Bucharest

I have never been a fan of New Year’s Eve. Call me a party pooper but the thought of having to pre-book a ticket or table for the same bar or restaurant you frequent every other night of the year without problem leaves me cold. Not as cold as Bucharest though as it turns out. We decided to try something different going into 2016 so we opted for the Romanian capital to see in the New Year, spending three nights in the well appointed Liad Apartments located a convenient 5-10 minute walk away from Bucharest’s old town. We even had a complementary bottle of slightly dubious but much welcomed fizzy wine waiting in our apartment on arrival. The minus 10 degrees Celsius temperature did nothing to quell our spirit of adventure (aided by thermal trousers and multiple layers of clothing) as we explored the sites and sounds of this up and coming city.  As Ryanair has just opened up a new route to the Romanian capital I would suggest you will see a few more photos of it cropping up on your social media feeds from time to time.

The old town is the hub for the majority of the bars and restaurants in Bucharest so looking for accommodation within walking distance is advisable, although there is an easy to navigate metro system which stops very close to where the action is (the stop is Universitate).

A little sceptical of the potential for vegan cuisine and ravenous from the 3 and a half hour flight and bus ride to the centre (please see our Info page for details of transfers to and from the airport and other useful tips) we decided to play it safe on the first night and head over to Park Herastrau where the Hard Rock Cafe is located.  Unfortunately, the closest metro station is Aviatorilor, at which point you will be faced with a good 30-45 minute walk through the park (which I’m sure would be lovely on a summer’s day, but not so great on an Antarctic December night) or down the main road, past the Arc of Triumph (main tourist attraction ticked off instantly, also covered in scaffolding). I had the usual burger and Rhian had the veggie burger which was good all round and aided in no small part by the cheap beer and bottle of prosecco. The staff were good and attentive and understood if you asked for no dairy or cheese. As a note, it is always worth checking with staff that there is no cheese on your meal. We quickly found out that the Romanians love cheese and will tend to serve it with everything unless asked not to (at which point you may get a funny look for being crazy enough to pose such an odd request as “no parmesan please”).

We headed back to the old town and decided to check out some of the local bars, we were not disappointed. The old town is a maze of cobbled streets with plenty of bars, cafes, restaurants and even the Old Princely Court of none other than Vlad the Impaler. If more people knew about this place it would trump Prague for stag capital of Europe hands down. The criss crossing streets of the old town would be everything that any best man could hope for to give his mate a stag to remember (or one he won’t if he drinks too much of the increasingly cheaper beer). Being a fan of all things hoppy, we decided to try a couple of bars renowned for good beer and good atmosphere. Our evening took us first to 100 de Beri – as the name suggests, there were more than enough beers to keep you going for a long weekend and beyond. There was table service (as it seems it is every other place in Europe apart from the UK) so we took a seat in the back room and waited for the waitress. She was very attentive and would be ready to take your order as soon as the last drop of malty goodness had entered your mouth. There is a heavy smoking culture in Bucharest and the smoke in the room we were in did dampen the senses when it came to the beer tasting. Having said that, the beer was good and I would recommend asking for one of the bar’s own beers which was perfectly decent and quenched a thirst to try a genuinely local brew. Not all of the beers on the menu were available when we were there but there are more than enough local and foreign ales to satisfy.

We rolled out of 100 de Beri and into the appropriately named ‘Beer O’Clock’ located just a couple of streets over. There we had the pleasant surprise of seeing a number of Newport’s finest Tiny Rebel Brewery bottles on display. Unfortunately there were none available when we were there, but I’m not sure that I see the point of going all the way to Bucharest only to have a beer (albeit some of my favourite beers) brewed 60 miles down the road from your own house. However, I took it as a sign that this place knew its IPA from its porters so I asked the barman to recommend a local beer based on my preferences and was not disappointed. I would definitely recommend asking for advice on the local fare, not only will you benefit from the lower price but also the experience of tasting some of the modern beers that Romania is producing these days.

Several beers later and after a lengthy discussion with the knowledgeable staff about the benefits of importing Gower Gold and other Welsh brews, we decided to head for home along Blanari street. It was at this point we stumbled across Club A and decided to pop in for a nightcap of 6 lei Czech lager, this soon turned into half a dozen bottles and subsequently a raging hangover the next day, once and for all disproving Prague Theory (see Prague entry). The club itself was a great local experience with friendly patrons and a good amount of indie rock music from the UK and Romania. Definitely recommended for an authentic experience of the local night life, cheap beer and busting out those moves on the dance floor.

The next day we set about exploring the city. Having already realised the night before that we would not be able to go to the top of the Arc of Triumph we decided to focus mainly on the old town once again and took in some of the general architecture and the plethora of gift shops selling the usual tacky magnets and novelty shot glasses. Unfortunately most of the sites (such as the Princely Court) seemed to be closed as it was New Year’s Eve. This didn’t bother us too much as we were still recovering from the night before. As such we decided to try out Cafe Van Gogh for a spot of lunch and a much needed cup of coffee. This was an intriguing place with an art gallery on the floor above and various works hanging on the walls for purchase. The unfortunate thing was the cafe itself; the service was slow and our drinks were left stagnating on the bar for an age before they were delivered to our table (after prompting a couple of times). Additionally the hot food such as fajitas were pre-prepared with cheese and could not be made without. I had the fajitas which were adequate, whilst Rhian was left with the choice of potato wedges or nothing. She opted for wedges, but was sure to specify no cheese, once again getting a look of derision for doing so.

That evening we set out to go ice skating in Gradina Cismigiu park but were unfortunately met with darkness and a closed ice rink. So we decided to cut our losses, look for somewhere to eat and start the New Years celebrations. Close to the park on Bulevardul Regina Elisabeta we found Gambrinus. The bar come restaurant was spacious, with plenty of tables and a long bar. We took a table close to the back of the restaurant and were served promptly after ordering a local lager each (served as a quarter, half and a full litre). I ordered a steak which was fantastic apart from the unnecessary addition of it being served on a piece of toast. Rhian ordered a stuffed courgette and the standard potato wedges (requesting no cheese, again!). The portion size was enormous and the courgette with stuffing of miscellaneous veg was wonderfully flavoursome. The staff could not have been more accommodating, spoke fantastic English and were extremely attentive. I would definitely recommend for a large and tasty meal at an extremely reasonable price.

Afterwards we tried out one of the three ‘Oktoberfest’ bars in the old town. This one was located on Strada Selari and is the largest of their bars. It was very busy (as you may expect on NYE) so we bagged the first table we saw in the front room. It was only after exploring later that we found out how large the place was, with a number of rooms and terraces stretching back behind the relatively narrow façade. The atmosphere was lively but predictably smoke filled. The bar sells a wide range of lagers and beers in measures from taster glasses to pitchers, as well as various merchandise to commemorate your time there. If reasonably priced beer in large volumes is what you’re after, this would be the place. For the more discerning taste I would plump for 100 de Beri or Beer o’Clock every time.

Despite the vibrant atmosphere there seemed to be no suggestion of pending New Years celebrations so we decided to walk down the vast Bulevardul Unirii towards the presidential palace. A building of remarkable stature and actually the 2nd largest administrative building in the world behind the Pentagon (according to my Bucharest guide book). The New Years celebrations were less than remarkable however, with no fireworks (apart from those let off by people in the crowd) or countdown to the big moment. I understand this is because of political tensions at the time, so I am sure it would be better in future, but I shall steer well clear of politics in this blog!

Returning to the old town we were almost wading through a sea of party poppers and champagne corks, it seems that the punters had woken up for midnight and we had missed all the action. Although we did have some locals inexplicably try to hand us a couple of sheep, maybe they had heard that us Welsh were coming to town.

Waking up to a significant new year for us, we were excited to get out and explore the rest of the city, until we found out that pretty much everything was closed (until after we were leaving it turns out). We eventually managed to find a non-stop shop open so ducked in for a breakfast of crisps and a Rom bar (highly doubt these were vegan so Rhian decided to forego and stuck with the crisps). We visited the newer end of town, notably revolution square, a place worth visiting for its significance to the Romanian people. It was then back to the open ice rink for a bit of New Year’s Day fun.

Wandering round this end of town we could find nowhere open still and were genuinely considering the prospect of living on a diet of Lays crisps and Coke all day until we found that Gambrinus was open for drinks, a proverbial oasis in the desert, so stopped for a coffee.

Seeing signs of life we headed back to the old town and found that a handful of places were open for business. Relieved by this we decided to try out a bar called Bordellos. We were a little apprehensive about it at first as the sign outside said “drop in for a s**g and a bite”. Thinking that must have been lost in translation we dropped in for the latter and found that the former would have been just as likely a possibility if you’re into that sort of thing. Now I could be wrong about this but the retro glamour shots and room numbers on some of the doors upstairs fuelled our suspicions. Regardless, the food was fine and the beer was good, plus at this point it was very much a “beggars can’t be choosers” situation. I guess it gives me something to write about if nothing else.