I'm not Romanian, but indeed living long enough in the country to be able to comment on it

Garlic is omnipresent, I cannot think of many dishes without it. Polenta (called mamaliga locally) is a staple akin to potatoes in many other country. Often served with a fried egg and grated cheese on top with sour cream on the side. It already makes for a good workman's dish like this, although my preferred way is to eat it in combination with a meat stew (tochitură).

Chiftele is the literal translation of meatballs, and indeed similar to köfte in Turkey (although the Turks use way more spice). Stuffed cabbage leaves (sarmale) is another big Romanian national dish, but again not limited to just Romania alone as you can also find it in Serbia, Bulgaria etc. Sometimes it's also made with vine leaves, but that's more rare I'd say. If looking at stuffed vine leaves, Romania is again not the only country making the dish as you can find it in Greece, Turkey, the Middle East and the Caucasus as well. In Romania, it's however almost with minced meat (often a mixture between pork/veal, or sometimes lamb) and almost never rice.

Smoked cheese is a typical mountain dish and you'd indeed find it not only in Bran but in any mountainous region of the country. It's often sold at roadside stalls - coincidentally the last time I bought it from some peasants was at the highest point of the Bran mountain pass where often locals set up their market stalls with cheese, honey etc.

Although there are definitely some typical Romanian dishes, I wouldn't say there is such a thing as a "Romanian cuisine" given that so many foods are shared with neighbouring countries, whether it's Hungary and Central Europe in Transylvania, or Bulgaria and Turkey in the south. There are also distinct regional varieties, with the cuisine in the Banat sharing similarities with Serbia/Southern Hungary, that of Transylvania with Hungary/Austria, while there is a lot of fish in the coast and Danube Delta (although we have our own ways to prepare it, most often with a garlic sauce called 'mujdei' - which perhaps could have been used on that steak you have been talking about!).

The cakes we eat for the holidays such as Easter, Christmas (or any other big celebration) are called Cozonac, which is shared with Bulgarians, Greeks etc (it's called Kozonaki there).

Perhaps the biggest overlap is with Hungarian food. Kürtőskalács, the famous chimney breads/cakes for example, is Hungarian - but it hails from the Hungarian population of Transylvania so in that way you can say it's partly Romanian ubiquitous in Transylvania! Same for Lángos (deep fried flatbread with sour cream, cheese, garlic) - that's fully Hungarian but you can find it everywhere in Transylvania. It's also easy to get some good gulash in Romania, especially in Hungarian-majority areas like parts of Tirgu Mures, Harghita or Satu Mare - or in cities like Cluj where there is a sizeable minority. And I didn't even start about tuica/palinka - plum brandy! (Ukranians from the Bukovina or Zakarpatia would call it Horilka).

Although all the countries in Central/Eastern Europe are nowadays more homogenous (with sizeable minorities at most) they used to be much more multicultural in the past - especially when compared to the comparatively peaceful years of the interbelic period between World War I and II. Unfortunately, especially the German/Jewish communities have all but disappeared, although they have left their traces as well.

I hope that's enough background - if not don't hesitate to tag me/ask! (I'm not a regular on these FlyerTalk boards). Interesting to see that restaurant in Queens - I should definitely check it out the next time I cross the pond!