A Moldovan chain restaurant — named for plăcintă, the traditional flaky-pastry pie filled with cheese, potatoes, cherries, or apples — with several branches in central Chisinau. La Plăcinte is the place a local would take an out-of-town visitor for an honest first introduction to Moldovan food: large portions, low prices, broad menu of soups, mămăligă, grilled meats, and house wine by the glass.
The decor is rustic-vernacular — embroidered tablecloths, ceramic pitchers, dark wood — and it works as both a casual lunch stop and an evening sit-down. The flagship is on Pușkin Street near the Triumphal Arch; the menu is the same at every branch. Open all day.