Right in the heart of the capital city, Opus Jazz Club attracts world famous jazz artists, music lovers and foodies. As an important addition to the privately owned Budapest Music Center, the bistro-style restaurant offers much more than a culinary experience: incredible contemporary jazz concerts from Saturday to Wednesday at a modern but cozy atmosphere.
The day of our visit, 23 March marked Opus Jazz Club’s 5th birthday. The neo-classicist building that gives home to BMC was renovated in 2013, and its music enthusiast owner managed to create an attractive venue where quality comes before profit. The air-conditioned, two-storey jazz club’s design is clean and simple: the walls are decorated with the black and white photos of famous jazz musicians, and small metal statues are facing the street from the windows. There is a height adjustable stage downstairs, a special lighting system and a Fazioli piano of high value. Every detail is total perfection.
The Menu
Opus Jazz Club’s food actualities are inspired by spring’s freshness and dash. Both the daily lunch offers and the international a’la carte menu features seasonal vegetables and fruits (such as French bean, green asparagus, raspberry,). Being aware of the growing demand for gluten- and lactose-free meals, the restaurant tries to satisfy all needs. They use lactose-free butter and milk, and there are gluten-free alternatives for soups, main courses, pastries and desserts on their food palette. The jazz club offers beverages from all across the country; their drink list includes wine from Balaton, Tokaj and Villány, craft beer from Békés county, and Panyola pálinka. They also offer quality Italian prosecco, French sparkling wine, cocktails, and Goppion coffee.
Based on the chef’s recommendation, my companion and I tasted four incredible meals. First came the grilled duck breast with mushy peas, pak choi and a sweet and sour sauce. It was perfect as poetry: the lofty dish combined the duck meat’s special taste with a thick and gooey sauce and zesty veggies. Skin-seared salmon with lemon and chick pea cream and green asparagus also blew our minds away. The mildly salty, juicy salmon was served with a piece of lime, and the citrus aroma created a taste-bud impressing flavour mix with the seafood. The lactose-free side dish, chick pea cream was seasoned similarly to humus, with just a little lime juice.
Opus Jazz Club proves that even non-vegetarians can have a blast in trying a vegetarian dish. We gave a shot to the gluten-free goat cheese course, and it was dreamy. The Greek cheese was extremely delicious with the homemade, fruity cream; it melted the sweetness of raspberry and the characteristic taste of tomato into a very special mixture. Black jasmine rice and white rice were served in a dome shape, next to deep green spinach leaves. It was all sprinkled with just the right amount of garlic and olive oil.
Arancini with creamy wild garlic fusilli was also very delicious. The pasta is from a Hungarian supplier who uses solely local ingredients. The green fusilli was formed like a nest on the plate, and tasty, fried risotto balls laid on top with red bell peppers and chive.
Desserts
Opus Jazz Club’s sweet delicacies are pure dessert art. From the picturesque cookie creations we picked tea cake on green tea sponge cake with black tea, chocolate cream and citrus fruit ragout. My companion’s choice was the gluten- and lactose-free double chocolate cake with raspberry ragout. Both of them were heavenly; the fruity taste combined very well with the sweet, smooth & creamy cakes, and oh, how gorgeous they looked!
Visiting Opus Jazz Club promises a double experience: a cultural and a culinary one. Don’t hesitate, discover both!
Photos by: Krisztina Németh – Egy jó kép rólad