Best Hungarian Meal @ Nansci Neni (Budapest Day 3)

This was it... My last night in Budapest and my final meal. Bolly's parents were saving their favorite restaurant Nansci Neni for my last meal.



The restaurant was completely packed when we arrived but it was still very quiet and warm. The interior was made from timber and was beautifully decorated with jars of pickled fruits and vegetables.




The menu was quite extensive with entrees ranging from fish, poultry, game, beef and many more. We ordered some appetizers and desserts to share but had our own main courses.

Fresh Goose Liver with Steamed Grapes

Zhao Phin and I shared this appetizer. Believe it or not, Laszlo told me that Hungary actually exports around 70% of Europe's market for goose liver (Foie Gras). This may explain the generous portion served here. The goose-liver was perfectly seared and went really well with the sweet steamed grape sauce which had a nice hint of sherry. The soft milk-loaf was an excellent sponge for the delicious sauce!


Boiled Beef in Hunter's Sauce

This was my dish. The beef was fork tender and the Hunter's Sauce went really well with the beef. It had a hint of sweetness but was also smoky and earthy which complemented the flavor of the beef. It tasted a little like barbecue sauce but Bearta told me it is actually made from carrots and a few other root vegetables. The Hungarian Dumplings had a similar texture to French Toast and was very good as well.


Duck and Goose Plate

This was Nora's main course. The plate consist of a crispy duck leg, a slice of duck liver and a spicy goose wing. It also came with steamed red cabbage and mash potatoes.


Ovenbaked Rosemary Parfumed Leg of Lamb

Bearta's main course. The lamb leg cutlets were served with oven-baked potatoes that were seasoned with garlic and roasemary sauce


Loin of Venison with Bilberries

Bolly's venison loin came with flambeed fruits, home made potato croquette and blueberry sauce.


Fresh Grilled Fillet of Pike-preach from Lake Balaton

This was the only seafood main course and was Laszlo's. The Pike-preach was served with green-pea puree and buttered carrots


Braised Duck Leg Confit

Phin's main course came in a nice mini iron pot. The duck legs were confit to a state where the meat was falling off the bone. It looked really delicious!


Floating Islands

The middle was basically a light souffle that was sitting on top of a vanilla custard. The dessert was really light and good!


Somloi Galuska

I cannot get enough of this dessert and we had it again. The somloi here was better than what we had at the Plintenburg. It wasn't drenched with bottled chocolate sauce and the dumplings were really soft and had a much nuttier flavor! It tasted similar to Nutella.

Aranygaluska

Aranygaluska are soft brioche squares rolled in walnut and vanilla sauce. The highlight was the sauce which had a very nice vanilla scent and was light but creamy.


Chocolate Mousse

I was too full to try this dessert haha so I can't really comment on it.


Overall this was probably the best meal I had in Europe this trip. Everything I had and tried was excellent in this restaurant and I definitely look forward to coming back to Budapest to eat again! Anyone coming to Budapest I highly recommend this place. The portions are generous and the food is really good!


Contact Information
Address: 1029 Budapest, II. ker. Ordogarok ut 80
Tel: +36-398-7127
Web: www.nancsineni.hu

Delicious Lunch @ Plintenburg Restaurant (Budapest Day 3)

After a breathtaking view of the Danube River from the mountains Bolly's dad Laszlo took us for lunch at Plintenburg Restaurant which was situated right by the Danube River Bank to sample their local river fish Pike-preach.



While waiting for our food I couldn't help notice this cute little jar called "Eros Pista" that was on every table. Laszlo told me it was spicy paprika and asked me to try it with the bread. My weak tongue was on fire after my first bite. I never thought spicy paprika would taste like sambal oelek! If I did I would not have spread such a big amount on my bread.



Anyways, after downing a couple of glasses of water our food finally arrived...

Halaszle Bogracsban, Matula Bacsi Modra (Uncle Matula's Fish Soup)

This was my dish and I absolutely love it. The paprika based soup had a nice smoky flavor that went well with the pike. The Pike in my soup had a texture and was high in fat just like Salmon.


Mandulas Foglas Vajban Sutve (Pike-preached with almond fried in butter)

This was Bolly's dish and he did not quite like it. I had a bite of it and thought the fish was perfectly cooked since it was moist in the inside and the almond crust wasn't burnt. However, I did agree with Bolly that the almond probably did not go well with the fish and that they should have made some sauce to go with it.


Foglas File tejszines-gombas rakmartassal (Pike-preach with creamy mushroom crayfish sauce)

This was Phin's dish. The crayfish actually looked more like shrimps to me. The sauce was very rich and creamy but was quite mild.


Visegradi Harcsapaprikas (Catfish in Paprika Sauce in Visegrad)

This was Laszlo's dish. The sauce was actually similar to the pork stew I had at Corvinus Pizzeria in Sopron. Surprisingly it went well with the fish despite it being so strong. The dish was also served with Hungarian flat noodles which Phin had at Corvinus.


In addition to our main courses we also ordered some Hungarian Desserts to try...

Gundel Palascinta (Gundel Pancakes)

A famous Hungarian Pancake. They were pretty good especially the filling which consisted of ground walnuts, raisins and cinnamon.


Plintenburg Palascinta (Plintenburg Pancakes)

This was the restaurant's own pancake. It tasted similar to Gundel Pancakes except that it was drowned in bottled chocolate sauce and whipped cream.


Somloi Galuska

This is a typical and very rich Hungarian Dessert. It consist of three dumplings that were flavored with Vanilla pastry cream, raisins, walnuts and garnished with whip cream and chocolate rum. The dessert is so rich and heavy but it was really really good!

Our lunch was really heavy but it was very satisfying. Plintenburg was yet another restaurant that we picked randomly and yet the food was excellent. Tonight however Laszlo promised us a dinner that serves up top notch Hungarian food! I can't wait...


Contact Information:
Address: Somewhere in Visegrad I think
Tel: N/A

Dinner @ Bolly's House (Budapest Day 2)

Tonight was special as Bolly’s mum Beata cooked us a simple but delicious meal. "The food is Hungarian but modified to make it my own" chuckles Beata as she whips up our dinner while we waited patiently in the living room.

Dinner was finally ready and Bolly came out from the kitchen with a large pot that smelled really good! “Ohh Goulash!” I exclaimed as he laid the pot down on the table. “Nope, it’s called Palóc” he replied immediately.



Palóc is actually a meat and vegetable soup. It has the same watery consistency as Chinese soup but definitely packed a lot of flavor from the vegetables, potatoes, meat and special blend of paprika powder. The meat is usually pork but Bolly's mum uses Turkey instead to keep it healthy. I definitely loved the earthy and hearty flavor of this soup.



Next came a bowl full of breaded balls that resembled Tong Yuen, a custard-like sauce and powdered sugar. Initially I thought this was our dessert but Bolly said this was our main course and the balls were called Túrógombóc.



The first version was traditional where the balls were just cottage cheese that is boiled and then rolled in breadcrumbs. The cheese was a little sour in flavor and had a creamier texture than Feta Cheese. Eating it with sour cream (the custard like sauce) and powdered sugar actually added more depth to the overall flavor of the balls.




Beata also made her own version by filling the balls with dark chocolate. I was pleasantly surprised at how well the chocolate and cottage cheese melded together. It was actually pretty darn good.



We ended our meal with some really sweet mini grapes that were taken from Bolly’s grandparent’s garden. The meal was so simple but I was very satisfied and full! Many thanks to Nora for cooking this meal!

Eating our way to Bolly's Hometown! Budapest

Our last Viennese Dessert
Before leaving Vienna for Budapest we had one more dessert called the Imperial Torte. Created in our Hotel and claimed to be a culinary treasure of Vienna this torte was created by the hotel's apprentice chef in honor of Austra's then Emperor Franz Joseph I. We bought a box of the petit fours and ate it while we drove towards Hungary.



The petit fours tasted more like chocolate truffle than cake. The center was marzipan mixed with cocoa cream and was covered with a milk chocolate coating. There was a strong almond flavor but I did they used dark chocolate instead of milk chocolate.




Contact Information
Address: Kärntner Ring 16 1015 Wien Austria
Tel: +(43) (1) 501 10-313
Web: https://www.imperialtorte.at/en/homepage/



Lunch at Sopron, Hungary
Sopron is quiet little Hungarian town that borders Austria. We stopped here for lunch where I had my first Hungarian meal at Corvinus Pizzeria. Before you guys think I've gone made No... Pizza is not Hungarian. We decided to eat at this Pizzeria because of the al-fresco seating and it's large menu selection of Hungarian specialties. Not knowing what to order my friend Bolly ordered a few dishes for us to share.

Vegyes gyumolcsleves vanilia fagylattal (Fruit Soup with Vanilla Ice Cream)

This was a very interesting soup. Served cold obviously I've never had a sweet soup with Vanilla Ice Cream before a main meal! The soup was very creamy and tasted somewhat like a strawberry yogurt drink with vanilla ice cream. It reminded me a little bit of cold Chinese dessert fruit soups such as Honey Dew with Sago.


Husleves Majgaluskaval: Liver Dumpling Soup

Neighbors of Austria, the Hungarians also have a version of the Liver Dumpling Soup which is quite good. The beef consomme wasn't too salty nor oily and the liver dumplings although not as perfectly shaped and presented as Meirei was also full of liver goodness and tender.


Chef Salad

Yes this is not a Hungarian Dish but we needed some greens after all the food we had in the past few days. Although it was just a simple salad with some chicken breast strips I was surprised at the flavorful but not overpowering salad dressing that is oil-free. According to Bolly the dressing was basically the water used for pickling gherkins.


Sertesporkolt hazi galuskaval (Pork Stew with Home Made Dumplings)

This was an excellent and hearty dish! I thoroughly enjoyed fork-tender chunks of pork that is braised in the rich paprika stew. Their home made dumplings which I think is Spaetzle was perfectly cooked and salted. It was definitely better than the Spaetzle I had at Augustiner Brauhaus in Munich!


Turos csusza (Hungarian Flat Noodles with Cottage Cheese and Sour Cream Sauce

This was also very good! The flat noodles were mixed with cottage cheese, sour cream and a dash of paprika and bacon bits. Unlike Italian Pasta which is usually cooked Al Dente, the noodles were really soft and smooth in texture similar to our Chinese rice noodles (Hor Fun). The cheese and sour cream were light in flavor which I think complemented the soft noodles really well.

Contact Information:
Address:9400 Sopron, Fő tér 7-8.
Tel:+36 99 505035
Web: www.generalis.hu/


Hungarian Dessert at Dömötöri Cukrászda, Sopron Hungary


Following up with our excellent lunch we headed to this cafe to sample a Hungarian Dessert called Kremes. Kremes is basically a Hungarian Vanilla Pie that consist of vanilla cream filling that is sandwiched between two thin layers of puff pastry. The vanilla cream filling was very light and airy almost resembling a somewhat soft tofu like texture. The puff pastry gave it a nice contrast in texture. Overall this was a nice and light dessert.



As usual, Phin ordered a cup of coffee and this time it was a Cappuccino.



Contact Information
Address: 9400 Sopron, Széchenyi tér 13.
Tel: +36 (99) 506-623


Overall I amreally excited about the food in Hungary. Corvinus and Dömötöri Cukrászda were just two small-town restaurants that we randomly picked while making a stop and the food was pretty good! I just can't wait to sample the food that Bolly is going to take us to try when we reach Budapest.