Mici are Bucharest's skinless grilled minced-meat sausages, a blend of beef, lamb and pork seasoned with garlic, black pepper, baking soda and broth. The plate is served with mustard, bread and a Romanian lager.
Where to eat it: 5 restaurants across 1 city.
The mici (literally 'small ones', also called mititei, 'tiny ones') is a Bucharest invention. A 1920 letter from the chef of Caru' cu bere on Strada Stavropoleos, preserved in the Romanian Academy library, records the recipe. Popular legend ties the dish to Iordache Ionescu's tavern at 3 Covaci Street in the late 1800s, who ran out of intestines for sausages and grilled the spiced minced meat in skinless form. The dish is first mentioned in print by French-Romanian journalist Ulysse de Marsillac in 1870, and named 'mititei' around 1872 by writer N. T. Orășanu. May 1 Labour Day is the citywide mici-eating tradition.
Common allergens: May contain garlic, Baking soda
Tip from the editors. The baking soda is non-negotiable: it gives mici their signature bouncy texture. Don't skip the cold-rest stage either, or the casing-less mince will crumble on the grill.
The 1879 Caru' cu bere on Stavropoleos serves the soul of Bucharest dining, where mici were recorded in a 1920 chef's letter to the Academy.
Signature: Mici, Sarmale, Papanași
Order: Mici with mustard and ciorbă de burtă, then papanași for dessert.
Tip: Walk-up queues from 12:30 onward; the upstairs hall has the live folk band.
The 1808 caravanserai-turned-restaurant Hanu' lui Manuc on Franceză serves classic Romanian plates around one of Europe's last remaining inn courtyards.
Signature: Mici, Sarmale, Lamb tochitură
Order: Mici and a lamb tochitură; the cabbage rolls feed two.
Tip: The courtyard fills first; ask for a balcony table inside the U-shaped inn.
Five mici with mustard, bread and a Romanian lager at Piața Obor in Bucharest for under 35 RON, the most-cited budget plate in the entire capital.
Try: Mici and bread plate
Tip: Cash speeds up the queue; weekend lunches book the benches by 12:30.
Hanu' Berarilor Casa Oprea Soare runs a neo-Romanesque manor as a brewery-restaurant near Bucharest's Piața Unirii, giant platters and house beer.
Signature: Mici, Roasted duck leg, 1 meter mixed platter
Order: The one-meter mici and grilled-meats platter; the oven-roasted duck leg.
Tip: Booking by phone is fastest; the courtyard runs to 24:00 in summer.
Berăria H opened in 2014 inside the former Heavy Industry Pavilion in Herastrau Park, billed as Southeast Europe's largest beer hall on a 5,000 sq m floor.
Tip: Concert hall doubles as the dining room; book tables when there's a name on the bill.
More cities are in research. Want mici (mititei) covered somewhere specific? Tell us where you want to eat.