Donut-shaped fried cheese dough topped with sour cream and a crown of sour-cherry preserve: Moldova's restaurant dessert of choice, also served boiled in some homes.
Where to eat it: 8 restaurants across 2 cities.
Papanași arose in the rural Romanian and Moldovan countryside in the 19th century from peasant kitchens with abundant fresh cottage cheese. The name traces to the Latin pappa, an onomatopoeic word for soft food fed to children, which fits the soft cheese centre. The crown of cherry jam is a Bessarabian signature; sour cherries grow across the country and the country's cherry-liqueur tradition is the same fruit pressed differently. The dish is the standard close to a Moldovan restaurant meal.
Common allergens: Dairy, Egg, Gluten
Tip from the editors. Drain the cottage cheese overnight in a sieve lined with muslin; wet cheese gives flat papanași that absorb too much oil.
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.
Poet Mircea Dinescu's Lacrimi și Sfinți on Șepcari pours wines from his Cetate estate alongside modern Romanian classics in Bucharest Old Town today.
Signature: Sarmale, Mămăligă cu brânză, Slănină plate
Order: The signature sarmale; a glass of Cetate Riesling Italian.
Tip: The wine list is heavy on Dinescu's own bottlings; ask the room for the day's house pour.
Crama Domnească sits in the cellar of the Princely Court on Șelari, the Princely Wine Cellar in Bucharest, with live folk and house wines by carafe.
Signature: Sarmale, Mămăligă, Ciorbă de burtă
Order: Mămăligă with brânză and smântână; a clay-pot tochitură.
Tip: Live taraf music every evening; cash and card both accepted.
Vatra on Brezoianu cooks traditional Romanian on bakestones and in tin kettles, in a 1920s Transylvanian interior next to Cișmigiu Park in Bucharest.
Signature: Sarmale, Tochitură, Romanian cheese plate
Order: Sarmale with mămăligă; the cheese plate of Brașov sheep and Sibiu cow.
Tip: The veranda opens May through October; lunch fixed menu is 45 RON.
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.
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.
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.
More cities are in research. Want papanași covered somewhere specific? Tell us where you want to eat.