A bit of confusion in Romania over a transparent tip receipt
July 2026
Bucharest, Romania
One of the things I look up when traveling abroad is
whether that country has a tipping culture.
Romania is a country with a tipping culture.
I generally think of 10% of the total amount as a tip,
in the case of cash,
I round up the number to pay,
and in the case of a card,
I pay the meal amount by card
and leave cash on the table as a tip.
On my first day in Bucharest, my flight was delayed,
and it was past 6:00 PM when I arrived at the hotel.
Since I had missed lunch as well,
I thought, 'I just want to eat something for now!',
and went into a restaurant that looked easy to enter
in the old town area near the hotel.
I finished my meal, asked for the bill,
and when I looked at the receipt
that the female staff member brought...
I checked the total amount and did a double-take at the receipt
Huh???
They kindly
list several options for
the tip percentage and the total amount including the meal cost and tip.
A first for me!!!
A first for me!!!
They even suggest tip percentages and
tell me the exact amounts.
The woman asks, "What would you like to do?"
while holding the card payment machine.
It seems she is waiting for my answer
to set the amount.
Even if I wanted to round up the payment,
I cannot set the amount on the payment machine myself.
A meeting with myself begins in my head.
Since the last option looks like a blank field,
I'm sure if I tell her the amount I want,
she will set it for me.
But,
since they have written it out so clearly,
there is no need to go out of my way to suggest a rounded amount,
and it also seems like a field for amounts over 15%.
If they have lined up three options
to make me choose the middle one,
would 10% be the safe bet?
Because the woman was standing right next to me,
I felt pressured to decide quickly,
and in the end, I chose the 10% tip.
Since she didn't specifically
mark anything on the receipt for me,
I couldn't help but think it was a well-designed system
to make people aware that they should pay a tip
and ensure they do so.
The next day.
Perhaps because I had already walked 20,000 steps,
I just wanted to sit down somewhere.
I learned that the oldest lodging in Romania
is now used as a restaurant,
so I decided to have some tea.
Terrace seating with parasols set up.
The breeze was pleasant, and the view of the inn was lovely.
Remains as the oldest inn
Currently used as a restaurant, with rooms also utilized as private dining areas
I decided to have an early dinner there as well.
Thinking that that receipt would probably appear again...
I asked for the bill.
But I had made up my mind.
This time, I would pay in cash and round it up.
Looking at that receipt with the tip suggestions written on it,
rounding to the nearest number.
I see. So it's saying, 'Please start from 10%!'
Looking at the receipt,
10% start!
That means,
the middle is 12%, which is 109.2 lei.
The smallest number is 10%, which is 107.25 lei.
Looking in my wallet,
I only have 105 lei in cash.
The desire to use up this cash
grew stronger,
105 isn't even 10%,
maybe I should just pay the middle 12% with my card,
but I really want to use up this cash,
and after having a one-person meeting in my head,
'I'm sorry.
This is all the cash I have!'
I didn't even know who I was apologizing to,
but I forced a smile and told the staff member.
'Don't worry about it,'
the staff member replied, but
the moment they checked the receipt and the cash,
they clearly showed a disappointed expression.
Honestly, I'm really sorry...
Even though I should have paid more than the cost of the meal,
I left the restaurant
feeling a sense of guilt.
I left the restaurant.
The tip amount was written down,
making it easy to understand,
but why did I feel that pressure?
Even though I know tipping is optional and the amount is up to me,
seeing those receipts day after day
made me wonder what the optimal solution was.
But, after overthinking everything here,
my habit of getting tired of thinking kicked in.
Alright, I'll just decide!
Pay 10% as a tip,
and pay by credit card.
Once I decided on these two things,
I felt a bit more at ease.
After that,
whenever I ate at a restaurant,
I always chose 10% and paid by card.
Once I decided, it was no big deal,
and I even felt it was a transparent way of accounting,
but I still felt uneasy about not being able to choose for myself.
My last night in Bucharest.
Since it was chilly and raining,
I decided to head back to the hotel early,
and stopped by Starbucks.
I mentioned I would pay by card,
and when I looked at the card payment machine,
to my surprise, even at Starbucks,
there were three tip options displayed!
You've got to be kidding me.
Even at Starbucks!?
Even when traveling in countries with a tipping culture,
I had never even thought about that at Starbucks.
Just as I was thinking that,
the female staff member said,
"I'll press the green button for you,"
and reached out and pressed the button.
Huh!?
What!?
What percentage did she press!?
Is tipping now mandatory!?
I panicked a little,
but when I looked at the receipt after payment,
the tip was not reflected.
The female staff member
said nothing,
just said "Have a nice day!"
and handed me my Caramel Macchiato.
When I happened to look at my wallet,
I realized that if I collected the coins, it would probably add up to 3 lei.
That's about 100 yen in Japanese currency.
When I put a coin in the tip box,
"Thank you!"
the woman replied with a smile.
The caramel macchiato I bought at this time was about 900 yen.
That means I paid a tip of over 10%, but
I felt really good about it.
No matter how clear and
transparent the accounting is, I still want to
decide the tip amount myself.
Perhaps for me,
more than the correctness of the amount,
I think I just wanted to decide it myself.
But still,
I can't deny that there's my own convenience and stinginess involved, like wanting to use up my cash or not being fully accustomed to the tipping culture and wanting to stick to a set 10%.