If you are new to Cluj, you might have heard about the Langos. While some of the Langos at the Christmas market taste okay, not all are up to the usual quality. And you can get Langos by the mall and other places (although some places in the Christmas market do offer unusual varieties like Langos with fruit and Nutella or Langos with Papanas donut flavor).
If you want something with more protein and less fat than a langos, you can try the “Placinte pe Lespede,” a kind of pancake that looks almost like a pita. (It is more like an American or Scottish pancake than a French one, with a thickness similar to a pita). You can have most of the same toppings as a langos on a placinte pe lespede.
If you still like Langos, however, this year’s best Langos seems to be at “La Junâpu.” They are just the right amount of filling, fluffy, and the taste is fantastic. And, if you’re buying Langos for someone else, but would rather the healthier Lespede for yourself, “La Junâpu” offers both.
You can get all the crazes there, we saw labubu’s and Kendamas. (Of the two, we can only recommend Kendamas. the others are evil in every way, like ugly NFTs made of plastic.)
But the most original thing at the market is the exotic fruit. You can find guavas, caruba (banana lookalike on the outside, but more like passionfruit on the inside), grenedia (looks weird inside, but it’s quite tasty), a Vietnamese cousin of the Lychee called a rambutan, and other tasty fruits from all over the world.
We were especially excited about this stand because many of the major supermarkets seem to be cutting down on exotic fruits. Sure, you can still get mangos and bananas most places, and canned lychees, but fresh organic exotic fruit is increasingly hard to find. (Well, you can also try the small fruit and veg shops, and might find something.) Anyway, this was the first time we saw rambutan in Cluj, and it was delicious.
Perhaps if you are new to Cluj, some of the other stands might be exciting too. There is a virtual reality car ride that some children seem to enjoy, and a ferris wheel in the center square.
We also saw Santa giving out sweets with the Transylvanian bike club. And there were musicians busking with traditional Romanian music, sometimes in traditional costumes, other times dressed as bears.