Terasa Obor

Bucharest, Romania

A large open-air terrace beside the Obor market in northeastern Bucharest, one of the city's oldest and most working-class food institutions. Obor is the city's main public market, and the terrace beside it has fed market workers, vendors, and locals since the communist era. The menu is short and practical: mici, beer, bread, and mustard. The charcoal grill runs from morning through the evening. Mici here arrive hot from the grill, six to a plate, with a smear of sharp muștar on the side and a basket of white bread. The clientele is local and the prices are low. This is not a tourist destination but a working terrace where the food is the point.

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Sausages served here

Mici

Bucharest, Romania

Mici are Romania's national street food: skinless grilled cylinders of seasoned minced meat, about 8 centimetres long, eaten with sharp mustard and cold beer. They have no casing. The mix is beef-dominant, with pork added for fat, sometimes lamb for depth. Garlic, black pepper, and dried thyme (cimbru) season the meat; baking soda dissolved in cold beef broth makes them puff on the grill, giving a light interior beneath the char. Every Romanian summer terrace has a charcoal grill running from noon to midnight, and mici are what that grill produces. The dish exists in Moldova too, under the same name and largely the same recipe.

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