I don’t know why it has taken me so long to appreciate Etyek, and the many lovely wines that come from its chalky soils. It produces some beautiful wines from some of my favorite grapes like pinot noir, sauvignon blanc, and zöldveltelini (better known as grüner veltliner). And best of all, it is close enough to Budapest (just half-an-hours drive) to make an easy day (or half-day) wine tasting trips. I’ve been living in Budapest for about ten years, and whenever I feel like making a trip to the Hungarian wine country for some serious tasting, I tend to look further (as I suspect many Budapesters do).
It was a lovely meal and tasting at the small, and very classy, Hernyák Birtok that sealed the deal for me (read what I wrote about that meal a few months back on Chew.hu). Last weekend was the annual Etyek Cellar Festival, a weekend-long event that encompasses the whole town. We went, despite the cold and rain which kept most people away. The kids watched a hilarious puppet show (Hungarians have a real talent for those) and did arts and craft projects while we sipped wines from Kreinbacher (winemakers from all over the country descend on the village) until it was just too wet outside. We headed indoors, back to Hernyák to have a few glasses, and then onto neighboring Etyeki Kúria. Normally at Etyeki Kúria there would be tables set up in the vineyards for the occasion. Instead, a folk ensemble showed up and played a few songs, which the girls loved dancing to.
While in Etyek it’s also worth checking out the Rókusfalvy Pince, as well as Rókusfalvy’s Restaurant where you can taste his wines (and spend the night in one of the six rooms if you’ve had too much to drink). There’s an old cellar row to check out. Most of the cellars seem to be empty, but on our last trip to Etyek we descended into the Krajcsi Pince to taste a few wines and, as it turned out, some pálinka. More memorable than the wine was the pálinka demonstration which the winemaker did. He gulped the pálinka down, and then slowly and dramatically exhaled. This way he releases all of the alcohol in the pálinka, he explained, allowing him to drink more. I can’t personally vouch for his method, but it seemed to work for him.
If you’re in Budapest, come taste some Etyeki wines with us on Saturday (May 22) at our Wine & A Movie event!
–Carolyn
Home-Cooking In the City
On a nondescript street in Budapest’s seventh district—a neighborhood of run-down crumbling buildings—one of my favorite restaurants hides in plain sight in a storefront of an early-19th-century apartment house. There’s no wine list, the brown-checked tablecloths are smudged, and there are no frills (in everything from the service and the décor to the food and the menu). You may have to share a table if the place is packed (like it usually is), and English is non-existent. Kívánság Étkezde (VII. Alsóerdősor utca 36) serves the kind of home-style food that a village grandmother would prepare. Regulars come daily, and elderly neighbors socialize over steaming bowls of húsleves (consomme). In exchange for the simplicity, you won’t pay more than five or six euros for a meal. It is hardly the only place like this in Budapest. The best way to find one? Follow office workers on their way to lunch.
This type of restaurant is known as the étkezde or kifőzde: usually a single room with less than a dozen tables and a frequently changing menu of traditional Hungarian dishes. They typically open for weekday lunch, and coffee and alcohol are seldom served. The idea is to eat quickly and surrender your table. For the traveler seeking authenticity and a true peek at Budapest life, this is the jackpot. Budapest’s markets are brimming with pig brains and snouts, tripe and beef tail, and rooster testicles and chicken hearts. The étkezde is the place to go to taste these things. There are also tamer options, and the short menu includes several soups and stews, several types of roasted, fried, or stuffed meats, pickled salads, a főzelék (a stewed vegetable dish), a pasta or two, and one or two desserts.
Kádár Étkezde (VII. Klauzál tér 9) is an institution in the old Jewish quarter. The food here is among the best in the city, and on busy Saturdays lines are long and it can be hard to get a table. Known for Jewish specialties like cholent, (bean stew with goose leg, ham, or hard-boiled egg), it also serves fantastic stuffed cabbage and peppers, duck with red cabbage, and vargabéles (a pasta and strudel cake). Celebrity photos line the walls, and you pay the proprietor, standing by the door in a white coat, as you leave. The adorable Ráday Étkezde (IX. Ráday utca 29) is on one of the city’s trendiest streets, but doesn’t offer an English menu. It has a few tables in the gallery (every one with a single Gerber daisy), recipes painted on the ceiling, and random magazine pages glued to the walls. Come here for good chicken paprikás, as well as other étkezde staples like fried cheese and pörkölt (stew). Regulars come daily from the nearby university.
The Rákóczi Kifőzde (VIII. Rákóczi tér 9) sits next to an old market hall on a torn-up square that will be the site of a new metro stop. An old hussar uniform hangs on the wall, the tablecloths are red checked, and the daily specials are scrawled in Hungarian on a whiteboard. The menu holds a few random international dishes, but it is best to stick to the Hungarian classics (like the vadpörkölt, game stew, with potato croquettes). Cross the river to find the Róma Ételbár (I. Csalogány utca 20). This cozy place (with 1970s décor) is slightly more expensive than the others and serves slabs of meat nearly as big as a plate. Try the hagymás rostélyos (a thin piece of beef topped with crispy fried onions) or the cigány pecsenye (a pork cutlet topped with bacon and garlic).
If you aren’t lucky enough to be invited to a Hungarian home, these étkezdes are the next best thing. For a fraction of the price of a regular restaurant, the étkezde fills a primal desire for honest, authentic, every-day food.
This piece was originally published in Ling.
–Carolyn