Cantina, Vasile Alecsandri 1

A lunch canteen at 1 Vasile Alecsandri Street, in the 40 de ani area of the Centru district, open on weekdays only, around midday. The format is the classic one: a handful of dishes cooked that day, soups, sides and mains, plus a pastry counter, served along a tray line with the option of taking food away. The room is small and the regulars come from the surrounding offices and institutions. There is no website and no social media presence.

Google reviews rate the service positively, but there are few of them and most are old, so the picture should be read with caution. Reviewers praised prices that are low for a central location, and the pastries, while several noted it is the only place of its kind nearby. The criticism concerns the narrow choice of dishes and, in two more detailed reviews, hygiene: a smell of old fat in summer and food brought in large plastic containers. If you pick this place for lunch, come at the start of the serving window, while the dishes have just arrived.