Hungary - Eastern Europe - page 307

XIV. Állatkerti út 2. & 1/468-4040. www.gundel.hu. Reservations highly recommended. Soup 1,350 Ft-1,860 Ft
($6.75-$9.30/£3.50-£4.80); starters 3,350 Ft-17,300 Ft ($17-$87/£8.60-£44); main courses 4,980 Ft-9,740 Ft
($25-$49/£13-£25); prix-fixe menu 17,500 Ft-36,000 Ft ($88-$180/£45-£92). AE, DC, MC, V. Daily noon-4pm and
6:30pm-midnight. Metro: Hósök tere (Yellow line).
Expensive
Robinson Restaurant HUNGARIAN CONTEMPORARY The setting
could not be more romantic and harmonious, with live music and tasteful decor
around you as you dine overlooking the small but tranquil lake in City Park. Robin-
son is one of Budapest's most dynamic and well-situated restaurants, near both
Heroes' Square and the Museum of Fine Arts. The food is varied, ranging from tradi-
tional classics like chicken paprika served with egg dumplings, to more exotic seafood
dishes like the savory giant prawn on garlic-spinach bed with green curry. We had a
perfectly done, tender ripened Angus sirloin steak with onion rings and French potato
hot-pot, which was on the daily menu. Vegetarian and children's menus are available,
and a coffee shop (also overlooking the lake) is on the second floor.
XIV. Városligeti tó. & 1/422-0224. www.robinsonrestaurant.hu. Reservations recommended. Soup 790 Ft-890 Ft
($3.95-$4.45/£2-£2.30); starters 1,990 Ft-2,890 Ft ($9.95-$14/£5.10-£7.40); main courses 2,790 Ft-5,980 Ft
($14-$30/£7.15-£15). AE, DC, MC, V. Daily noon-4pm and 6pm-midnight. Metro: Hósök tere (Yellow line).
CENTRAL BUDA
Very Expensive
Kacsa Vendégló HUNGARIAN TRADITIONAL Translated as “Duck
Inn,” this elegant, charming restaurant gives you a first-rate dining experience that
feels both luxurious and homey. The space is located on F ó utca, the main street of
Watertown, the Buda neighborhood that lies between Castle Hill and the Danube.
Enticing main courses include roast duck with morello cherries, haunch of venison
with grapes, and fresh pikeperch from Balaton. Other enticing dishes on the menu
include grilled frogs' legs on a bed of vegetables with white wine, smoked salmon, or
the delicious grilled forest mushrooms with cognac sauce and wild rice. The restau-
rant, which has functioned as an eatery for some 160 years, is run by Áron Rozsnyai,
who obviously loves what he does, and he does it well. A trio of string players in the
space completes a perfectly choreographed dining experience.
Fó u. 75. & 1/201-9992. Reservations recommended. Soup 800 Ft-1,300 Ft ($4-$6.50/£2-£3.30); starters 1,800
Ft-4,100 Ft ($9-$21/£4.60-£11); main courses 1,600 Ft-6,500 Ft ($8-$33/£4.10-£17). AE, MC, V. Daily noon-1am.
Metro: Batthyány tér (Red line).
Inexpensive
Marxim PIZZA On a gritty industrial street near Moszkva tér, Marxim's chief
appeal lies not in its cuisine but in its decor, which attracts visitors from far and wide.
The motif is Marxist nostalgia (the entrance is marked by a small neon red flag), but
with a nod to the macabre side of the old system. The cellar space is a virtual museum
of barbed wire, red flags, banners, posters, and cartoons recalling Hungary's dark past.
Several years ago, Marxim was unsuccessfully prosecuted under a controversial law ban-
ning the display of the symbols of “hateful” political organizations. Amazingly, this is
one of very few places in Budapest where you can still see this kind of stuff, so thor-
oughly have symbols of the Communist period been erased. This loud, very smoky cel-
lar space is more of a bar than a restaurant. A number of draft beers are available on tap.
II. Kisrókus u. 23. & 1/316-0231. Pizza 590 Ft-1,290 Ft ($2.95-$6.45/£1.50-£3.30); pasta 520 Ft-890 Ft
($2.60-$4.45/£1.35-£2.30). No credit cards. Mon-Thurs noon-1am; Fri-Sat noon-2am; Sun 6pm-1am. Metro:
Moszkva tér (Red line).

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