When faced with the task of converting a Magyar male who” didn’t really do restaurants,” I was advised to use M restaurant as a gastronomic testing ground. If the evening was a success, we’d be heading out for more meals and fine wine…if not, he’d need some more persuading!
I’d walked both past it and underneath it before (the bustling bar and café it sits between are connected underground). I’d even noticed the colored bottles filled with fairy lights that sit glistening (and screaming for you to touch them!) outside. I’d never, however, been inside. In fact, I’m not sure I’d even realized it was a restaurant.
Table booked, Mr. Hungary and I sat down to peruse the menu – at home, using the daily changing blog comprising M’s online presence. They were off to a good start. The informal, quirky blog sparkled with fresh, seasonal gems inspired us far more than traditional Magyar fare, and I headed there optimistic.
Met by a casually dressed waitress, we were led up a small flight of stairs and away from the teeny-tiny dining area below – which oozed charm and bustling, relaxed conversation. Upstairs, the atmosphere was more formal (if that word can really be used to describe any part of M), replete with soft lighting, candles and more glistening fairy light filled bottles. Here they twinkled atop the shelves of the kind of wooden dresser you’d expect to find in a hospitable, Hungarian country home. Tables were covered with light brown paper, ready for the tipsy daubings of diners: for which crayons are supplied. In keeping with that classic Budapestian style of ”what the..?!!” décor, walls were adorned with felt-tip features. Yep, everything’s drawn on by hand – including a life-sized Persian rug, framed photographs, flowers, lamps and even a ceiling fan! A buzz of conversation (both foreign and Hungarian) echoed between the hand-crafted walls, yet the mood remained intimate.
We ordered a Kekfrankos/Cabernet Sauvignon combination, and more than happy with our full-bodied choice took another look at the menu: which we discovered had been updated since our web search earlier. This was after the chef’s daily market visit, in search of the freshest of produce to build the day’s menu upon. And the food? We chose starters of M salad and tomato soup (far better than the super sweet Hungarian variety, he surprisingly discovered). At my vegetarian request the salad came without duck, and was a zingy combination of fresh fruit, leaves and crumbly, rich blue cheese. Succulent trout atop a bed of medve hagyma (ramsons) followed, along with a well balanced, creamy sauce and equally creamy potatoes. My meat-eating other half chose curried chicken, and I was dubious…before it arrived. The chicken had been slow cooked along with fresh peppers and onions in a complexly spiced, light sauce. I think, to be honest, he was converted after the soup; but the chicken dish, for him, sealed the deal. I was more than won over by the décor, and the ultra seasonal use of rich, garlicky medve hagyma (only in season for around two weeks) was a real highlight for me. The fresh food vein continued into a shared dessert of flambéed banana with walnuts, and after the last of the wine we made our happy, multi-colored marks on the table cloth.
The result? A true convert, he’s invited me out for another meal already! I knew I’d love it as soon as I walked in.
M’ Étterem
1073 Budapest, Kertész utca 48.
Open Mon.-Sun. 6 p.m.- midnight
Tel.: +36.1.322.3208 / 0620-940-2928