Budapest has killer food too!

Don't be fooled by the simple exterior...

I may be in the death grip of a cold, but my taste buds are still working just fine and I got a chance to drive them around the block this evening at Aranyszarvas Étterem. I wish I could tell you what the name means, let it suffice to say it roughly translates into fine/modern/gastronomy.

Walking through the front entrance was a double take moment, the outside looked like beer and sandwiches awaited, the inside looked like a fine dining establishment. Unsure if we really wanted to go down that road we started cautiously and ordered some local beer instead of wine.. Looking at the dining room should have taught us better than that…

click me...........

We started off with some appetizers.

Fresh goat cheese fried and marinated, roasted vegetables and salad -on the side, not in the picture

Saint Jacob scallop with cauliflower pure -clicking to enlarge is required

Jane loved hers and kept finding layers of flavor not in the previous bite. Mine was off the chart interesting -and delicious. The cauliflower pure had thin shavings of cauliflower on top, the foam was on top of a drop of very green olive oil and scented with truffles, the dark syrup was a very light balsamic. The scallops were rare in the middle bringing out all their flavor. Not sure you could do anything to improver that, texture, complexity, savory and sweet.. More or less perfect!

Trout fillet with vegetable bulgur and fennel -enlarge me!

Onward, the entrees arrived a respectable 10 minutes after we had finished licking the bowls… Jane ordered a Trout fillet with vegetable bulgur and fennel. It too was, to hear her tell it, more or less perfect. The salt offsetting the sweetness of the fennel shavings, the savory of the bulgar richly made with tiny pieces of fresh vegetables and the trout itself, perfectly cooked, moist and completely at home with the rest of the dish. She slipped a bite onto a no-man’s plate [we can’t eat off each others plate while I am sick] the foam was citrus scented!

My entree was a sage infused, boned rabbit legs. Unreal! The rabbit was completely moist ad tender and the sage, just the right, subtle amount. In some ways the real stars of this dish were actually the supporting cast members. Large pearl onions, halved fingerling potatoes and a generously thick slice of what must have been one large ass mushroom! If you’re like me it is hard to beat roasted onion, mushroom and garlic and when paired with the rabbit, well, it is unbeatable.

Sage scented rabbit leg with mushroom and sautéed potato -click me!

With the first two courses being as good as they were, we didn’t have a choice, well, we did, but we asked the waiter to make it for us and he recommended the apple pie. It was, as you can see, sort of a deconstructed apple pie, no crust, though there were some small little crunchies on top.The star, again, might have been the cinnamon cream on the side. It tasted like an apple pie unto itself and the little cubed pieces of the pie itself just melted into your mouth with a swipe of it on the bottom of your fork. As good as any apple pie ever! The picture is another must click to appreciate the way it was made…