We know, we know. We're late again bringing you our take on an important development in the Hungarian restaurant scene. The Étterem és bor kalauz (Restaurant and Wine Guide), published by Alexandra press and written by Tamás Molnár B. and a group of unidentified chefs and foreign culinary writers, has already been on bookstore shelves for several months, stirring things up within the kitchens of Budapest, with those who write about food and wine here, and with those who like to spend their increasingly dwindling paychecks on dining and drinking out. But we have a perfect excuse for being late: the task of reviewing the guide was mine, and I was winding down from finishing my own grand opus on local culinary matters. (The Food and Wine Lover's Guide to Hungary, which has a much different focus, and was just released in English in Hungary by Park kiadó.) So here's my take on the controversial kalauz.

Molnár B. is the author of the sophisticated and unforgiving gastroblog A bűvös szakács, ("The Magic Chef"), which was launched in cooperation with Index.hu in the fall of 2007, as well as a long-time food writer and reviewer for the conservative daily Magyar Nemzet. When the guide was released, Index.hu said that, being filled straight-to-the-point sentences (as well as lots of grammatical errors) it was nothing like what has been previously published in Hungarian before.

That is certainly true, because there has never been another independently-written restaurant guide to Hungary written in Hungarian before. Hungary is littered with publications in numerous languages that exist just to rake in the advertising cash (and freebies), with so-called "reviews" that are usually terribly written and uninformative our out-and-out unmarked advertisements. So this one - in which the authors claim to have arrived unannounced and did not ask for any freebies - is, at least, a necessary first step. (Note: at Chew.hu we pay for our meals, unless we explicitly state otherwise.)

The kalauz has its merits, and its weaknesses. It is certainly admirable in its intent, and it is about time that a serious and untainted look has been given to the country's restaurant situation. The guide's stated principles are anonymity, independence and objectivity. The forward explains that the restaurant testers were anonymous and undercover, and that they paid for their meals (which were financed by the book's sponsors, who have no interests in the restaurant business). Furthermore, the testers were only told about the places where they would eat shortly before their visit, when they also learned who their dining partners would be. It's not clear if the reviews and ratings were based on single or multiple visits. Every single restaurant was judged by the same criteria, according to the kalauz, and testers were intent to be as objective as possible, judging exclusively on the quality.

According to the kalauz, the testers considered seven factors when rating the restaurants: raw materials (quality, freshness and seasonality); execution (whether the dishes were prepared the right way and preserved the flavors); the harmony of the dishes (whether the proportions and temperature were correct); the character of the restaurant; its consistency and reliability; its price and value; and whether the service and wine list matched the standards of the kitchen. The kalauz takes its lead from both the Gault Millau and the Michelin Guides, which are both known for their strict rating systems (Gault Millau uses a 20-point scale with one to four toques awarded and Michelin uses the famous three star system). According to the kalauz, 15 of its points would equal one Michelin star and 13-14 would be the equivalent of one Gault Millau toque.

In the kalauz, the best restaurant managed to earn merely one toque, and Michelin stars seem to be far away. Based on the guide, the situation is disastrous, as it has to point out when a restaurant uses fresh spices, and the fact alone that a place does not use frozen ingredients helps it stand out from the crowd. While the Gault Millau includes only those restaurants which earned at least 10 of the possible 20 points, the Étterem és bor kalauz lists not only those under eight points, but even places which are obviously not going to please diners looking for top-quality dining.

So which restaurants rate in the kalauz? The 12 best Hungarian restaurants and their points are:

1. Csalogány 26 (13.5)
2. Alabárdos (12.75)
3. Susogó Étterem (12.5)
4. Bock Bistro (12.25)
5. Lou-Lou Restaurant (12.25)
6. Páva Étterem (12)
7. Ráspi Étterem (12)
8. Le Bourbon (12)
9. Klassz (12)
10. Fuji Japán Étterem (12)
11. Arany Kaviár Restaurant (11.75)
12. Onyx Restaurant (11.75)

Of the 10 Budapest restaurants in top 12, seven are also among our own "Top 33." A few other tops: Fausto's, Páva and Lou Lou were singled out for best service and Csalogány 26, Klassz and Gold Bistro (inside district 11’s Gold fitness center) were mentioned for best value.

In all, the kalauz rates 150 restaurants and includes short write-ups about what the testers ate, the atmosphere, the kitchen, the service and the wine list. It also includes contact information for a total of 1,400 restaurants. But beyond the numbers, the guide really fails to give readers an idea of what it is actually like to eat at those restaurants. Descriptions are terse, with things like service or dishes often being described as simply korrekt or kompetens. These cold descriptions don't really cut it for many of those who take restaurants seriously, and really want to be able to pick a restaurant based on its atmosphere, its history, and yes, its food. There's way more about the dining experience at any given restaurant than can be conveyed in a simple number. After the kalauz was released one Hungarian foodie friend, who knows the Budapest restaurant scene as well as anyone, ranted that it portrayed eating-out and cooking as something scientific and soul-less. Another said that after reading the descriptions of food and service in the reviews, the kalauz made him want to stay home and cook, and not venture out into the seemingly terrible world of Hungarian restaurants, which the book describes.

It is an illusion that Hungarian cuisine is world famous, said Molnár B. and Dóra Bittera, another of the authors, to InfoRádió after the book was released. "We all like to think that Hungarian cuisine is world famous, and many tourists visit our country because of it. This myth is a capital mistake," said Molnár B. He said there are several reasons for Hungary lagging behind. The first warning signs appeared in the 19th century, which continued with the Treaty of Trianon. After 1920, Hungarian cuisine became colorless and flat. "Different variations of a few Alföld specialties started spreading like cancerous cells," as he put it. "Of course, we are talking about restaurant cuisine," Bittera added. She also said that restaurants have become similar to mass kitchens, as their task for a long time was to help working comradettes save time by not having to cook at home. Molnár B. said "gastronomy was replaced by mass canteens, the Ibusz group and the gulyás party." Both Molnár B. and Bittera, by the way, are founding members of the Hungarian Gastronomy Association (MGE) and two of many signatories of an open letter written last year to save Hungarian cuisine.

So Molnár B. and the rest of the book's contributor’s would obviously like to see Hungarian cuisine and restaurants succeed, and keep pace with the rest of the world. But from paging through the kalauz a newcomer to Budapest might go away with the idea that its hard to get a good meal in the city, which is not the case. The intention behind the kalauz, I believe, is to make diners aware that while we may enjoy eating our gulyás at our simple restaurants, the chefs here are by no means creating high-end gastronomy. There are more exciting things happening outside of Hungary that we should be aware of. So, while it serves that purpose, it will not appeal to everyone. While some of Budapest has become obsessed with Budapest's lack of a Michelin starred restaurant, the majority of eaters could probably care less, and I suspect that this guide won’t really do much for them.

Though the bulk of the book is devoted to restaurants, as its name implies, it also includes a section on wine. Here, too, the news seems glum for Hungary. "Winemaking is the area of Hungarian gastronomy that is in the best condition, but still not in good condition," the authors say. The editors chose "the most exciting and creative" Hungarian wineries - some big and some small - and described and rated both the wineries and their best wines (with two to five stars).

Although the guide is in Hungarian, expats with a decent grasp of the language should be able to understand the reviews and find them useful, at least as starting points or sources of basic contact and pricing information (although watch for mistakes; the second most highly rated restaurant is listed as being in the fourth district, rather than the first). In conclusion, Index.hu writes the guide is "maybe the biggest event which took place in Hungarian gastronomy since the system change." It presents Hungarian restaurants from a whole new viewpoint, and introduces a new voice, language and attitude. If it is published every year, it can change Hungarian culinary life for the better. On a positive note, Index.hu dropped an intriguing piece of half information: Molnár B.'s team found a recently-opened restaurant which at first sight seemed to be worth not one, but two Michelin stars.