With finals just around the corner and deadlines getting tighter, students tend to rely on the comfort and isolation of their rooms. However, it’s not always the best thing for our mental health. Another option is to take your notes and laptop to a coffee shop. Here’s three of the city’s most relaxing, chill cafes to get some work done, while enjoying some delicious food and drinks.
Ad Hoc Bistro
Just off the busy streets, near some of Bucharest’s most popular museums and restaurants, is the Ad Hoc Bistro. It’s a great cafe to eat lunch with a group of friends or to find a quiet place to study and drink a cup of coffee. It has a large food menu, warm drinks, and an assortment of cakes.
Atmosphere:
The industrial interior creates a cozy and comfortable ambiance, perfect for getting some school work done. With its long, high tables and stools, it would also be a nice spot for going with a group of friends on the weekend. The restaurant space is split up with an archway that keeps the noise of chatter at a low and comfortable volume.
Food and cost:
One of the dishes that we tasted was a salmon and avocado toast (49 lei). Atop the soft, crisp toasted bread was a generous spread of perfectly ripe avocado, and a slice of smoked salmon. To finish it off was a sprinkle of parmesan cheese and a garnish of rocket. This delicious mixture is the perfect option for a healthy breakfast or lunch.
This pasta (38 lei) is made with a homemade pesto sauce: a succulent blend of basil leaves and pine nuts. Served with diced garlic, mashed avocado and carrot, and sprinkled with plenty of parmesan cheese, we recommend this if you’re seeking comfort (which, if you’re studying for IB exams, you desperately need!).
This deliciously sweet layered caramel cake is guaranteed to satisfy any sweet-tooth. With its rich, creamy layers, this cake was neither too sweet nor overpowering. Just the perfect mix of caramel, cream, and soft crackers, with almond slices on top. Would definitely recommend.
Rating: 4/5
Website: https://www.facebook.com/AdHocBistro/
Reservation: 0770 214 214
Address: Strada C. A. Rosetti 10, București 030167
FRUDISIAC:
Amongst the charming old villas and leafy trees that line the quiet street of Intrarea Bitolia in Dorobanti, you’ll see a spattering of bright-yellow garden chairs outside Frudisiac. As we walked in the popular cafe, we were welcomed by the warmth of its minimalistic, Scandinavian style and the smell of strawberry and cream pancakes.
Atmosphere:
A long picnic table, some magazines and good coffee: the perfect fusion of random elements to make your Sunday school-work session a little more sociable and your weekday working sessions a little more enjoyable. We know this, as we’ve experienced the difference in Frudisiac’s atmosphere at two different times of the week. On a Sunday, brunch time tends to get busy; and unfortunately, Frudisiac does not take reservations. But, as we got seated at the long central table of the cafe, we immediately fell in love with the amiability of Frudisiac altogether; not only from the waiters, but also from the other customers themselves. On weekdays, Frudisiac becomes a quiet and peaceful haven, filled with locals on laptops–perfect for getting some work done in another environment other than your room.
Food and cost:
Although known for its wide variety of drinks and sweet snacks, we decided to go full-on brunch mode and try their two best-reputed toasts; the EGG-VOCADO (20 lei) and the EGG TOAST (20 lei); and may we say that this is some of the best avocado and salmon toast that we’ve ever had?
For the price of the toasts, we were definitely not disappointed by the beautifully displayed dishes which were served to us in the span of a short five minutes. Not only that, but the quality of the ingredients used for both toasts reminded us that fresh ingredients can make for healthy and delicious results.
The Egg-vocado toast included some homemade, freshly baked cereal bread topped with the most perfect consistency of mashed avocado, which had been seasoned with a dash of chili flakes to add some heat to the simple dish. The dish was accompanied by a side of rocket salad, which had been drizzled with a little bit of sweet balsamic vinegar. Finally, to complete the plate, a softly poached egg was delicately placed on top of the toast, and as you can probably imagine; yes, the yolk did, indeed, perfectly ooze out as we cut into it.
Also known for its fruit-based, organic drinks, we thought it only appropriate to taste one of their smoothies. We decided on the Gingerly yours (15 lei), a smoothie only made of organic pineapple, apple, orange, and ginger. The smoothie was not too sweet and perfectly balanced.
Although the second toast that we tasted, Egg Toast (20 lei), wasn’t as fulfilling as the Egg-vocado, we think it would make a perfect afternoon snack, especially after a long day of working at school. This toast was accompanied by the same rocket salad as the other, but was instead topped with scrambled eggs and smoked salmon. The egg in this toast was slightly more bland than in the avocado, due to the fact that it was not as well seasoned. On the other hand, the smoked salmon was subtle and refreshing and was also seasoned with chili flakes.
After the delicious and light toasts, we decided to move on to dessert. We first started with their prominent fluffy pancakes, topped only by fruit, homemade ricotta cream, honey and lemon zest. This dessert took a refreshing and fruity turn on a rather simple dish. The pancakes were perfectly soft and the homemade ricotta was able to balance the sweetness that emerged from the fruits and the honey.
Finally, to finish off our visit at Frudisiac, we decided to taste a final dessert: their infamous Carrot cake (11 lei). This small–yet hefty–cupcake was a very interesting take on your typical carrot cake. Although the batter was perfectly moist (as a carrot cake–or any cake–should be), the cream cheese topping was dipped in crushed walnuts, giving the cake an overall crunchy texture and leaving us only wanting more!
Rating: 4.5/5
Website: https://www.facebook.com/frudisiac
Reservation: Frudisiac does not take reservations.
Address: Intrarea Bitolia 4, București 011677
The Urbanist
This adorable little cafe in the heart of Lipscani is a perfect place for drinks, a snack, and a quiet place to work. As soon as you step inside this tiny cafe it is guaranteed to lighten your spirits with its beautifully decorated interior. From the beautiful long bench tables out on the cobbled street, to the fairy lights and fresh plants hanging from the ceiling, this cafe would have to be one of Bucharest’s hidden gems.
Atmosphere:
With fresh plants lining the wall and hanging from the ceiling, and fairy lights circling the room, The Urbanist was just the kind of cozy atmosphere we were looking for. Inside, there were small glass tables for two, a longer couch table suitable for larger groups, and a window seat looking out to the bustling street of Lipscani. There was even an indoor swing seat, which was fitted with soft cushions. While the outdoor tables would be perfect for spending a sunny afternoon, it was a little too distracting for our study date.
Food and cost:
Sandwich Mozzarella Prosciutto and Sandwich Mozzarella Pesto
Despite the only food options being sandwiches and cakes, the food was perfect for a snack or a lunch. We tasted two of the sandwiches, the Mozzarella Prosciutto and Mozzarella Pesto (21 lei each). Both of the sandwiches were served warm on beautiful copper plates. From the fresh, crunchy bread to the flavorful combination of ingredients, the sandwiches were absolutely perfect to help boost our energy to help get some work done.
We tried, alongside the sandwiches, one of The Urbanist’s unique freshly squeezed juices. From the many choices of juices, each with a different nutritional values, such as antioxidants, energy boosters and more, we tried the Stress Down juice (19 lei). This juice was a mixture of fresh strawberry juice, with apple and ginger. This exquisite combination definitely worked in lowering our stress, leaving us refreshed and relaxed.
Finally, we tasted two delicious desserts, the Salted Caramel Tart (16 lei) and the Chocolate Cake (16 lei), accompanied by a chai latte (14 lei).
The Salted Caramel tart had creamy layers of chocolate and, as you might have guessed, salty caramel. The delicious combination of sweet milk chocolate and the salty cracker base made this the perfect dessert.
The triple dark chocolate cake was incredibly rich and slightly too heavy, in our opinion. However, it did pair well with the creamy spiced chai latte.
Rating: 4.5/5
Website: https://www.facebook.com/www.TheUrbanist.ro/
Reservation: 0749 767 624
Address: Strada Căldărari 3, București 030167
Tell us: What’s your go-to cafe for studying? Comment below to start a conversation!