Another Villány Winemaker Comes to Budapest

If three makes a trend, then now it is official: Villány has come to Budapest. Joining Bock Bisztró (partially owned by winemaker József Bock) and Andante Borpatika (partially owned by winemaker Zsolt Tiffan), the Polgár Pince also opened its own restaurant on Király utca in September. The Polgár Étterem és Bortrezor, which is in the cellar of the Domina Inn Fiesta Hotel, has remarkably captured the same hospitable atmosphere that Polgár’s big cellar / restaurant / tasting room in Villány has. At least it did on the one time that I was there, when winemaker Zoltan Polgár was going from table to table, greeting all the guests, and even pouring wine. Anyone who has ever visited the Polgár Pince in Villány must surely have noticed that the Polgárs – Zoltán and his wife Katalin – truly embody the idea of the fantastic hospitality that the Hungarian countryside is known for.

I was there for the újborköszöntő – the St. Marton’s day new wine dinner – on the night when three types of Polgár’s new wine were presented and blessed by a priest. There were three new wines – a white cuvee, a rose and a portugieser – and a massive amount of food. The meal started with a cold plate of borkorcsolyák (wine snacks) with Mangalica kolbász, tepertős pogácsa, cheese pogácsa, and one of my favorite dishes of the evening, little cornmeal bases (almost like mini pancakes) topped with goose töpörtyű cream and wine-cooked red onions.

The one disappointment was that the food was served buffet-style, which meant that everything was a little cold, and the buffet really did not seem necessary considering that there was plenty of staff around. Regardless, most of what was served was excellent (and would have been even better had it been served in proper serving sizes, rather than on the buffet) and has given me high hopes that the place could be an excellent addition to the choice of downtown Hungarian restaurants.

But, back to the food. Next came a selection of cold appetizers which included duck liver bites with caramelized onions, goose liver pâté with apples and wild boar roulade with walnut cream and rosehip jam. The highlight of the warm dishes was the cabbage stuffed with lamb, cooked with siller and served with fresh sour cream. But there were also goose legs with squash puree and Port sauce; goose breast confit with prunes and cabbage dumplings; pullet “bites” with pears, cheese and barley risotto; and ludaskása rétes (strudel filled with kasha that had been cooked with goose bits). Of the several desserts served, the kecskesajtos diós rolád was clearly the winner.

The restaurant is long, with rough stone walls (similar to a real wine cellar) and vaulted ceilings, and the place combines some modern touches – like the stripey orange and white wall lighting, with strips of wood from old wine barrels – with rustic elements, like the ceiling lamps made from halved wine barrels. There’s a separate smoking area next to a bar, and the main dining area is remarkably welcoming, despite the lack of natural light. Basically, the place makes you want to drink wine.

Although I have not personally tried this out yet, one thing that I could potentially really love about the restaurant is that it offers tastings of Polgár’s wine every day between 3pm and 6pm. There are three types of tastings – one with six types of red and white wines (Ft 1,800/€6.75), a “Hungarikum” tasting (Ft 2,500/€9.40), and a red wine tasting (Ft 3,200/€12). And of course there’s a list of traditional fatty Hungarian “wine snacks” to help the wine go down: Mangalica töpörtyűkrém, Mangalica füstölt szalonna, Mangalica zsír, libazsír, and more.

The tasty-sounding menu (which seems very reasonably priced with most main courses around Ft 3,200/€12) is for the most part traditional, but with an emphasis on higher-end ingredients. Additionally, the menu offers wine recommendations for all of the main courses. The Polgár Étterem has another tempting-sounding wine tasting dinner featuring game coming up on December 4th (Ft 12,800/€48), with dishes like wild boar crackling pogácsa, pheasant with pears and goose liver cream, wild salmon, házi ravioli with wild duck, raspberry sorbet with thyme, wild rabbit with chestnuts and fruit, and chocolate soufflé stuffed with plums. At least eight types of wine will be served.

One friend who has eaten off of the regular menu has given both the food and the service rave reviews. Knowing how the Polgárs do things at their cellar/restaurant in Villány and sampling the place on this one early visit has definitely put the Polgár Étterem on my radar, and I have a feeling I’ll soon be back checking it out again.