During one of our six days in the pretty town of Brasov in Romania, we wandered the streets looking for eateries that might provide us with some delicious Romanian cuisine.
We had heard about some of the delights to be had in this wonderful country (most of which revolved around hearty meat dishes) and were hoping to stray away from the typical fare we’d been eating in Belgrade (namely, delicious pizza, burek and Serbian beef burgers).
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When we stepped into Sergiana, it seemed very modern for a “traditional” restaurant, but we perused the menu and decided we may come back at a later date. Now, I’ve spoken before about my love of Foodpotting and how it can sometimes help me decided where to eat in a strange town based solely on the quality of the food in the pictures, and this was one such occasion. On our last night in Brasov we wanted to go out for a sit-down meal and it was a tie between Bella Musica (another well-respected eatery in the area) or Serginana. We chose Sergiana because of some user photos we’d seen on Foodspotting.
I have to say that that was probably a mistake.
It all started off so well. We turned up, were seated at a nice table in the non-smoking section (although, I have to say that unfairly the smoking section is actually in a nicer and older part of the building) and were brought some fresh bread and a plate of what can only be described as fried pork fat and red onion. This dish was pleasantly tasty, so we were excited about the prospect of the food to come.
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I ordered the chicken schnitzel stuffed with cheese, mushrooms and pepper, accompanied by a portion of chips and grilled vegetables. It did actually irk me that I had to order accompaniments separately as an added cost, as the chicken schnitzel came with nothing as a dish, which would have meant the portion was too small on its own.
Scott ordered the chef’s special of sausages, ribs, cabbage and polenta, with a side order of peasant potatoes (similar to small roast potatoes cooked with bacon).
When the dishes came, I knew I would be disappointed with the meal. The portion was small compared to Scott’s dish which was cheaper in price (as I’d had to add on the accompaniments) and the chips were overcooked and crispy. As an English person, this upset me more than anything else.
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The grilled vegetables were rubbery and the chicken schntizel was dry and pretty tasteless, the only saving grace being the cheese to give it some more depth of flavour.
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Scott seemed to be off to a good start with the size of his plateful and the peasant potatoes turned out to be a good decision as they were garlicky and buttery, with small bits of bacon on them. However, once he had got only a third of the way through the dish, I could see he was struggling. There was just too much meat and not enough contrast in flavour with plain polenta as an accompaniment. It was far too heavy and the sausages were bland.
We ended up asking for some of Scott’s dish to be put in a doggy bag, for which we were actually going to use it for the name given – to give to some of the cute stray dogs that wander around the town!
All in all, we were really disappointed with the meal given the overall cost. The restaurant is really nicely designed and does seem to attract many locals (not just tourists, although there were a lot of these too), but it is just far too big to be able to produce high quality food.
If someone wanted to go here, I would recommend that they stick to a local-style soup or a regional special from the first page of the menu and enjoy the atmosphere and the fried pork. But other than that, you may be able to find a better fill elsewhere.
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