Romanian gastronomy in Paris - lunch at the DOINA
Hidden away in the heart of tourist Paris, there lies a little-known and highly unusual eating-place, namely the Doina, one of the few Romanian restaurants in the West. It stands on the corner of rue St-Dominique (No 149; tel. 0145504957), not far from the Invalides and the Musee Rodin and a mere stone's throw from the Eiffel Tower, which can even be viewed from the tables at the window.
Romanian cuisine, if scarcely familiar to the world at large, has much to recommend it. It draws on an eclectic range of culinary influences,
>from Germanic (schnitzel and 'viennoiserie') through Russian (sour
cream and caviar) to Greek (moussaka) and Turkish (kebabs). Rice, polenta and vegetables feature prominently as accompaniments, and the food lacks the Germanic, fat-saturated heaviness of the cuisine of its Central European neighbours (e.g. the Czech Republic and Hungary). Those who appreciate the somewhat less unfamiliar gastronomy of Bulgaria or the former Yugoslavia will probably find Romania's culinary offerings to their taste.
The atmosphere in the Doina may reasonably be called authentic. The window proudly displays photos of the various celebrities who have eaten there over the years (the Romanian embassy is just round the corner): symphonic conductor Sergiu Celibidache, pan-flute maestro Gheorghe Zamfir, tennis star Ilie Nastase, and the current Romanian President Emil Constantinescu. The walls are plastered with posters celebrating Romania's still too-obscure tourist attractions: the elegant Parisian-style buildings of Bucharest, the glorious painted monasteries of Moldavia, the triumphantly eclectic late-nineteenth-century royal palace at Peles, the Danube Delta with its flocks of pelicans. Every table is covered with a thick red tablecloth which adequately represents Romanian folk-art, though the dinner service is French. One aspect which cannot be faulted is the music: unlike some ethnic restaurants which ruin their own atmosphere by forcing on the diners whatever junk-music happens to be on the radio, the owners of the Doina offered, on this occasion, an authentic piece of inter-war Bucharest urban folklore: the emotive, Edith Piaf-like strains of the celebrated vocalist Maria Tanase, accompanied by gypsy fiddlers.
The decor is a suitable backdrop to an excellent menu. A wide range of traditional Romanian dishes is offered, with all items listed in both Romanian and French. Among the specialities are 'ciorba de burta' (a lemon-scented broth of tripe with garlic), aubergine purée, 'sarmale' (stuffed cabbage leaves), fried carp and roast lamb (the lamb is a central symbol of the Romanian folk tradition). My companion chose to start with 'cascaval pane' (breaded sheep's cheese fritters, far more appetizing than similar preparations elsewhere in Central Europe, thanks to the particularly high quality, as befits the nation's shepherd tradition, of Romanian cheese - which rivals with Greek and Italian, but remains, alas, one of the country's best-kept secrets), accompanied by a succulent portion of roast green peppers. I began with 'mamaliga cu brinza', a quintessentially Romanian dish of steamed polenta topped with cream cheese. Both starters were excellent, and the main course too was well up to expectations: an ample serving of 'mititei' - Turkish-style, delicately spiced grilled lamb sausages - garnished with an interesting selection of cooked vegetables (including celery and okra) and pickles. For dessert, my companion went for 'papanasi', a cheese-filled doughnut, while I sampled 'clatite', pancakes with black cherries and sour cream, which proved superlative - and, again, far more palatable and less heavy than what one might find served up in Budapest or Prague.
On our experience at least, the cooking cannot be faulted and even rates ten out of ten. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of the bibulous dimension. We were served an aperitif of 'tuica', the classic Romanian plum brandy, but it was obviously industrially produced and fell far short of the standard one would find in a Romanian home. Similarly, the wine had obviously been chemically treated: it was labelled as Tarnave, a Transylvanian wine, but had been bottled in Focsani in Moldavia, on the other side of the country - the vintage was 1994, but one wonders if this anomaly may have been a relic of the old, pre-1989 system of 'socialist distribution'. We concluded that diners might be better advised to wash down their Romanian repast with French wine. It should be added that the service was what one might generously describe as tending towards the laid-back and unhurried.
Those two caveats apart, we thoroughly recommend this restaurant. It is unfortunate that it should be, as far as we know, the one and only flagship in France of the culture of Brancusi, Cioran and Enescu in its culinary dimension. Romanian food, if properly prepared as here, is multi-cultural, varied and healthy, and deserves, like so many other facets of that sadly maligned country, to be far better known and appreciated than it is. It would make a start if a few more tourists took up our recommendation, and rounded off their visit to the Eiffel Tower or their stroll along the Quai d'Orsay by sampling the genuine and surprising gastronomic delights of 'cascaval', 'mamaliga' and 'clatite'. The Doina might even encourage them to explore Europe's easternmost Latin country, with its mountains, spas, monasteries and medieval cities, all waiting to be discovered by those brave enough to leap the barrier of hackneyed media stereotypes and glib Draculesque clichés, and experience the real Romania for themselves.
Christopher Rollason, 30 November 1997
Christopher Rollason
Metz, France
[email removed]
'Yet, Freedom, yet, thy banner, torn but flying,
Streams like a thunder-storm _against_ the wind'
Byron, 'Childe Harold'
From [email removed] Fri Jan 2 13:07:51 EST 1998
Article: 37279 of rec.food.restaurantsParis, France