What do you get when you cross a 100 year-old recipe for traditional Hungarian pastry with a highly contemporary concept of dining and service? The answer is the Első Pesti Rétesház Kávéház, in English as the First Strudel House of Pest.
Matching the antique with the modern, this brand new restaurant is full of charm and substance and well worth a visit. The concept of a restaurant serving exclusively rétes (strudel), including entrees based on the flaky pastry is an anomaly in Budapest. Of course, you’ve undoubtedly had rétes before, but with duck leg, grilled venison or catfish? I doubt it. This was just one of many reasons why we were eager to visit this establishment, located downtown in a nationally-recognized monument, and which opened its doors just recently.
Front and center when you enter the restaurant is the strudel-making station, where you can watch the experts at work stretching the dough and filling the delicious treats. Designed by the owners in a combination of early 20th century classicism with baroque and art nouveau tinges, the wide interior has three distinct areas. The first is the main dining room, an elegant space with arched ceilings and tables with fresh flowers lit by candlelight. At one end is a slightly more casual space with no tablecloths designed as a café, and beyond that there is a well-lit rustic and traditional dining area with long wooden tables and an authentic communal feel.
Throughout the place, the walls are lined with mountains of fascinating memorabilia, from bookcases full of old tomes to ceramic pots, decorative dishes and vases to old-and-worn hand tools used in the making of strudel. The washbasins in the bathrooms are worth a look – clear glass with antique postcards and other items below them. The back room has an additional treat: photographs from a 1936 calendar depicting the making of rétes and traditional festivities that went along with it. To gaze on them is like taking a step back in time.
The past-tense illusion ends with the décor and recipes, however, as the First Strudel House has a very modern vision and gastronomic concept. Recent trends in New York and Paris indicate the decline of the large entrée as main course, while appetizers, sides and salads and desserts have all risen in stature (and often size). Why have just one main dish when you can have three or four of them? With a range of smaller-sized entrees, you’ll have enough room to sample from the fourteen kinds of strudel on offer, or one of the salty hors d’oeuvres. Check for specials and enjoy an eating experience akin to Spanish tapas, Hungarian style. The wine list offers a good selection of quality Hungarian vintages.
Also of contemporary note is the “three-meal” approach. Opening at 8am, which is unheard of in the 5th district, the First Strudel House should be the downtown office employee’s first stop, picking up a to-go box with either six strudels inside, or four plus a coffee. Those who have a little more time on their hands can try the breakfast meals (served all day) while taking advantage of the free WiFi. And if you’re at the office late, or just in the neighborhood after hours, stop by the restaurant after 8pm to get half-price strudel for the next day’s breakfast. Our inquiries revealed that a business lunch menu is in the works as well.
Travelers in town for just a few days will find the First Strudel House to meet many of their needs in addition to hunger, as the restaurant has an electronic tourist kiosk just next to the entrance, plus a few well-chosen souvenirs and traditional fruit jams from the countryside, plus homemade honey and pálinka on offer. The restaurant is also planning to offer small programs for foreigners, including dough-stretching/strudel making workshops. Long-term residents will also find it appealing as a great place to get any of the aforementioned meals, and the main dining room makes a great spot for a date, while the back room is perfect for larger parties and company events. Egészségedre!
Daniel Freeman
Menu
String bean salad with sundried tomatoes and basil oil
Salmon strudel with asparagus sauce
Vegetable strudel with piquant chanterelle sauce
Cocoa sour cherry layer cake with ginger pumpkin compote and vanilla ice cream
Strudel selection: poppy seed, plum, sour cherry, cottage cheese, apple, specials with double fillings
1051
T
el.: +36.1.428.0134
