I was at the small Eastern European inspired eatery with a group of couple days ago. They have a mix of dishes with a lot of it being Hungarian inspired. A lot of people go here for brunch and I would definitely go back. Their wine menu is eclectic with a lot of unique Hungarian offerings primarily and they have a nice mix of orange wines and I went with the Bussay Tramini Roots 2022 listed as a "Five months skin contact flavors of juicy stone fruit, passion fruit, & rose" for $17 a glass or $61 for a bottle. I liked the wine a lot, having an almost fermented flavor, and it went well with the food. Tramini presumably refers to Gewürztraminer so I am not surprised I liked it. They gave us some bread to munch on, which was tasty.
As per usual, we shared a bunch of small plates. My favorite of the bunch were the two toasts. The Chicken Liver Mousse for $13 "served on griddled potato pullman with cherry caramel" was my favorite dish and the cheapest of the bunch. The thick toast had a whole lot of chicken liver and it was topped with said sour cherries and a slightly sweet cherry sauce. The flavors were well balanced, and I would order this again in a heartbeat.
Also available on toast was the Pickled Mackerel for $18 with "Spanish mackerel marinated in red onion, vinegar, and dill flowers." There was plenty of fish for the price, which wasn't super fermented but it still had a good sour kick and was of good quality with the same buttery excellent bread.
Outside of the two toasts, we got the Dip & Chips as well as the Mushroom Thimbles. The former for $14 has "beets, caramelized onion, sour cream, egg jam, and smoked trout roe" was pretty tasty but definitely beet focused. I think I can use either a little bit more sour cream or alternatively something else inside there that would make it a bit more sour. The chips had a good crunch and were solid. Overall tasty with good textures.
The latter for $16 listed as "An ode to George Lang. Lightly battered mushrooms fried with big sage leaves & served with lemon" was solid. The large mushrooms had a light fry and they were served with an aioli which helped with the oiliness. There was uniquely some fried lemons in there as well. This was likely the weakest of the appetizers but still solid.
We went with two main dishes. The Pork & Plums for $32 with, "14 oz heritage porterhouse drapsticky stewed plums & a dusting of lovage" was my preference of the two. The pork was super tender and very well flavored and the sauce wasn't overly sweet. I would recommend it heavily though I wish there were more pieces of plum.
A bit worse was the New York Strip for $45 served "seared in the cast iron. Lathered with garlic chive butter and served with pickled green tomatoes & horseradish." One of the pieces of the steak I had was quite tough but the other one was pretty tender. The combination of the pickled green tomatoes and the sauce made it a little bit too salty and overall it was just alright.
Their desserts for dinner only really had two options. There was a jello type dessert made with oranges I believe orange peel and cream and there was also a New York style cheesecake with blueberries and olive oil. The waitress described the former as being bitter and refreshing and it was but I'm not sure if I would order it again.
The latter was outstanding being my preferred type of cheesecake with a thick not so sweet filling. The blueberries were fresh and the olive oil helped with the richness. I would prefer more crust especially because I believe it was biscoff based and that was particularly excellent but otherwise no real complaints about it and one of the other people in my group had noticed someone taking this to go and I can see why. Very good version and I would recommend it.
The food here was unique and tasty. I reminded me of dishes found at some other restaurants but I would say maybe a bit more refined in many cases. The prices overall were reasonable for the portion size and in particular the chicken liver mousse, the pork, and the cheesecake were the best but I wouldn't say that anything was bad outside of maybe the steak being just okay. I can see why people love them and I would go back especially for brunch. Mid 4 for the general quality for prices (just fix up the steak.) I hope they add some other Hungarian dishes to their dinner menu as well. read more