish 3 books about cooking.
Don't forget to try a bit of horinca (home-made spirit) or palinca.
If you won't be happy with the local food, there is always a McDonald's at the street corner in the towns you pass through. :)

I hope you will enjoy your stay.

It's really not possible to forget to try palinka or tuica if you go to a private home. Without fail, it's the first thing brought out on arrival!

Thanks everyone for your help.

And I totally agree that the best homestyle cooks--regardless of where they live--certainly don't need books and media approval!

Hello,

Best food in Romania is the one cooked at home. Usually pensions rely a lot on home-cooking so you should find good food if you opt for this. Also, I recommend you to find local producers of cheese, smoked meat, fish etc. in each village you visit. Also, instead of eating in restaurants, try to find pensions and ask if they serve meals.

Three concrete tips, related to Bucovina:

1. Good traditional accomodation and excellent food. Near monastery Orata.

Phone: 0729 049 342 (Viorica or Dana)

http://stiu1loc.blogspot.com/2009/04/care-pare-incredibil.html

1. A good Bucovina speciality, never to be found in restaurants is the smoked trout in fir-tree wrap. You can buy it from local producers in mountain villages with river, such as Pojorata (see phone). It costs 7 - 15 $ and it's insanely good.

Phone: 0764 869 877 (Marcel Porcilescu)

http://stiu1loc.blogspot.com/2009/04/de-unde-poti-cumpara-pastrav-afumat-in.html

1. Ciocanesti is an amazing village in Bucovina, with picturesque traditional architecture and amazing food.

Best,
Romanian Wanderer