Visiting Sovata And The "Kicsi Gomba" (Small Mushroom) Restaurant

Sovata is a well known tourist destination in Mureș county and not only. It is the perfect place if you want to enjoy the benefits of salty water, modern spa facilities and some nice scenery that reminds you of the mountains. However, one thing the place is famous for is the lake, called Medve-tó in Hungarian, Lacul Ursu in Romanian, Bear Lake in English. That's the magnet of the place, that attracts thousands of tourists daily from all over the world.

The geological events in 1875 gave birth to the Bear Lake, which is unique in Europe, its water being helio-thermal and salty, with purported therapeutic effects for chronic gynecological symptoms, severe rheumatic pains, peripheral nervous system, and post-accidental motor diseases.

There are four more salty lakes: Nut Lake, Black Lake, Red Lake, and Green Lake. In the interwar period, Sovata became one of the most fashionable spas in the country, visited several times even by the Romanian Royal Family. source

How To Get There

Once you get to Sovata, there are indicators everywhere, directing you the right way to the lake and tourist area. The lake is almost at the top of the tourist center, you can't miss it.

The city is quite small, the population is under 10k, but the place around the lake area is packed during summer and not only.

On the way up, I took some photos to be able to show you what the place looks like. On the photo above you can see the Bear Inn, which is and iconic building of the town. I've been told it's still in use but it's not what it used to be back in its glory days. With the new places opening one after the other, this one will be forgotten.

The place is in constant development, new hotels, inns, restaurants are built each year, to replace the old ones and to satisfy the needs of the tourists.

You can choose between modern establishments and more rustic ones, depending on what your expectations are. You can find both there.

On the right, you can see the cream colored building with those fancy balconies.

Before the rebuilding of the place began, that architectural style was very common there. Most of the inns and cabins were made of wood and had these decorated balconies.

Today you can choose from rustic style and luxury hotels, but you need to book your accommodation well in advance as in full season it's highly unlikely you can get a room. What you see on my photos is a typical Sunday and I was lucky as the photos were taken from the car on the go. Otherwise I would have been facing the crowd on the sidewalk.

The number of souvenir shops is endless there and you can find the traditional food of the region, among which obviously lángos and kürtöskalács.

If you're in and adventurous mood, you can take the fun train and ride it through the place.

And here it is, the Kicsi Gomba restaurant, or the Small Mushroom in English.

Kicsi Gomba Or Small Mushroom Restaurant

The restaurant is situated right next to the Bear Lake, the best place for a restaurant if you ask me. It has a pentagonal shape and has several levels.

At the main entrance of the restaurant, you can find some really interesting and nice decorations that matches the style of the restaurant.

There's a message at the entrance as well, which I totally agree with and I think it's a good one to follow, if you want the world to change.

An interesting detail to note, you can browse the menu right at the entrance, without entering the restaurant. You can decide if you want to eat there or not. This is common practice in Europe, but not so much in my country. In most of the places you can't even get the menu till the waiter brings it to you, which, in my opinion is not the best strategy. I hope things can change and making the menu available at the door becomes normal. We live in the digital era now, you should be able to access the menu by scanning a QR code as well. The restaurant has the menu online as well, so if you want to know what they are serving, here it is, in English as well.

You can choose to sit inside, or book a table at one of the terraces and admire the view from there, while serving a delicious meal. I suggest the latter, trust me.

We opted for the terrace for the obvious reasons.

The menu is very interesting, you can find all kinds of exquisite dishes for every taste. I wish I could have tasted everything, but I only have one stomach and had to watch my calorie intake as well.

So this is what I ordered: grilled chicken breast with vegetables and I must admit, it was heavenly good, I hope to be able to go back and have some more. And below you can see what the others ordered.

This was tagliatelle with truffle sauce. I need to try this one as well.

Knuckle of ham with mashed potatoes. Mouth watering view for sure, so it is on my list.

Turkey breast with fries.

After lunch I had a black tea, which was served with lemon and honey, but I only used the lemon as I don't like my tea sweet and gave the lemon to someone else, who had a soar throat. The tea was heavenly good too. The have 5 types of lemonade that are served with ice. Definitely need to taste them next time.

Last, but not least, the view! This is the view from the terrace of the restaurant. You can see the famous Bear lake below. What better place to have lunch at, then there, right?

If you haven't visited Sovata yet and you're in the area, don't hesitate. It's a very nice place and those waters have a lot of health benefits, not to mention the spas available. There are different activities organized and trips to the nearby places, like the salt mine in Parajd (Praid) for example and not only.

This was just a quick visit, we did not get to spend more time there, but I'm planning to go back one day for a few days, when I'll have more time.

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