When talking about food in Cluj, you are talking about local food and American food.
The local food is inspired mostly by Hungarian traditional dishes and will surprise with it’s use of ingrdients.
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Poppy seed cakes. Cluj locals love poppy seed cakes. And my favorite of them all is the Baigli cake made by the Panemar local chain bakery. Baigli is a Hungarian roll-type cake made with sweet un-risen brioche dough with poppy seed filling. It’s not too sweet, so you can really feel the filling.
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Varza a la Cluj (Cabbage of Cluj). Cluj local love cabbage as a main course. This dish is quite surprising. It does not look like much at first, but the taste blows you away. It is equal parts sote cabbage and pork mince with lots of spices and paprika (Locals love paprika. You will find it in everything!) and topped with sour cream.
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Aged cheeses. Cluj-made cheese will give the french a run for their money. There are a few cheeses that you need to try while in Cluj. Go find a Napolact store and look for the famous Nasal cheese, which the french themselves nicknamed “the Camembert of Romanian”. Try it with with fresh grapes on bread from the Panemar bakery.
After trying the local stuff, go for American food. Locals are crazy for American foods. Nowadays, you will find a good burger joint on every street almost.
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The burger house burger from Burger House. It’s the very first thing I ate when I got to this city and it’s very hard to beat. Those guys really offer the best experience possible and the smell of freshly minced fried beef is going to become a problem.
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The pork ribs from Big Belly. Go eat in their restaurant! It’s way better than the take away! You will be greeted with a giant platter of smoky oven-baked ribs with roasted crispy potato halves … and barbecue sauce. Come on an empty stomach. You will need the room. And don’t forget to order a beer.
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The raspberry doughnut from Donuts. If you ever had a dream about a place that makes the perfect deep fried desert, this is it. The variations are constantly changing, but the top sellers still stay on the shelves. The raspberry is my personal favorite, but feel free to fight me.