Grilled minced meat rolls, finger-sized and thumb-thick, seasoned with garlic, black pepper, thyme and a touch of baking soda for the springy bite that defines the dish.
Where to eat it: 4 restaurants across 1 city.
Mititei trace through the Balkans (Serbia, Greece and Turkey) into 19th-century Bucharest, where the dish is first documented in 1870 by Ulysse de Marsillac and named in 1872 by N. T. Orășanu. A popular Romanian legend credits Iordache Ionescu's tavern on Strada Covaci in Bucharest, where Uncle Iordache supposedly ran out of sausage casings and grilled the seasoned meat directly on the grates. The name means little ones, from Romanian mic, and the dish crossed the Prut into Bessarabia where it became the standard summer-grill order at Moldovan beer gardens. In Chișinău it lands on every grill from Pegas to the Beer Mania festival.
Tip from the editors. The baking soda is the secret to mititei's signature spring; do not skip it, and rest the mixture overnight so the flavour settles.
Pegas in Chișinău serves a weekend brunch buffet on its summer terrace and second-floor room, with hot and cold European-fusion plates and Moldovan wine.
Order: Brunch buffet plate with the Pegas marbled-beef sandwich.
Sălcioara in downtown Chișinău is the traditional Moldovan dining room with carved-wood interiors, evening live music and a kitchen built on village recipes.
Signature: Sarmale in vine leaves, Mămăligă with brânză and smântână, Zeamă chicken broth
Order: Sarmale wrapped in vine leaves with sour cream and mămăligă on the side.
Tip: Reserve a corner table for the live music nights; order the house brandy alongside the zeamă starter.
Beer House on Bulevardul Negruzzi in Chișinău is a five-tap house brewery in an old-timey Moldovan European-style room, the carte sausage, ribs and brewpub.
Signature drink: House craft tap flight (pilsner, dark, light, wheat)
Food: Moldovan brewpub plates, sausages, ribs
La Taifas in Chișinău is the old village house with porch on Strada București, serving rustic Moldovan cooking and live folk music in a clay-pottery room.
Signature: Sarmale in cabbage leaves, Mămăligă with brânză, Cauldron-cooked tocăniță
Order: Tocăniță cooked in the cauldron with mămăligă and a shot of house țuică.
Tip: Book a porch table on a warm evening; the kitchen leans on cauldron stews and the placinte are made to order with a 20-minute wait.
More cities are in research. Want mititei covered somewhere specific? Tell us where you want to eat.