A pub with grub

James Joyce, Valter Maracinaneau 1,
tel 021 311 4177
Michael Barclay
Some ten years ago the British invented a new social entity, the ‘gastro pub’. Contrary to cynical expectations, this new concept did not invite you to endure the agony of Gastroenteritis; rather the idea was to give you restaurant quality food in a pub.

And why not! After all the Spanish had tapas bars, the French had wine bars serving coffee and croissants, the Belgians had chip bars, Greece gave you grease in tavernas, Germany had bars serving Europe’s worst beer (German) with om pah pah music… and so on.
So in order to deflect this cultural drinking onslaught, the Brits took on the cultural midgets of Europe and invented the all-friendly, wife-friendly, kid-friendly gastro pub. It was, and still is, a raging success!

Bucharest as usual is two generations behind the times in all things European so new bars still pathetically cling to phony themes, such as: ‘English’ bar (a free fist fight perhaps) or ‘Irish’ bar (they have Guinness), resulting in soul destroying, boring, monotonous, character-free drinking dens that make a thinking (rather than drinking) person want to flee to the preferable sanctuary of drinking alone on a park bench!

So step forward James Joyce pub who have made an effort to break the local bar ’mold’ by embracing gastro pub principles. Can they pull it off? Well read on and see.

It is situated on the fringe of Cismigiu, on the Sala Palatului side of the park. There is nothing attractive about the place, it’s all rough wood, rough walls, rough floors – in other words, a pure pub. It begs for a woman’s eye to soften the place and give it a real décor with mood lighting, artifact decoration, plants and bright, soft cushioned seating. But let’s get down and see how the food can or cannot do the talking.

Read more about

Offices: 41% of total take-up was recorded in Pipera area in Q1 2024 in Bucharest

read more

The menu is brave and creative. We passed on their wide ranging and hugely tempting American breakfast offerings, purely because they are not open at breakfast time. Hey folks, this is an example of pure Irish logic.

So we started with a simple hamburger. The House has wisely rejected the absurd Bucharest trend of using Argentinean beef, which we expect to be grazed on the Argie Pampas, but tastes as if it was fed instead on Pampers. Romanian beef can be perfect, and the House proved it with their burger, resplendent with options of cheeses, bacon etc at RON 36, together with excellent chips.

Away we go to a failure: two well priced ‘Shepherd’s pies’ at a mere RON 22. Blondie saw the word ‘shepherd’ and thought the pies would arrive in a wooly sheep’s head. Well, that’s a Romanian blonde for you! I patiently explained that it was simple minced beef pie, with onion, carrot and peas, topped with mashed potato. But it had no seasoning whatsoever, zero salt, pepper or herbs. So it was utterly flavorless. I have no doubt that the House will correct this error when you go there.

Away again to their ‘cod and chips’ at RON 36. This is the house’s attempt at emulating the quintessential Brit dish of ‘fish n chips’. It is not as simple as it seems. You must use a perfect (snitzel) batter and then the chips must be left to cool and then cooked again. The fish was perfect, the chips were almost perfect. But again, Irish logic kicked in because this beauty was only available on Thursdays.

Off to their ‘duck confit’, a dish which every restaurant in town should have because it is good for the House. Once you have slow cooked the duck leg, you cover it in its own rendered liquid fat and leave it in a normal fridge for up to three months. After that, you gently reheat it, and the meat falls off the bone. Although it was perfect and presented in a berry sauce, I thought it was too pricey at RON 50.

But what was not pricey was their ‘pork fillet cooked in a white wine and mustard sauce’ at RON 36, accompanied by veg and mashed potato. First rate. So was their superb smoked rack of pork ribs, which comes in two varieties, large or small. Both boast a sauce spiced up with Irish whiskey. I do not believe a word of their claim that there was a slug of whiskey in the sauce, but nonetheless, it tasted fine.

Can they qualify as a ‘gastro pub’? Yes, of course they can. But I do have a complaint, namely: after over ordering a full rack of ribs, I wanted to take half of them home for my faithful dog, who had been cleaning my home, pressing my shirts and washing my car. BUT the House did not have any tinfoil boxes to use as carry-outs. Sort it, House!
Otherwise it’s great… well, almost.

michaelbarclay32@gmail.com