Get into the Kitchen! That’s the meaning of A Konyha, where you get to make your own menu, and watch the chefs take your culinary creation from preparation to plate.
My dining companion (my husband was lucky enough to be selected for this role) and I joined two friends on a chilly fall evening at A Konyha, a jewel of the Óbuda hillside. Tucked into a small side street, warm light spilled out onto the terrace. A waiter swept open the door and swept us inside as if welcoming us into his home.
And it is almost a home. Experienced hotelier Ildikó Laczkó is the gracious manager, and her husband Ottó is the chef, bringing with him years of experience as head chef at Gundel, plus a dash of creativity, and confidence that this is the way a restaurant should be.
And how is that? Well, give the customers the leading role. At A Konyha, the menu suggests appetizers and soups, such as black mussels cooked in wine and grey ox goulash. Then, in lieu of a main dish, it lists the main ingredient, and lets you take it from there. Goose leg or duck breast? Mangalica or pangasius? Venison or king prawns?
This is a huge opportunity, I thought, since on most menus, there’s some niggling thing that I don’t like among the ingredients (like raisins or capers, if you must know). But then it seemed we were faced with so many choices, we didn’t know where to begin!
Not to worry. Chef Ottó came over to our table, a smile peeking out from under his Magyar moustache, to help. “Lamb chops? We could coat them in a delicate batter of Parmesan cheese, or stick to the more traditional rosemary marinade,” he said to my husband, who looked perplexed. “Two of each, perhaps?” Chef Ottó said, solving the dilemma in an instant.
I chose a steak (I am American, after all), and suggested pepper sauce, but Chef Ottó’s recommendation to tuck some Roquefort cheese inside was too good to pass up. Our friends chose a rack of venison in a truffle sauce, and baked leg of goose, it being goose season.
To get back to the beginning, we started by sharing a “tasting platter,” including layered cakes made of goose liver and balsamic vinegar that would make a patissier proud, steak tartare, slices of stuffed chicken and homemade paprika salami, mmmm. We also had some goose cracklings with purple onions, another Magyar culinary delight.
I followed that with a sweet-and-savory pumpkin soup, with tiny shrimp sautéed in pumpkin-seed oil, a creative and yummy touch! Our friend Tamás enjoyed his goose soup with matzo balls, and conferred with the waiter about wine, settling on a Vida Szekszárdi Pinot Noir to accompany our main dishes. After a few sips of the sensational Pinot, we wandered over to the black-and-white-tiled open kitchen to watch the masters in action. As we watched, Ildikó told us it’s possible to arrange cooking courses, where we would get to work alongside the sharp-dressed chefs, and we tucked that idea away for our next get-together.
Before we knew it, our dishes were done, perfectly presented and whisked off to our table, so we hurried back! Well, this was certainly the best steak I’ve had in Hungary, and one of the best ever. Melt-in-your-mouth meat, with blue cheese gently spilling out of the center. My husband was simply speechless, offering me a bite of the parmesan-blanketed lamb, which I savored with gusto! Did I mention we got to choose the side dishes as well?
No time to even mention those, because there’s dessert. My friend Vera and I chose the “Csupa-Csoki” or “Double Chocolate,” which was really quadruple chocolate – a warm soufflé, mousse, ice cream and a tiny cake. Our partners chose the soufflé of the day, a raspberry masterpiece.
We left smiling and planning our next visit to the cozy-yet-spacious, friendly-yet-professional A Konyha, which incidentally has one of Hungary’s up-and-coming young TV chefs, Ferenc Keresztúri as its new business partner, to add his spice and skill to the mix.
This is a place you can come back to, again and again, for a romantic rendezvous, a delightful dinner with friends, a family celebration. I can’t wait for our next visit. I wonder what I should have?
Tel.: +36.1.887.3657
Open Mon.-Sat., midday-11 p.m., Sun. midday-5 p.m.