Gundel's (Budapest) 12/2012

This is one of the most famous restaurants in Hungary and has been for decades. It is next door to the zoo and only a couple of hundred yards from Hero's square. The small entry 
 
with it's certificates of excellence leads to a magnificent room.
Tables are set with show plates 

and impeccable white linen cloths and napkins.
Menus look like art works
 
At one end of the room a six piece band plays Hungarian, Gypsy and other folk music.

Bread and butter, plain and flavoured, are served promptly as is wine.

A small pork terrine comes as a amuse bouche.

Sandra chose a Goose Liver Trio
a as an appetiser. 
Fattened Goose Liver with Onion Confit
Black Truffle Dusted Goose Liver Paté with Cherry ChutneyGundel Goose Liver Pâté with Golden Raisins, Grape Jelly and Grape Seed Oil about A$50

which were quite unexceptional.
I chose to have 
A Tasting of Three Soups of my Choice, 
a Hungarian Fisherman’s Soup à la John Gundel
White Asparagus Cream Soup with Truffle Oil and Cottage Cheese Stick
and Quail Essence with Truffle Dumplings and Perfectly Made Egg. (A$22)

Only the truffle flavours asparagus soup stood out, still one outstanding dish out of three is something.

For her main Sandra chosePan-fried Pike-perch à la Charles Gundel

with sautéed Spinach and Asparagus Velouté

She has decide that she does;t really like Pike!
There was no goose on the menu, something we had hoped for so I now chose
Tenderloin of Beef Franz Liszt Style with Grilled Goose Liver, Forest Mushroom Sauce and crispy Vegetables, This looked pretty good but, despite my quite clear request that it be served blue it was medium rare. Asked if we were happy with everything I had no hesitation in pointing out the chef had failed to deliver. A little hesitant initially the waiter asked if he should take it back. Certainly I said and he returned with a genuinely blue, and remarkably tough and fibrous piece of meat. (A$65)

Crepes are made at the table. A multi step operation, the waiter/chef explained each stage of the procedure.

destined to turn out a great Crepe Suzette.

Service was excellent. It was notable that, except for two, the average waiters looked to be well over 60!
Score: 17/20 for everything but the food which perhaps got to 13.25/20

Nagywilliam Etterem (Vishnegrod) 12/2016

Looking over the Danube on a high hill some 30 Km. from Budapest this restaurant is very reminiscent of a hunting lodge. Walls are decorated with pictures of birds and animals 

and stuffed heads, even fish!

Decorative double doors 

open into a corridor leading to a large room warmed by a wood fired stove

where hexagonal tables

 look over the Danube and  distant castles.

 they are noted for their venison ragout,

which was excellent for a wintry day.
Breaded foie gras on a bed of potato with cabbage and apple was another good winter dish. In this case the potato surpassed the foie gras which was almost lost in the heavy breading.

Comments Score:13.25 /20

Tigris (Pest, Budapest) 12/2016

About 160 years ago when the hotel Tigris was built it was the premier accommodation in Budapest. The restaurant, of the same name, is a specialist foie gras and goose restaurant, although there was only one goose dish on the menu. It has a feature 150 year old bar
 
but otherwise the decor is simple and modern.

with simple table settings

The chef offered us a small amuse bouche, a bite of terrine with a small biscuit

They do have a variety of presentations of foie gras and we both chose their selection which included a foie gras in duck fat, a foie gras mousse, a chocolate coated foie gras, a truffle foie gras and a creamed foie gras , caramelised in a semi sphere separated by some palate cleansing thick conserves and candied pecan nuts. I would have liked some seared foie gras on the plate but what was served was absolutely fantastic. I loved them all with a slight bias toward the truffle which was outstanding for me, although Sandra preferred the chocolate wheel. Unfortunately I only got an exceptionally poor pic of this dish.

We did especially enjoy a fine Tokay with the foie gras

We both ordered the goose leg which was presented under a silver cloche.

presented on a bed of potato

One of the most renowned desserts in Hungary is the Dobos cake. Here they presented us with a unique version with no resemblance to the traditional cake, a sort of chocolate mousse cake. 

Score: 14/20 but the foie gras was worth 18/20!!

Condes Downtown ( Pest, Budapest) 12/2016

This restaurant is attached to the very modern one year old Prestige Hotel in the heart of the old city. It is one of five restaurants with Michelin stars here.
It occupies a long L shaped room with an elaborate painting and live greenery at on end 

and an open kitchen at the other end above which is a very sensible statement.

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 Generally the decor is simple.

 

 as are the table settings.

 They offer both an a la carte menu and a variety of degustation menus including a chef's surprise which we chose.

After a bowl of crisp chips made from egg white and flour flavoured with parmesan and squid ink

 and an amuse bouche of smoked tatar with white and black quinoa, tomato and parmeson.

we came to the first course featuring smoked Mackral, salsify in three different forms, kohlrabi, coriander and black crumble.

 Butter was grated, and flavoured with parmesan or caramelised and flavoured with garlic and thyme.

 Carrot and ginger soup with roasted carrot and cashew nuts 

 had excellent flavour but was a little too thick for a soup.

Quail, with parsnip three ways, chips, puree or in rounds and Swiss chard two ways

 

 was another super dish and usually I don't like parsnip!

This was followed by perfectly prepared rib eye with Jerusalem artichoke puree, bone marrow, mushroom and cabbage which might sound strange but was delicious in a light gravy, Unfortunately I did not take a snap of it.

A pre dessert was enough for us and we skipped the dessert.

 As they said taste is subjective so you cannot have a perfect restaurant but here the food was attractively presented and extremely good, the products fresh and served with variety in a pleasing ambience and the service attentive. For me the seasoning was a little bland on a couple of dishes so it would not offend any palate

Score: 17/20

Ezard (Melbourne CBD) 12/2016

Ezard 's has been an extremely successful restaurant for many years now and, whilst it has emphasised different tastes in food the venue has stayed very much the same.

Give someone a mass of ingredients, for example wasabi, mirin, sake and soy, or avocado, chili and pomelo, or pickled cucumber, rice wasabi, fingerlime, cream fresh and and see what they can do with them. It's an interesting challenge. Teague Ezard has come up with one answer and its encompassed in his degustation menu. Obviously it's how they are combined and the proportions that matter.
The first course on our menu was an oyster shot which was on the menu a decade ago when we were here last time. Served in a shot glass it was just as appealing with a touch of soy in the mirin and sake with just a little wasabi. This was followed by  an avocado, chili and pomelo combination.

Hardly photogenic it was a pleasant way to enjoy an unusual combination of ingredients.
Scallop dumpling, Osaka seaweed, mirin and soy broth

 was, for me, over seasoned with pepper. The scallop was not whole but had been minced and then made into a the dumpling. Not very successful for me.
Lightly cured Kingfish, pickled cucumber, puffed rice, cream fresh, wasabi and fingerlime, on the other hand,

 was a huge success, thoroughly enjoyed. To use that hackneyed expression 'a go to dish'.
Asparagus salad, smoked ricotta, Otway shitaki, air dried beef

Was another success demonstrating imagination and taste.
Salmon, Victorian greens, a clear tomato broth

came with a mini pasta.
 
 Totally delicious.
Pork belly, balsamic glaze and red plum

 was another lovely dish. The pork was meltingly tender with a good layer of succulent heart threatening fat. I loved it.

The final dish was a duck breast with smoked tofu.

 Good but not exciting. This was followed by a watermelon granita with hibiscus jelly, a syrup and

 cream as a palate cleanser before the dessert.
This was Choctaw, a chocolate sphere filled with mouse, kaffir lime, coconut and passionfruit.

This gorgeous presentation lived up to expectation with it's variety of tastes and textures. It was sweet but not overwhelmingly so,

We drank a 2013 Tarrawara reserve pinot noir at about three times the retail price.

All in all an extremely interesting and high quality meal. Strangely, despite it's variety there was a blandness about most of the dishes. Really good, really very good yet lacking some sort of excitement. 

Score: 16.75/20