Given how Hungary isn't the most vegetarian-friendly country - anything cooked with meat counts as vegetarian if the meat doesn't actually end up on your plate - whenever my sister visits Budapest, finding a restaurant that goes beyond your standard fried cheese fare isn't always the easiest. It was for that reason that on her last visit, we decided to go and check out the Sunny Corner Bar & Restaurant (follow link for contact info and user feedback) which a little over a year ago was visited in the Budapest Burgerwar™. Sunny Corner offers a good selection of vegetarian options, from Italian style, to Mexican and even veggie burgers.

With a wonderful view of parliament (it's smack across the river from the building) and mood-setting interior, the place was nice, even if we sat outside due to the unusually warm September weather, which has since been replaced by the current cold snap. Also worth mentioning is that unlike the pictures on the restaurant's official website, the place won't leave you blinded from all the lighting.

After the waiter quickly took our orders, we waited over half an hour for the meals to arrive, and noticed that the other tables weren't receiving their orders too quickly either. This left us to drink a little at first, with my sister noting that the house rosé was among the better she's been served. Once our meals finally arrived, the results were mixed, to say the least.

My sister ordered the Gnocchi with Seasoned Spinach and Blue Cheese, which cost Ft 1990 (€8.30), with a side of tomato salad for Ft 620 (€2.60). The blue cheese was buried beneath the gnocchi instead of being part of the creamy sauce which contained enough garlic to stop a colony of vampires. They were very generous with the spinach, however, which was a nice touch, as was the unusual step of what we guessed was searing the gnocchi in a pan giving it a crunchy texture, and the side tomato salad cut through the garlic nicely. While saying it would have been great if they'd gone a bit easier on the garlic, having tried a bit myself, I could only say you might want to skip this meal if you plan on being in close contact with anyone in the next six hours.

My mother went for a more traditional Hungarian meal, ordering the Spicy MangalicaPork Fillet with Lecsó Potatoes for Ft 2130 (€9.00). According to her, the pork fillet best resembled a cipőtalp, i.e. a shoe sole. The lecsó sauce and potatoes were nothing exceptional either, so that this meal would be one to avoid should you go to the restaurant.

My meal, on the other hand, seemed to be the best of the three. It was the Chicken Breast Sprinkled with Basil and Stuffed with Goat's Cheese with a Rice Salad for Ft 1980 (€8.40). While the goat's cheese wasn't as strong as I had expected, the basil was a nice touch, and the rice salad would probably be best described as an American potato salad but with rice instead. I at least was happy with my meal.

When we asked for the bill, we saw one of chew.hu's pet peeves: that a 10% gratuity had been automatically added to the bill. Even though one meal didn't turn out well, two were good enough and the service quite friendly despite the wait that we would have left a larger tip if left up to us. So while the results weren't as good as we'd hoped, hopefully just like for Budapest, the "weather" at the Sunny Corner Diner will improve from "partly cloudy" soon.

As an addendum, the menu on the restaurant's website for some unknown reason alternates between the old menu with lower prices and the current menu with somewhat higher prices. If under the draft beers Pilsner is provided as an option, you're on the old menu, as they only have Dreher on tap these days.