Casa Bunicii ("Grandma's House") on Vasile Alecsandri Street is one of the city's most reliable Romanian restaurants — a converted townhouse with several small dining rooms, hung with embroidered tablecloths and grandmother-vintage photographs. The menu is straightforward Banat cooking: smoked carp ciorba, sarmale (stuffed cabbage), mititei, and a long list of papanasi for dessert.
Portions are generous and prices reasonable. The Hungarian-Romanian fusion dishes — paprika chicken, gulas served over mamaliga — work well. House wine from the nearby Recas vineyards is poured by the glass, jug or bottle. Reservations are advisable at weekends; the place fills with family groups and birthday celebrations.