Eat in Budapest

According to their full-page advertisement in Budapest Time Out magazine, you’re supposed to fall in love with Budapest or with someone here.

But will you?

The place can be best described briefly as a caricature of Hungary’s trendy places, being one of them itself. After the success of the neighbor Déryné (a rather funny but peasant place with unmemorable food and full of hipsters) the owner decided to open a place just around the corner combining tapas bars’ portions, running sushi’s’ service methods and so called new European cuisine. The result? as I said before.

The service is funny: young boys and girls, one of them acting with gestures like in an ancient Greek theater playing for people up to 100 meters away to stay visible. Others are simply ignorant, but they’re polite if you manage to talk to them. They’re very badly organised as well.

Most scary about Mini (even more than some of its guests) is its wine list, with 300-400% uplift against retail prices.

Now it’s official. There can be no doubt that Costes is de facto the best restaurant in Budapest and in the whole country.

Unfortunately Costes will close soon, or at least I’d bet heavily on this if I could. Much to my sadness, I must say, since Costes is by far the best restaurant in Hungary. Why? Let me see:

-         It runs a creative, trend-setting cuisine that has no peer in Hungary

-         It uses excellent materials, including a carefully made selection of Hungarian wines

-         It has a stylish, modern, although too smart atmosphere, good interior design

Anyone thinking about trying out Costes should consider the business lunch which is a more affordable option to Á la carte. The tasting menus are excellent and the food pairing’s almost perfect. 2 complaints I had: i) Chateau Kajmád Cabernet Sauvignon paired with a fish course was very strange. Ii) I’m not a local patriot or anything but offering Port Tawney for dessert…

I have no idea how Costes managed to bring here a Portuguese chef, indeed such a good one. Head Chef Miguel Rocha Vieira had previously worked in Maison Pic and prior to that, in El Bulli. It’s not that I know any of these but some of you may. The empresarios behind Costes are making the utmost to call the attention of Michelin Guide and GaultMillau’s, and Mr. Rocha Vieira’s keeping Costes on the right track if you ask me.

Here’s one of the Tasting Menus (my favorite, by wine pairing too), click to see them all:

M is a small cosy bistro in downtown Budapest overshadowed by the busy Liszt Ferenc square and Király utca, not to mention the establishments of Andrássy street. Located in the shadowy Kertész street on appr. 70 square meters and with a facade of 3 meters it’s completely undetectable and still visited by tourists. In spite of this it’s a quiet place run by food-enthusiast friends without any formal culinary education and visited by young students and artist as well as by French and Anglo-Saxonic tourists. With a capacity of around 35 people it’s often full but as opposed to Klassz on Andrássy street, here you can make a reservation. If you’re lucky you can experience one of their theme days like their Jewish weekend this fall.

The food is decent home-made style International and Hungarian made of perfectly fresh material. And this is one of the key aspects of M, the other one being the charming, friendly atmosphere created by the poor illumination and the handicraft wallpaper decoration covering the entire space. The prices are reasonable, even tourists on a budget will be satisfied with the bill.

They have a short wine selection of the lower-medium segment.

In spite of a snobbish name, Bábel is a modestly snobbish place. It’s interior reflects the current modern trend in Budapest gastronomy widely used in places like Donatella’s Kitchen, Tom George and many more.

I went there for a business lunch and stayed there until 18.30 without noticing that the usiness lunch place close at 16.00 for two hours until reopening as a chic trendy restaurant at 18.00. Part of the crew were very polite and attentive but still I’m afraid we were only allowed to stay because we were drinking non stop.

The food was delicious, although the fois gras mousse with baby beetroot salad (EUR 9.8) had such a small portion of mousse that is outrageous even by high-end gastronomy standards. But it was amazingly light and fresh, although not to be compared with Ráspi’s fois gras mousse (I’ll post about it soon).

The filet of trout with cauliflower and pearl barly risotto (EUR 9.6) was not just wonderfully good looking but also very tasty: thin slices of fish perfectly firm (or soft, from another angle) and very well spiced, although many may think it had too much spicy on it (I’m not one of them).

Their wine recommendation (Chateau Kajmád Cabernet Sauvignon 2006) wasn’t the best especially considering that we picked a far more sophisticated St. Andrea Áldás Cuvée (2006) before. But it was alright, we finished off the whole Áldás cuvée and then just ordered glasses of Cabernet wihch they opened in front of our eyes (a major achievement in Hungarian hospitality).

The restaurant is perfectly located ta the end of váci street just 100 meters from Fővámtér ’s touristic market.

More information: http://www.babeldelicate.hu/

Let’s start with the facts: Csalogány 26 restaurant is ugly. Now, keep reading.

Ideally hidden from the tourist trails and businesses in one of the ugliest areas of the 1st district, Csalogány 26 mostly attracts people who would like to eat well. The slightly pretentious service is in contrast with the honestly ugly, although new interior. You wouldn’t guess from that that Csalogány 26 was recently chosen one of Hungary’s top 10 restaurants.

Their wine list suggests good taste and I’d say that you can pair relatively well with most items on the short and frequently changing menu. I scored at first: Ráspi’s Sauvignon Blanc from 2007 is truly amazing. About the wine, please see the full review and other here.

The shrimp carpaccio with wasabi and mango sauce was fresh and tiny. The service guys new exactly when was appropriate to offer more wine (we only ordered one glass each of us (2) but ended finishing off a whole bottle).

It was sort if interesting to see on a plasma screen how the chef was preparing my fish, which was btw wonderfully cooked, spiced and served.

The goat cheese cream was very tasty and lightweight but the plum ice cream didn’t taste plum at all.

The bread which is served abundantly during and in between courses was fresh and excellent.

I paid HUF 5 500 for the 3 courses and it was well worth it.

Advance booking is recommended.

It’s a top pick for everyone, but only because of the food. Location is poor, interior is ugly and service staff is mixed.

It’s been more than 2 years ago when I read the first acknowledgements about Momotaro Ramen which captured my imagination through its originality and good value aspects, according to the late matula.hu fanzine. 2 years used to be more than sufficient with Budapest standards to experience major degradation in food and service and general quality decrease in any restaurant in Budapest but I have good news: despite some minor faults Momotaro Ramen is still an authentic place to eat relatively quickly.

The interior remained unchanged since the socialist era and the service is a bit old-fashioned too (in Hungary it means harsh).

Portions are huge, the only disappointment was frozen sea-food mix used for the soup.

Due to its quality, location and affordability I’d recommend this place to tourists and locals, those who are looking for authenticity in eastern cuisine. 

It’s been so long (a year) since I read the first good review about Klassz that I was concerned that it already may have become  much worse as it usually happens with most restaurants in Budapest: after a lightspeed take-off you don’t have to wait long for a sharp downturn in quality.

Klassz is located on Andrássy street, the trendiest avenue of Pest with new designer stores popping up every month now. It’s so perfectly located that becoming a tourist trap was to be guaranteed. Moreover, Klassz started well and I was surprised that they still don’t take table reservations which indicates that they’re expecting tourist visitors mostly. On this sunny September weekday the restaurant was half empty and to my surprise it only got almost full due to some tourists who just run into the restaurant without any consciousness.

Review

The interior design is tastefully trendy, even funny and the space is surprisingly small. Although it has high ceiling, the  entrance-side wall is a huge window so it’s quite bright and the decoration is nice. The waitresses are polite, responsive and the menu is short enough (and it’s printed on paper) to take fast decisions.

Foie gras is a must on the menu in touristic areas and I happen to like it, and as a starter it was quite worth the HUF 1 800 or so (it came with cabbage with honey dressing), it’s sufficiently big to fill your stomach for even an hour. But the main course arrives relatively fast. I asked the duck breast medium done and my business partner the tuna „pink” and we got them like that. Apart from the lemon risotto which did not taste lemon at all the duck was very good but not reaching the excellence of the starter.

After a light breakfast and the 2 courses above I felt completely full so I couldn’t taste the desserts, but I’ll be back for sure. The coffee was beautifully served (they have nice machine and grinder on a central „stage”). This restaurant is a must for everyone: couples, friends, business partners and tourists alike. Excellent value for money.

Review

Once entering the restaurant you are chez lui indeed: the small 2-floor house is located in a downtown residencial district stuck between much larger buildings but the house reflects the character of the neighbouthood and the owners did not change mch of the spaces since transforming this residential building into a charming French restaurant. The courtyard is small but very pleasant to stay in when the weather’s nice but the interior, the former rooms of flats is less friendly: they’re dark, hardly decorated at all and the toilets occupy the central area.

You must not be extremely lucky to get a table during lunchtime: we were the only guests on this late August sunny day. Perhaps the evenings are different but then you’re less likely to be served by Daniel himself. Her wife and Daniel were both present during my two visits and they’re friendly, nice people who make you feel like you’re at their home, with their dog taking central attention within the family. The easy-going, family atmosphere is supported by nice, but not outstanding French food with Provence’s influence being dominant.

The seafood and fishes are daily adjusted to the market’s offering, but the rest of the menu has been more or less unchanged for the last 3 years the waiter tells me.

Businessmen discussing with serious look on their face behind the huge windows of the ground floor of this Bauhaus building overlooking the prestigious Szent István park is a typical scene during the week at Dunapark Kávéház.

The weekend is different: the place transforms into a family place offering great ice-creams, delicious cakes and refreshing cocktails to guests occupying mostly the open terrace.

For celebrity spotting, both weekend and working days are ideal.

First time visitors encounter large spaces, minimalist decoration and snobbish service.

As opposed to its look, as a restaurant the place carries the burdens of some of our worst heritage from the past 50 years: food without character, use of Vegeta  and other spices in excess and without any concept.

My overall conclusion is that during the weekend it’s a rather expensive café worth a visit but should be avoided even if you’d put it on your expenses account during the week.

Ráday utca used to be a rather bohemian street with bars and pubs filled with university students and recent graduates.

The landscape has changed since real estate prices soared because of the near universities, being in a relatively safe neighborhood and having affordable real estate prices. So did the nightlife and the day life: may new bars opened and lately restaurants too as the number of office buildings and consequently the number of yuppies started to increase in the area few years ago. Just recently LeRoy shut down only few months after its opening. Soul Café, its major direct competitor which open first, is still in place and remains the only relatively sophisticated and chick restaurant of the street (I must emphasize the word relatively here). During my last visit however, it was almost totally empty in plain lunch-time (Ok, it’s July, but still).

Based on three visits in 2 years I’m now able to tell that Soul Café suffers from the illness of most Budapest restaurants: after a good start and uprising beginning in popularity they (assumingly) change ownership or simply lose their momentum and fall into a mud of boredom and ordinariness. I thinkit’s at least partly due to the schizophrenia caused by their will to satisfy both low-budget tourists and yuppies in the same time. Soul Café is searching for its personality. The service people are a bit too formal for a casual place like this, the food is inconsistent and prices tend to be too high for the target market segment (better-paid office workers).

It’s very interesting how competition cannot increase quality in this part of Budapest, near the city center. This by the way is a typical Hungarian phenomenon which can be perfectly studied in Ráday Street.

So if you’re in a rush and you’re in the neighborhood Soul Café is a preferred choice if you want to eat in a fusion restaurant. If you have a few minutes more and open for something just a little bit less ordinary, then you’d better visit the Pata Negra tapas bar at Kálvin tér, which is the closest place of interest as long as eating is concerned.