Local cuisine

From fisherman’s kettle to poolside table

Here, lunch was swimming at dawn. Our cook ladles storceag —creamy sturgeon / catfish — straight from the pot to enamel bowls while crisp white wine beads in your glass. Bread is village‑baked that morning; garlic sauce (mujdei) waits for the grilled courses still to come. Dining beside the pool you can smell the river on the steam and hear reed warblers in the background, an unmistakable taste of place.

Bowls of storceag soup, homemade bread and white wine set on a poolside table at Limanul Resort, Chilia Veche

Slice of traditional Dobrogea cheese pie on floral porcelain plate

Crispy smashed new potatoes with garlic and fresh spring onions in a blue bowl.

Signature dishes of the Delta

Five bites you’ll remember long after the trip:

Grilled scrumbie (Danube shad) – butterflied, flame‑kissed, served with lemon and mămăligă (smoky polenta).
Fish roe spread (salată de icre) – whipped pike roe on toasted bread, topped with garden dill.
“Garden bomb” potatoes – new potatoes smashed, pan‑fried in garlic butter, scattered with spring onions.
Traditional cheese pie (plăcintă dobrogeană) – flaky layers hiding sweet‑savory ewe’s cheese.
Fisherman’s catfish soup – simmered outdoors in cast‑iron kettles; locals swear by a dash of chili and a shot of plum brandy on the side.

Wash it all down with cold socată—elderflower lemonade infused for 24 hours in a sun‑warmed jar.

Char‑grilled Danube shad with polenta fingers and cucumber‑radish salad

Cast‑iron kettle simmering fisherman’s catfish soup over an open fire in a Danube Delta courtyard.

Spread of pike roe salad on toast, plated beside lemon slices at Limanul Resort.

Sun‑brewed elderflower lemonade in a glass jar with lemon slices, set in the courtyard of Limanul Resort

Zero‑kilometre ingredients, infinite flavour

Tomatoes, cucumbers and herbs come from the resort’s own beds. Eggs arrive daily from grandma’s hens next door. Elderflower blooms are picked at dawn for socată, a fizzy lemonade locals have brewed for centuries. Even the plum brandy (țuică) is distilled two streets over. When you dine here, every bite supports small Delta producers and keeps river‑to‑table traditions alive.