French made Hungarian cuisine
March 28 2007
Kinga Kali
A new restaurant has just opened in Buda`s Csalogány utca, named, unassumingly, Csalogány 26.
The Budapest Sun
From the outside, it has an air mondain, but, beneath the surface and behind the huge arched windows, the visitor can find a small, cosy place, with a refined table and comfortable chairs in one corner, perhaps set up there for the guests` short and peaceful coffee/newspaper break during the day.
The tables are close to each other and dressed in deep-green cloths, not unlike a French bistro. This must be a more distinguished `fast-food` sort of place, I thought at first sight, changing my mind later on after observing the simple, rather restrained sophistication of the place.
It was lunchtime, and I learned from the board outside that there is a cheap offer on at this time of the day. Two courses come to only Ft1,200 ($6.45), and three courses to Ft1,400 ($7.53).
Seven choices
But there is much more to the weekly lunch menu than its reasonable price. There are seven choices for each course, which add up to a lot more possible combinations than the numbers of days in a week, not to mention the fact that you are given the choice of having one, two, or three courses according to your appetite, rather than having to get a whole three course lunch menu, as is often the case elsewhere.
The waiters were kind, displaying the enthusiasm of a new beginning. They explained with great expertise and patience every item on the daily menu. This is one of the outstanding qualities of the place, and polite well-trained waiters are not to be taken for granted in Budapest.
They even revealed the cooking methods for each course that we have asked for. It turns out that the chef is applying `reform cooking` methods even to Hungarian specialities, and no flour, additives, or `unnecessary` extra ingredients are added. Every meal is just real and wholesome, even the tomato-cabbage garnish, a well-know Hungarian speciality, seems very different to what I got used to at the student canteen during my university years.
My friend tried the chicken consommé, which came in a small bowl, and was perfectly clear but for the green parsley floating on the top.
The rabbit chop garnished with green beans was delicious, she said, with the meat fatless and crispy on the outside.
The perfectly cooked beans did not float in a puddle of sauce thickened with loads of flour, instead the kitchen master used pure potatoes to bring more texture to the tomatoes. We also tried the celery soup and the roasted pork chop with cabbage. The soup was velouté, velvety-creamy, and the dominating celery taste is real.
The pork was only slightly seasoned, and accompanied by a more `cosmopolitan` garnish: the French potato gratin - on a little round tower which sat beside the previously mentioned Hungarian-inspired tomato-cabbage.
We decide to put the home-made paté to the test together, but this was a (minor) disappointment.
The paté, allegedly a `Hungaricum` arrived very late, and it looked and tasted like something halfway between a terrine and a slice of raw rustic sausage, and was returned to the kitchen unfinished.
Csalogány 26 is as much French as it is Hungarian - the cooking methods, the portions, the serving all resemble Gallic tastes, but the dishes are often a `remake` of a Hungarian recipe.
I consider this a good idea. The French side of the restaurant comes more to life in the evenings perhaps when the table clothes change to white and candle lights are on.
Rabbit liver
The prices for the á la carte meals are more expensive, and the menu is much more detailed. You can choose, for instance, meals such as rabbit liver, match-stick pasta vegetable Beurre-blanc (Ft1,400); free range supréme in bread crumbs, green peas (Ft2,200); or Cardamom chocolate cake (Ft900).
The lunch time (house) wine, a Cabernet Franc and Merlot Cuvée from Szekszárd, (Ft200 dl) is exchanged for the more expensive options like the Hungarian Szepsy Cuvée.
Before leaving, I took home a delicious apple tart I saw on the lunch menu list: it reminded me of the tarte aux pommes of Normandie.
But if you visit this place, you should not miss the speciality of the house, another Hungarian `remake`: the Poppy seed sponge CS 26 (Ft800), to which a scoop of home-made ice cream was added.
Quality of food ****
Service ****
Value for money *****
Atmosphere ****
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