Roata — Restaurant in Cluj Metropolitan Area

OMG, what mediocre and overpriced food this is. I don't even know where to begin: The soup was borderline disgusting. For the price I paid, I expect the soup to be freshly made at least daily. The broth was fresh and the noodles and chicken was pre-partially cooked and dumped into the broth The second course, apart that it came on overly used wooden plates, it was dripping in oil. Not just a bit, but absolutely every time I tried to cut the meat, oil was dripping out The pancakes were half burnt. It said they came with blueberry jam but it was actually blackberry and blueberry. I wouldn't normally mind but it's important to be aware of what you're eating. This is particularly important when you're catering to expats and non-Romanians. Also it makes me think what else is mislabeled The tables were sticky and were not cleaned between guests. I know because our table was ridiculously sticky and there was a table behind us that had two sets of guests while we were there and it wasn't cleaned once. The fact that you put paper placemats doesn't mean you can skip on the basics like cleaning the tables The toilets are disgusting. They're dirty and stinky.

All this for overpriced and underwhelming "traditional" food. FYI - can't believe how mediocre the food was. Absolutely...

Decided to go for a Romanian restaurant and try some of the local dishes. The restaurant itself is not easy to find, parking is difficult next to impossible. They have a lovely terrace, with tables for about 40-50 people. The inside decor is also very nice with rustic tables and chairs, traditional clothes and pottery. The service took a while but they recovered their delay by bringing a small treat, 2 complimentary shots of palincă (traditional snaps very good but very strong) and visinata (made from sour cherries also very tasty and very strong). First, the soup; I ordered the gulaș which was very good and the bread that came with it was also very tasty. For the main course I went with their recommendation and had Varza a la Cluj(the best that I ever had) and my wife had polenta with chicken stew which wasn't the best but still good. The dessert was the best. I had Lapte de pasăre(untranslatable but delicious) and a papanași stick are donuts witch cheese, sour cream sauce and forest fruit jam. The price was ok, around 40 euro for both of us including drinks. So for those that would like to have a taste of Romania, or those that would like to have a taste of the past dishes, go to Roata and just enjoy your...

It is a lovely, cozy little place. I did dine in a couple of times before to be able to write a more comprehensive review. They serve traditional romanian, hungarian and some local (Transylvanian dishes) or so they say. The "varza a la Cluj" is not prepared the way they do it and let's not talk about the goulash. The goulash is a stew and not the traditional dish :) These dishes are delicious, don't get me wrong, but if you would like to try the real traditional food, might not be your place. The service is so and so and not really helpful. We visited a couple of times with some colleagues from abroad and if you would like to split the bill they will tell you it is not possible because: "it takes too much time", "it's hard" and these kind of answers, but only if you ask "why?" (the first answer was "We cannot do that"). This was a very negative and unpleasant experience. The guys could not get a receipt to expense it person per person. We also had to re-arrange our own tables to fit around it. I would recommend the place for the food. The music is not loud so you can easily talk at the table, the bathroom is clean. Regarding the Price/Quality, I would say, you can find better...