Pleasant atmosphere, stylish setting, exclusive background music, selected drinks and absolutely delicious food: all this is about Eli Pili – a suitable location for a romantic dinner or a warm meeting with friends. The menu offers a variety of traditional and European dishes in generous portions, served with great originality. Remember to pair your food with the right drink: beer, wine or spirits. The restaurant is open 24/7 and is suitable for any occasion. Check it out!
Eli-Pili
La Taifas
Due to „La Taifas” restaurant, you will keep long-lasting memories of the Moldovan culinary traditions. At the entrance, father Nicolai awaits you with a glass of wine and, before leaving, you will necessarily have one for the road, what the Moldovans call the “stirrup cup” – meaning that you will have a glass of wine on the house, so that you can take some of the warmness of this place with you. At “La Taifas”, you can spend a beautiful evening in its big room and have a good Moldovan wine, while watching how the bread is being baked in the wood oven.
La Sezatoare
„La Șezătoare” restaurant invites you to spend time in the company of authentic food and music. Its menu offers you a large range of traditional food, starting with sarmale (dolmas) and ending with homemade noodles. By the way, have you heard about șezătoarea (sitting), another element inherited by our people from the ancestors? This secular tradition implies spending time with peers, talking about what’s new and doing not too hard work, such as knitting, crocheting or even embroidery.
La Placinte
If you languish for tasty pies, then go to “La Plăcinte “, where you can find the largest variety of pies in the city. But their menu is not limited to delicious pastries, it includes the whole range of traditional food. We recommend that you do not miss the famous dessert of the restaurant – sour cherry pancakes, which are, in fact, the taste of the Moldovans’ childhood. Are you wondering what our childhood tastes like?
Vatra Neamului
The restaurant invites you to taste royal food and drinks in a historical ambiance. The menu includes specialties inspired by several cultures: Romanian, Turkish, Russian, along with other culinary art works taken from the cuisine of the countries that had contacts with the Romanians. “Vatra Neamului” restaurant invites you to sit at an old table, full of memories, to eat using local royal cutlery, characteristic of the old age, and to delight your senses with the exceptional traditional cuisine!
La Gura Cuptorului Guesthouse
The La Gura Cuptorului guesthouse is next to the Bread Museum in Valeni and not far from the Prutul de Jos nature reserve and Lake Beleu.
If you stay, you will want to learn about Moldova’s traditional breads. This will include the difference between botcala — spontaneously leavened bread — and yeast-leavened bread. You will also learn how to create hoopoe, or mother-in-law bread, and burnacei, pigeon bread.
Your stay wouldn’t be complete without meeting Lidia Bejenaru, the Grandma of Valeni, who gained international fame as a member of a Moldovan folk ensemble. She charmed millions of Eurovision talent contest watchers with her drum-playing in 2005.
Gagauz Sofrasi
If you go to Congaz, which the locals have dubbed the largest village in Europe, you must stay at the Gagauz Sofrasi Guest House. Its authentic wooden houses amount to a miniature version of a traditional Gagauzian courtyard. The complex, which can accommodate 20 people, is built entirely of natural materials. All of the architectural trappings repeat, in the smallest detail, what locals of 100 years ago saw in their homes. These include stoves with lejanca — extensions where you can lie down — plus small wooden windows, hanging rugs, and traditional wool carpets.
Spend the night at Gagauz Sofrasi, enjoying the traditional costumes and dances, savoring Turkish meat dishes such as kavurma, and munching on gozleme bread, pizza-like pide and manga pie.
Fata Morgana
The Fata Morgana guesthouse is on the eastern shore of the widest part of the Nistru River. It’s so wide there — more than a kilometer — that locals call the area the seaside. The resort actually does have a beach, complete with wooden chairs and big sun umbrellas. In summer you can ski, jet-ski or fish on the Nistru. So many people walk away with fish that it is considered an angler’s dream. If you need to recharge your batteries, take in the sweeping views of the river from high ground. Or climb rocks or explore the Peştera Femeilor Infidele — the Cave of Unfaithful Women. Another attraction is the Green Waterfall, which is eight meters high and 25 wide. Not only does watching it mesmerize you, but in summer its mist cools you off.
Bahmut Club
The Bahmut Club is a good jumping-off point for hiking through the Plaiul Fagului nature reserve. In summer it also offers outdoor movies, jazz evenings and soul-soothing bonfires. A good way to get to the resort from Chisinau is by train. It stops right at Bahmut village.