Casa Capșa in Bucharest: a visit to a place with history
Visited on 3 August 2026 · text and photographs by Remus Mohor
We went to Casa Capșa to see the salon, to taste a few of the cakes on the menu, and to finally stand inside one of the places we had read about so often in books about Bucharest.
Here is the short version, and we would rather say it plainly than sell you something: the cakes did not impress us — the place did. For people who grew up in this city, Casa Capșa is not a patisserie among others. It is one of the few surviving addresses where the cultural and political life of old Bucharest actually happened. That is the reason to go.
What follows is what we ordered, what it cost, what we thought, and what is documented about the house — with the parts we could not verify marked as such.
Casa Capșa in short
Casa Capșa stands at Calea Victoriei 36, in the building associated with the Slătineanu house. The Capșa family business began in 1852 and later moved to this building, associated with the present address.
From our visit, in brief
Address: Calea Victoriei 36, Bucharest
Hours displayed inside: Mon–Thu 08:00–20:00 · Fri–Sat 08:00–22:00 · Sun 09:00–21:00
Cake prices: 25–38 lei a piece, most at 29 lei
What it is: a historic salon, a confectionery, coffee and cakes
The menu: classic recipes alongside contemporary ones
Go if: you are walking Calea Victoriei and you care about old Bucharest
Why the place matters more than the cake
For decades this was where Bucharest's writers, journalists, artists and politicians met. A large part of the city's literary life, and a fair share of its political gossip, passed through these rooms. Very little of that Bucharest is still standing and still open to walk into. Casa Capșa is.
Sitting in that salon and thinking about the generations who passed through it was the strongest part of the visit. The coffee and the cake are part of the experience, but they are not the reason the address survived.
What we ordered and what it cost
We chose from the section the house calls “our stars”. The prices below are the ones displayed at our visit.
| Cake | Weight | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Capșa with jelly | 100 g | 29 lei |
| Diplomat | 120 g | 28 lei |
| Carpați | 130 g | 33 lei |
Prices observed at the visit of 3 August 2026. They can change.
How the cakes struck us
The ones we chose had a classic profile: sweet creams and pronounced flavours. For our taste, formed on home baking and on the cakes of childhood, several of the combinations were sweeter and more perfumed than what we look for in a dessert today.
That is a personal preference, not a verdict on the whole confectionery. We tasted a handful of items from a much larger counter, and other people may value exactly this classic, nostalgic character. Anyone who loves old-style Romanian patisserie may come away with the opposite impression.
The prices also reflect the location, the salon, the service and the experience of sitting in a place with this history. Every reader should be able to decide for themselves whether that matches their expectations.
One example, because it says more than a rating would. Dobos is tied to family memory for us — grandmother and mother are Hungarian, and the taste belongs to childhood. We associate it with a crisp caramel, a clear burnt-sugar note and a slight bitterness that balances the cream. The version here read sweeter and more perfumed. That does not make it wrong: classic recipes differ from one house to another, and a cake attached to family memory is almost impossible to judge objectively.
What you will find in the display case
Part of the counter belongs to classic Romanian confectionery: sweeter creams, pronounced aromas, substantial sponge layers, combinations several generations grew up with.
It does not stop there. We also saw more modern items, with chocolate, caramel, pistachio and other current combinations — amandină, cremșnit, millefeuille, tiramisu and several kinds of éclair. The range is wide enough that a visitor can pick either a classic taste or something closer to a modern patisserie.
The prices in the display case
The counter holds several dozen kinds, each with its own label. At our visit, the prices were these:
| Cake | Price per piece |
|---|---|
| Cartof | 25 lei |
| Forêt Noire, Meringue | 28 lei |
| Amandină, Capșa with jelly, Cremșnit, Delicii Caramel, Excelent, Bucuria, Chocolate cake, Richard, Cream roll | 29 lei |
| Gateau à l’Orange | 32 lei |
| Carpați, Millefeuille, Tiramisu | 33 lei |
| Violeta | 37 lei |
| L’Amour au Chocolat, Pistachio tiramisu | 38 lei |
| Chocolate éclair, cream éclair | 160 lei/kg |
Prices read from the labels in the display case on 3 August 2026. They can change.
The history of the house, briefly
The Capșa family business began in 1852, with the confectionery known as “La doi frați” (“At the two brothers”), opened at first near the Zlătari Church. Secondary sources describe the roles of the brothers differently across the successive stages of the business.
Grigore Capșa later became the central figure in the growth and the fame of the house. He learned the trade in Paris and became a supplier to the Royal House.
In 1873 Capșa received the Grand Medal at the Vienna World Exposition. In 1886 Grigore Capșa expanded the business by opening the hotel. The sources we consulted do not agree on the year the café opened. Over the last decades of the 19th century, Capșa gradually became a meeting point for people from politics, journalism, art and culture.
The Joffre cake is linked to the visit of the French marshal Joseph Joffre to Bucharest in 1920. According to the history published by Casa Capșa itself, a chocolate dessert was created then and given the marshal's name. The details that circulated later — about the marshal's health, the reduced amount of sugar, a shape inspired by a military cap, or the dessert's success in Parisian patisseries — we have not been able to confirm from independent sources.
Fragments of text about old Bucharest and about the role of the house are displayed in the salon. One of the materials we photographed quotes a 1943 work by Gheorghe Crutzescu, and a plaque on one of the tables mentions Tudor Mușatescu, describing days split between a game of cards, lunch at Capșa and a walk through Cișmigiu. These are materials presented by Casa Capșa to its visitors, not independent historical verification.
So, is it worth going?
Yes — once, and with the right expectation. Go for the salon, the building and what happened in these rooms, not for a dessert that will beat your favourite patisserie. Thirty to sixty minutes and a coffee are enough, and it sits directly on Calea Victoriei, so it costs you no detour.
The cakes we tried did not fully match our own preferences. That is not a reason to skip them — it is a reason to pick one yourself and form your own opinion. At Capșa the dessert, the salon and the history are part of the same visit.
Hours, address and practical details
Address: Calea Victoriei 36, Bucharest
| Day | Hours |
|---|---|
| Monday – Thursday | 08:00 – 20:00 |
| Friday – Saturday | 08:00 – 22:00 |
| Sunday | 09:00 – 21:00 |
Hours displayed inside and checked on 3 August 2026. They can change.
There is a pavement terrace on Calea Victoriei. The confectionery is on the ground floor, and cakes can be bought to take away from the counter.
Frequently asked questions
Is Casa Capșa worth visiting?
Yes, for the salon, the history and the atmosphere of the place. A coffee and a slice of cake complete the visit, and the counter holds both classic Romanian pastries and more modern ones. Treat it as a coffee-and-cake stop with a century and a half behind it, not as a destination for the desserts alone.
What is Casa Capșa known for?
For the age of the business, started in 1852; for its role as a meeting point of Bucharest's cultural and political life from the end of the 19th century; and for the Joffre cake, which Casa Capșa's own published history links to the visit of the French marshal to Bucharest in 1920.
What kind of cakes does Casa Capșa serve?
The counter mixes classic Romanian pastries — amandină, cremșnit, Diplomat, Carpați — with more contemporary ones based on chocolate, caramel or pistachio. The selection and the prices can change.
How much does a cake cost at Casa Capșa?
At our visit on 3 August 2026, the labels in the display case read between 25 and 38 lei a piece, with most at 29 lei. Éclairs were sold by weight, at 160 lei per kilogram. Prices can change.
What are Casa Capșa's opening hours?
The hours displayed inside at our visit were Monday to Thursday 08:00–20:00, Friday and Saturday 08:00–22:00, and Sunday 09:00–21:00. They can change.
Where is Casa Capșa?
At Calea Victoriei 36, in central Bucharest, on the same walk as the Athenaeum, the National Museum of Art and Revolution Square.
Looking for traditional Romanian food rather than cakes? See what to eat in Bucharest and things to do in the city.
