Food

The “best restaurant in the world” certainly lives up to its name. Formerly, I compared a lot of great food to the Driskill in Austin under Chef David Bull – “this is amazing, but it isn’t as good as the Driskill.” Now, my comparison will sound like, “but it isn’t as good as the Gundel.” It was truly amazing and shall now be the standard by which I shall measure all other food.
I ordered the tasting menu (I’ve always wanted to!) and Rob ordered another tasting menu. We began our courses with goose liver (which admittedly, I thought I wouldn’t like) and it was superb! Who knew goose liver tasted so good? The Hungarians. It tasted a little like fois gras (duck liver) and mine was done with a lightly sweet and a little fruity layering paired with a muscat wine (mmm, tasty!). Rob’s was a little more robust with a smoky flavor and a less sweet wine.
They used mostly local Hungarian wines.

The first course was listed as
McKay:
Goose Liver Torte with Sour Cherry Balm and in Tokaji marinated dried Apricot-Cranberry Ragout

Rob:
Tokaji Aszu-flavored Goose Liver Pate stuffed with Golden Raisins, paired with Brioche and Red Paprika Jam

The second course was

McKay: Tomato Soup with Celery Oil, Vodka and Parmesan Chips. I feel now that I have finally tasted tomato soup. For a comparison, it tasted similar to the Campbell’s tomato soup, but also as different as the tiny overflow of water down a steep hill is from the pounding magnificence of the Iguazu Falls – both waterfalls, but one substantially more so.

Rob: Home-made Pea Soup with buttered noodles. It was like a light broth. Tasty with you-know, veggies and noodles in the bottom. I think som pea soups can be heavy and it wasn’t. It was very good.

McKay: Pan-roasted Tiger Prawn served with Vegetable Blini, White Wine-Garlic Sauce and slowly baked Paprika Cubes. Good texture, light dish. The garlic sauce and paprika cubes (like roasted red peppers) gave this a pleasantly spicy taste while still being delicate with the taster’s palette. Also, blinis were served at our wedding! They are small pancakes, but much more.

Rob: Pan-fried Filet of Balaton Fogash with Vegetable Batons. Those veggie things looked like Lincoln logs stacked. Cooked very well and to the right consistency. The fish wa very good. A tad drier than I like it, but good. Not as good as the prawns, though.

McKay: Home-made Goat Cheese Sorbet. Yea, I was really curious too! How do they do sorbet (which is normally sweet) with goat cheese (which is normally, well, goat cheese)? With help from heavenly taste angels! That’s how! Oh. My. This may very well be the best thing I have ever tasted. Ever. Period. It was indeed sweet, but light, with a slight lemon tone, all with a smooth, creamy goat cheese undertone. I LOVE goat cheese sorbet and WILL try to reproduce this. Best thing. Ever.

McKay: Grilled Veal and Beef Filet with Green Asparagus and Bernaise Sauce. Of course this was good. Filet and Veal are always good. The texture was excellent and the dish was certainly above average, but being from Texas and a family of meat-lovers, I’ve had some pretty good meat in my time. I only write so little about this course because the other courses were so outstanding that this one pales in comparison.

Rob: Crisp-baked Duck Breast and Drumstick Mikszath Style served with parslied Mushroom Pudding and Cherry Sauce. Rob wins at main dish. It was crispy and flaky like a pastry on the outside and soft and juicy on the insdie like a Sunday roast. It was perfect. It ranks number two of my best meals ever.

McKay: Floating Island Dessert with Raspberry Pearls. This one looked a little, well, odd. There were three large balls of foam (a little bigger and fluffier than big marshmellows) in a bowl. The server (with ceremony) poured a pitcher of cream into the bowl. Hmm. Okay. Rob wishes he took a video of my face because as the flavors registered, my face went from “hmm…” to “ooo” to “wow” to “holy tastebuds, Batman! This is amazing!” The texture was between a marshmellow and a soufflé – much like meringue. But the flavor was packed in that light pearl! It was like all the best parts of the ripest raspberry burst on your palate at once and remained there having a wild dancing party until the foam dissolved and you were left with a happy buzz. Further, the cream he poured was so much more! It was like the really good, melted, remaining part of the tastiest vanilla bean ice cream. I found no shame in spooning the succulent cream straight.

Rob: Classic Crepe a la Gundel. The name says it all. It was a wonderful really thin pancake served with a huge dollop of dark chololate sauce. It was a perfect end to a perfect meal.
My meal ended with a cappuccino and a little sadness that such a wonderful meal experience must end. But like they say… all good things… *sigh* I’ll still have the memories… and the constant noble foodie quest to one day find something even better.