Hungarian Culinary Experiance

I just returned from a wonderful trip to Hungary, where I spent most of my time sampling Hungarian cuisine and swimming in several thermal baths. As always, the classical creations were excellent. My only disappointment was in the service. During this visit the service was not what I previously enjoyed.

Best overall service was at Robinson restaurant near Vajda Hunyad Var. Some of their menu specialties were:

• Goose liver terrine with fig jam on a buttery loaf pillow with chilled drippings
• Deer pate with onion jam on bruschetta
• Grilled goose liver with caramelized peach

Best overall Hungarian menu was at Nancsi neni, located in Buda. This restaurant has been in operation since 1905. Their menu has many selections and starts with a very nice quote, “only mothers and grandmothers know everything about life.”

Some of the old-time menu offerings were:

• Soup of cockerel with liver dumplings
• Pancake Hortobagyi, chicken and paprika in a sour cream sauce
• Fresh grilled saibling, an arctic trout from northern Norway
• Duck and goose plate for one
• Hungarian goose liver with lecso and mashed potato
• Hungarian plum dumplings with angel noodles
• Black truffle cream soup, (only in the winter)
• Filet of pike-perch from Lake Balaton
• The one and only fried Balaton Sullo, a type of pike-perch only found in Lake Balaton
• Loin of venison with bilberries
• Boiled oxen with a traditional Hungarian hunter’s sauce

A good Hungarian menu from a local restaurant near our home was at Mister Sorhaz, or Mister Beer House, a local establishment making their own beer.

My menu favorites were:

• Fried camembert in breadcrumbs and cranberry
• Goose broth with matzo dumplings
• Goulash soup with tiny egg dumplings
• Medallions of venison with wild fruits
• Wild boar stew
• Crispy Gypsy pork
• Menyecskelab, “Stuffed Knuckle of Pork”
• Transylvania mixed grill (Rump steak, breast of turkey and a pork chop)
• Pork cutlet, Orseg style (potato, bacon, sour cream and cheese)
• Game stew lowland style (carrot, peas, and mushrooms)

My only disappointment at Mister Sorhaz was not having one of my favorite desserts, Chestnut puree with sour cream and rum. When I placed my order after dinner, the waiter apologized, “the chef went home.” Talk about a temper-mental chef or a miscommunication between wait staff and chef.

Overall, the trip was fantastic. The menu listings above were produced from an array of local, seasonal ingredients, easily found in the Hungarian piac/markets.