This site prides itself on usually being the first to write (at least in English) about recently-opened restaurants in Budapest. But we take even more pride in doing a good, thorough job when passing judgment on notable new establishments. So while others may have beaten us to the gun in checking out the hotly-anticipated Andrássy út bistro known as Klassz, this time we were happy to wait – and eat.
If you haven’t been following the whole Klassz saga, here’s a quick recap. The restaurant sits in the former premises of the late (and often lamented) Vörös és Fehér. Like “Red and White,” Klassz is linked by ownership to the Bortársaság, Hungary’s premier wine retailer. The new restaurant is largely the work of Roland Radványi, who came via the nearby Menza.
According to local gastro grapevine, Radványi left Menza because he wanted a free hand. For their part, the owners of V&F were apparently so willing to give it to him that they allowed him to ditch the old brand, which had been built up over some years, in favor of the new, and slightly jarring, name. (In case you don’t speak Hungarian, “Klassz” doesn’t so much mean “class” or “classy” as “great” or “super.”) While the place has been open for business since January, it still doesn’t have a sign outside, or, from what we understand, even a phone number.
Before we get into the meat of our review, let’s first take a look at what the people to beat us to print have been saying. Among the Hungarian foodblogging elite (who we pay a lot of attention to, given that they tend to be the most educated and honest critics of the local dining scene) it seems to be a cautious thumbs up.
An early write up on Chili & Vanilla says the combination of quality, price and location are so favorable that one has to wonder if it will last. Meanwhile, over at Velvet.hu, there are some unkind words about some of the dishes, and dismay that a másnapos (hung over) member of the group wasn’t able to get a beer. Overall, the reviewer said they would be “staying loyal” to Menza, which, if nothing else, shows just how personal things get in the restaurant world.
Speaking of personal, a scathing review in the English-language weekly Budapest Sun seemed to be driven mostly by the sense of social exclusion suffered by the reviewer:
When I decided to leave America in the 1980s, I thought I would leave behind the class conflict and find my place in the workers’ paradise of late Socialism. Little did I know. The class conflict followed me here. And I even experienced it viscerally the other night at Klassz Restaurant and Wine bar.
Unfortunately, the Sun‘s review of Klassz does little more than demonstrate yet again that a single trip by a reviewer to a restaurant is likely to tell you more about the reviewer than the restaurant. Which is why we decided in this special case to send three different teams of reviewers over the course of several weeks.
Despite the attack of class-consciousness on the part of the Budapest Sun‘s reviewer, everyone seemed to like the actual space, which features a big smoking area up front, and a smaller room in the back, divided by an as-yet unfinished bar. (The back room may become a mini-Bortársaság outlet, and there will be a terrace outside once things heat up a bit.) The bright flowery wallpaper and the overall effect of the décor are cheering. Slightly less cheering is the staff, though most of the servers we came in contact with were no grumpier than the average jovial Hungarian waiter. (Plus, they happily admit dogs.) Everyone was very concerned about the lack of beer. One of our team asked, echoing Velvet’s critique, whether we really need a “Menza 2.0.”
As for the food, we tried so much of it that we are actually able to draw some broad generalizations, rather than just list and critique individual dishes. Some of us dug everything we had, and others had serious reservations about a few dishes. Among the trouble items were the catfish, and the lamb saddle, both of which seemed a little tasteless. (Here’s a hint from us regulars: if you ask nicely, you might be able to get an enormous portion of lamb shanks for the same price as the lamb saddle, even though it’s not currently on the menu.)
The general culinary approach is definitely on the “nouvelle” side. This does not necessarily mean tiny portions, just food that doesn’t make you feel like crawling under the table for a snooze when you are done. Also, few of the dishes are noticeably Hungarian in any real way; most would fit in perfectly in a modern “international” restaurant anywhere in Western Europe or the US.
Overall, our “multi-review” found Klassz to be a perfectly decent, and potentially excellent, addition to the local dining scene. Given that the place doesn’t even have a sign out front, that’s saying quite a bit.
Finally, a word about prices. They’re pretty low! In a town where mains at fashionable restaurants are now topping Ft 5,000 (€20), Klassz offers several under Ft 2,000. But perhaps the best testament to its value proposition was offered by someone we didn’t send to check it out. “At the risk of sounding snobby,” this person said, “the prices looked too low for it to be really good.”
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