Where: Budapest, Hungary
When: July 1-2, 2017
With: Dave
When Communism hit Hungary shortly after the end of World War II, it cast a bit of a sleeping spell on this beautiful country. Elaborate buildings fell into disrepair, the Soviet Union took advantage of the nicest parts, and the culture was fairly stagnant until 1989 when the Cold War ended.
This had a huge impact on the food scene in Hungary. While Hungarian food is delicious, it was not always readily available for the common person to cook due to rations imposed under Communism. While the Hungarians made do by utilizing their gardens and getting creative, the restaurant scene was certainly not burgeoning.
However, there are two places that stood the test of time and after being nationalized for over 40 years, they've come back with a vengeance to regain their former glory.
The first place is Gundel, a super fancy restaurant that was started in 1894, but taken over by Károly Gundel in 1910. It sits in Budapest's City Park, and while we wanted to eat here, we didn't want to pack a suit and tie for the experience.
When: July 1-2, 2017
With: Dave
When Communism hit Hungary shortly after the end of World War II, it cast a bit of a sleeping spell on this beautiful country. Elaborate buildings fell into disrepair, the Soviet Union took advantage of the nicest parts, and the culture was fairly stagnant until 1989 when the Cold War ended.
This had a huge impact on the food scene in Hungary. While Hungarian food is delicious, it was not always readily available for the common person to cook due to rations imposed under Communism. While the Hungarians made do by utilizing their gardens and getting creative, the restaurant scene was certainly not burgeoning.
However, there are two places that stood the test of time and after being nationalized for over 40 years, they've come back with a vengeance to regain their former glory.
The first place is Gundel, a super fancy restaurant that was started in 1894, but taken over by Károly Gundel in 1910. It sits in Budapest's City Park, and while we wanted to eat here, we didn't want to pack a suit and tie for the experience.
However, just next door is Gundel's sister restaurant called Bagolyvár. Opened in 1913 by Károly Gundel, he intended this to be a more family focused version of his restaurant, specifically for families visiting the Budapest Zoo next door. In fact, the name Bagolyvár means "owl's castle", referring to the zoo's owl building that had stood on this spot before the restaurant.
As per usual, Dave rented the restaurant just for me.
The food was fantastic. We sat in the courtyard, drank Hungarian rosé in the sunshine, and enjoyed a fantastic meal. Dave ordered their fisherman stew, a specialty, and I had the chicken paprikas. It was amazing, and we basically had to be rolled out. Thank goodness we were doing a lot of walking.
Another staple of the Hungarian culture is the café scene. In mid-afternoon, the Hungarians love a pastry and some coffee (or wine!) And the patisserie that has been around the longest is Gerbeaud.
Standing on this site since 1870, Henrik Kugler and Emil Gerbeaud took their extensive education in all things sweet to create and develop the ultimate patisserie. The interior looks much as it did when Emil decorated it in 1910, though it required extensive renovation following the Cold War.
In the colder months, it is basically impossible to get a seat inside during primetime, but in the summer, a huge patio is set up so guests can enjoy sweets and sunshine all at once.
We arrived mid-afternoon and opted for the Traditional Gerbeaud Cake Selection with two glasses of sweet Tokaj wine. This included, going clockwise from the top: Esterhazy, a traditional Hungarian walnut cake layered with brandy-flavored vanilla cream and topped with fondant; a Gerbeaud pastry following Emil's original recipe of powdered sugar and apricot layered cake topped with chocolate icing; dobos, a sponge cake layered with chocolate icing and topped with a hard caramel; and finally, the famous Gerbeaud vanilla ice cream with apricot sauce.
We had such a nice time enjoying our sweet dessert in the middle of the day and living as the Hungarians do.
While the food scene in Budapest is still growing, what we experienced was absolutely amazing. It makes me excited for what is to come for Hungary!
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