As was reported on our sister site Pestiside.hu last week, what had been known as the “Pestiside Top 33″ list of best restaurants in Budapest will from now on be known as the Chew “Top 33″. Unfortunately, as the switch was being made, it came to our attention that one long-time member of the Top 33 – Vörös és Fehér – had been temporarily closed for renovation, meaning that the Chew Top 33 was forced to start life with only 32 entries. But no more, because we’ve found another local spot that can round out the list, at least until V&F reopens.
Somewhat incredibly, the newest member of the T33 is the Articsóka Étterem. We say “somewhat incredibly” because Articsóka has been around for ages, and never impressed enough to merit a spot even among the T33 also-rans. In other words, it was pretty bad!
From what we understand the “old” Articsóka closed sometime in the spring, and sat empty for several months while the owners pondered passing it off to someone else. In the end, however, they either didn’t find any other takers, or just decided to give it another shot, though with a new look and some new tastes. The new look came courtesy of Bence Vági, a prominent theatrical designer who also happens to own nearby boutique Roomba Home Culture. In place of the faux-Provençal oranges and yellows – which always looked somewhat odd in a dining room made from a converted garage or industrial space – Vági opted for lots of black and gold, and a quartet of large chandeliers. While a little stark (the chandeliers could use a little dimming), the new look is a vast improvement, both during the day and at night.
An even vaster improvement has been achieved in the food department, apparently courtesy of an infusion of talent and ideas from sister restaurant Malomtó. While one of our servers called the menu “fusion,” we’d say it’s just international/continental, and good. Over a lunch and a dinner, we sampled almost ten dishes, only one of which (a blueberry tartlet dessert) we’d call a dud. The rest ranged from quite good to awesome. Here are some of the highlights:
Ravioli with veal “Salt in bocca” (Ft 1,700). Excellent take on the classic saltimbocca Romano, topped off with a nice crispy wafer of pancetta.
Goose liver slices with lentil curry and apple pancakes (Ft 3,800). Exquisite matching of liver and fruit, with a scent of the Orient thrown in for good measure.
Polenta with roasted aubergine (eggplant) with tomato spinach ragout (Ft 1,800). An outstanding vegetarian main, highlighted with what we think was a little bleu cheese mixed into the corn mush.
Duck breast with sour cherry caramel and chili served with roasted vegetables and cabbage noodles (Ft 2,600). While this isn’t likely to change your life, it was perfectly cooked, with nicely balanced flavors. Meanwhile, the chicken breast with pesto on a bed of noodles (Ft 2,100, first food pic) made for an excellent lunch main, while the pear soup with ginger, served with lamb liver dumplings and sage (Ft 650, not pictured) may have been the most successfully inventive soup we’ve tasted in Budapest for years. Finally, the service was professional and courteous and the wine selection decent and decently-priced.
So to conclude, whatever bad feelings you may have about the old Articsóka, the new one is certainly worth a visit. Now the only question is when Vörös és Fehér will re-open, and whether the new V&F will be so good it will make the new Articsóka look old again. Stay tuned.
