Anybody fed matzo ball soup as a child either looks upon the dish as a meal-time chore or a novel treat. About the size of a snowball, and highly throwable, the matzo ball easily doubled as a weapon. I have grown up, but the matzo ball has remained unchanged: a dense hand-formed dumpling of matzo meal, egg and schmaltz (chicken fat) or vegetable oil, which is boiled and then dropped into a broth of chicken or, more to Hungarian standards, goose broth. Maybe it is nostalgia, or maybe I have forgotten my distaste for this sometimes bland soup, but in the dead of winter, this stalwart of Ashkenazi cuisine is on the mind. Luckily, an array of District VII and VIII restaurants serve a good version. The most surprising and welcome is that of the Horánszky utca café/restaurant APA Cuka.

Matzo ball soup notwithstanding, APA Cuka itself is one of the city's undiscovered gems. Set in the courtyard of the Ateliers Pro Arts complex, which houses artists' galleries, and two commercial galleries, the place is always buzzing with one program or another, be it theatre, folk music or open mic readings.

The menu is filled with Hungarian and international dishes. On my most recent visit there was duck with forest mushrooms, catfish paprikas, spicy chicken wings, cevapcici, Cesar salad, and several pasta options. In addition to the matzo-ball soup (liba leves maceszgomboccal), for Ft 550 (€2.10), I tried the warm trout salad (meleg kapros pisztrángsaláta), Ft 1,250. Though the matzo balls were not quite the full-on, Jewish grandmother-made monsters I remember, they were still authentically awkward to eat (just try cutting one with a soup spoon), bland and filling, exactly the way a matzo ball should be. The goose broth, with the occasional chunk of goose meat, was pleasingly tangy. The salad was a unique and tasty novelty as well. It is a curious combination: the warm fish on a bed of cold lettuce and vegetables, in a dill and cheese dressing. On the whole it worked, though the lettuce was prone to sogginess if left too long.

APA Cuka is not without its flaws; like most restaurants in town, they seem to under-staff the floor, so service can be erratic. But the portions and prices are generous enough that it can claim to be leading the cheap eats renaissance taking place on the one-block long Horánszky utca, which is now home to no less than four cafes or restaurants and one tea house. Go check it out.