Bon Appetit

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• Die Deutsche Kneipe read more ›
  (9 Strada Stockholm. Tel. 072 228 4560)
  Cheap, enormous portions of home-made German sausages are served with fried eggs and cabbage. Phone ahead to bag a terrace table.
• Cafeneaua Actorilor de Vara read more ›
  (Parcul Tineretului. Tel. 0724 147 432)
  Find this great café on a large artificial lake in the heart of Tineretului Park, the city's biggest. Good pizzas and live music at the weekend make it popular with big groups of young locals.
• Casa Veche read more ›
  (15-17 Strada George Enescu. Tel. 021 315 7897)
  The oldest pizzeria in town still serves a cracking calzone on what is Bucharest's shadiest and most pleasant terrace. A lunchtime must.
• Vatra read more ›
  (23-25 Strada Ion Brezoianu. Tel. 021 315 8375)
  Take a seat at a big wooden table and a friendly waitress will serve you cheap but great ciorbe (sour soup) and tasty little mici (spicy mutton sausages).
• Violeta's Vintage Kitchen read more ›
  (23 Strada Batistei. Tel. 021 310 0681)
  The menu-which changes daily-features home-made, mainly vegetarian specials (www.violetas.ro, Romanian only).
• Crama Domneasca read more ›
  (13-15 Strada Selari. Tel. 0726 322 004)
  Cracking new Romanian bistro and wine cellar in the heart of the city's Old Town. The lunchtime set menu is hard to beat.

• Trattoria Il Calcio read more ›
  (1-3 Strada Benjamin Franklin. Tel. 073 252 8140)
  Italian football-themed chain of restaurants packed with happy diners enjoying simple pasta dishes, huge salads, great pizza and friendly service from staff in Juventus, Milan and Inter strips.
• La Strada read more ›
  (Athenee Palace Hilton, 1-3 Strada Episcopiei. Tel. 021 303 3777)
  Romanians love to eat and drink alfresco and the king of the city's terraces is this gem at the Hilton. Enjoy great cocktails, good-value barbecue food and live sports on big screens.
• Angel's read more ›
  (52 Strada Paris. Tel. 021 231 9044)
  Terrace and restaurant where the sunglasses crowd comes to eat and generally be Italian. The location in the city's poshest district only adds to the allure.
• Mythos read more ›
  (38 Strada Costache Negri. Tel. 021 410 2376)
  Authentic Greek restaurant where the number of seafood dishes on the menu is sure to impress. And with four very different dining areas, at least one should suit your mood.
• Golden Falcon read more ›
  (18-20 Strada Hristo Botev. Tel. 021 314 2825)
  A local legend, this place is also known as Casa Chebab (Kebab House) which tells you all you need to know. No menu, just a parade of mezze and kebabs: choose the ones you like and send them off to the kitchen to be cooked.
• Casa Satya read more ›
  (25 Banu Manta. Tel. 0788 788 777)
  Serves the best range of vegetarian curries, chutneys and other Indian dishes in town. It doesn't serve alcohol, but you can bring your own.

• Balthazar read more ›
  (2 Dumbrava Rosie. Tel. 021 212 1460)
  With choices like sea bream with spinach mousse, and salmon in banana leaves, your taste buds will thank you for a visit to this restaurant.
• Mamma Leone read more ›
  (22 Strada Povernei. Tel. 021 311 4606)
  Fish (as opposed to seafood) and a vast selection of it, too, in a bright, quiet location the north of the city. Plenty of tasty local dishes will destroy the old myth that Romania does not do fish.
• Orasul Interzis read more ›
  (3 Strada Silvestru. Tel. 031 425 4747)
  A Chinese restaurant in Bucharest worth going to. Good, authentic (mainly Beijing-style) food served by pretty, smiling girls to a local crowd who have waited a long time for a place as good as this.
• El Vino read more ›
  (206 Strada Mihai Eminescu. Tel. 021 212 1330)
  The only tapas bar in the city. Choose from a long list of tasty treats, such as chorizo, paella, and mussels in white wine.
• read more ›
  
  If the staff allow you to sit outside on the enclosed terrace (which pretty much depends on how well dressed and good looking you are) then you are in for a treat. Excellent modern European food with an exotic twist at reasonable prices.
• Golden Falcon read more ›
  (18-20 Strada Hristo Botev. Tel. 021 314 2825)
  Sit down at one of the big round tables and feast on generously sized kebabs and the best freshly baked bread in the city. There's no menu: you are simply presented with meze dishes and kebabs and asked which you want.

• Caffe & Latte read more ›
  (35 Bulevardul Schitu Magureanu. Tel. 021 314 3800)
  Startlingly good Italian restaurant, where fresh seafood dishes are served with high-class wines. Dining upstairs on the rooftop terrace overlooking Cişmigiu Park makes it worth the substantial bill.
• Aquarium read more ›
  (4 Strada Alecu Russo. Tel. 021 211 2820)
  One of few Italian restaurants in Bucharest that makes fresh pasta on the premises. The ludicrously expensive prices make it popular with top business diners.
• Heritage read more ›
  (19 Strada Polona. Tel. 021 210 1500)
  Reopened in April after a long refit and some major changes in the kitchen. New head chef Richard Nael has his heart set on making this place the first Michelin-starred eatery in town. Expect exquisite food and Romania's richest people for company.
• Uptown Bar & Grill read more ›
  (2 Strada Rabat. Tel. 021 231 4077)
  What makes finding a table here impossible is the lovely covered terrace that means you can eat alfresco even when snow is falling outside. The beef carpaccio, served with chunky pieces of fresh Parmesan and rocket, is Bucharest's best.
• Casa di David read more ›
  (7-9 Sos Nordului . Tel. 021 232 4715)
  Few places serve better Italian food in Bucharest and none have the exclusive feel of this all-glass marvel overlooking Herastrau Lake. It is impossible not to feel very important as you sip expensive imported wines surrounded by the city's richest people.
• Maiko read more ›
  (27-29 Strada Grigore Gafencu. Tel. 021 233 2633)
  Pretty waitresses in kimonos greet you as you enter, before proceeding to serve the best Japanese meal-be it sushi or tepanyaki-of your life.

After Dark

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• Laptaria lui Enache/La Motor read more ›
  (2 Bulevardul Nicolae Balcescu. Tel. 021 315 8508)
  Do what the city's students do and head here - on the roof of the National Theatre - for cheap beer, crowds of youngsters, outdoor film screenings and occasional live music.
• Festival 39 read more ›
  (62-64 Strada Franceza. Tel. 0743 339 909)
  Classy café on Piaţa Unirii. Forget the gloomy interior with its sepia prints and instead drink great coffee on the raised wooden terrace on the biggest (and busiest) square in the city.
• Museo read more ›
  (2 Soseaua Kiseleff. Tel. 021 650 0110)
  Smart café inside the Geology Museum. Surprisingly atmospheric and a hit with the design crowd, it is the perfect place to kick off a long night.
• Pascucci read more ›
  (152 Calea Dorobanţi. Tel. 021 230 2295)
  Exclusive Italian coffee in an exclusive location. You'll need to fight to get one of the tables next to the huge windows, but it's well worth the effort if you're in posing mode.
• Plach read more ›
  (153-155 Bulevardul Dacia. Tel. 0730 448 080)
  Great café and bar with huge windows looking out on busy Bulevardul Dacia. Locals mix at the big round tables to a background of chill-out sounds played at a volume that still allows conversation.
• Valea Regilor read more ›
  (16-20 Calea Victoriei, Pasajul Villacrosse. Tel. 021 311 2969)
  Coffee or cocktail? Take your pick from the extensive menu at this bohemian hangout in one of Bucharest's early-20th century arcades.

• Coyote Cafe read more ›
  (48-50 Calea Victoriei. Tel. 021 311 3487)
  Still the top choice for a night of old-fashioned rock 'n' roll. A live resident band (Jukebox) plays good renditions of classic hits to a young, raucous crowd that drinks copious amounts of beer.
• Coyote Cafe read more ›
  (48-50 Calea Victoriei. Tel. 021 311 3487)
  Still the top choice for a night of old-fashioned rock 'n' roll. A live resident band plays classic covers to a young, raucous crowd that drinks copious amounts of beer.
• Coyote Cafe read more ›
  (48-50 Calea Victoriei. Tel. 021 311 3487)
  Great choice for a night of old-fashioned rock 'n' roll. A resident band plays good renditions of classic hits to a young crowd that drinks copious amounts of cheapish beer.
• Coyote Cafe read more ›
  (48-50 Calea Victoriei. Tel. 021 311 3487)
  Still the top choice for a night of old-fashioned rock 'n' roll. Live resident band Jukebox plays good renditions of classic hits to a young, raucous crowd that drinks copious amounts of beer.
• Clubul Taranului read more ›
  (3 Sos Kiseleff. Tel. 021 317 9660)
  Biggish space at the back of the Peasant Museum which-on Friday and Saturday night-is employed as a venue for folk and rock concerts. Expect a more more cerebral crowd than that found elsewhere in the city.
• Coyote Cafe read more ›
  (48-50 Calea Victoriei. Tel. 021 311 3487)
  Still the top choice for a night of old-fashioned rock 'n' roll. A live resident band (Jukebox) plays good renditions of classic hits to a young, raucous crowd that drinks copious amounts of beer.

• The Office read more ›
  (2 Strada Tache Ionescu. Tel. 0745 110 064)
  A savvy, seen-it-all crowd of well-dressed thirtysomethings gets down to mainstream club sounds at this Bucharest legend. Cocktails are cheaper than elsewhere in town.
• Shade read more ›
  (24 Bulevardul Magheru. Tel. 0731 060 606)
  New club in the city centre where most nights kick off with live music from local bands before a DJ takes to the decks. An elegant interior makes it feel more café than club, and the crowd is suitably grown up.
• Oblio read more ›
  (53 Strada Temisana. Tel. 021 319 6825)
  Crazy bar and late-night venue dedicated to an obscure character from a 1960s cartoon. Unpretentious, it attracts a sound local crowd of jazzmen, as well as fans of alternative and progressive rock.
• Expirat/Other Side of Expirat read more ›
  (4 Strada Brezoianu. Tel. 0726 804 142)
  Expirat offers mainstream clubby sounds, while The Other Side of Expirat (note: it has a separate entrance) is a more edgy place where the DJ is capable of putting absolutely anything on the turntable.
• Rooms read more ›
  (28-30 Strada Mendeleev. Tel. 0730 076 667)
  Three-level pub, club and lounge where a youngish crowd of wealthy locals dances to the latest club sounds direct from London. To get a table in the pub downstairs you will need to book.
• The Office read more ›
  (2 Strada Tache Ionescu. Tel. 0745 110 064)
  A savvy, seen-it-all crowd of well-dressed thirtysomethings gets down to mainstream club sounds in this Bucharest legend of a club. Cocktails are cheaper than elsewhere in town.

This month...

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Tips

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