We’re back! I’d apologize for the lack of posting, but will be dishing out enough juicy tidbits over the coming days to more than make up for it. While there are some longer, multi-visit reviews and other items pending, today we’re going to introduce a new feature focusing on very short bites of very tasty lunch specials we’ve had around Budapest.
Exhibit “A” is this amazing two-course lunch menu that I and a companion both scored last week at the most likely of places: The Central Kávéház (follow link for contact details and user feedback). While the Central has always struck me as a wonderfully atmospheric place with decent traditional Hungarian food, I had long ago written it off as too tourist-friendly to be capable of churning out the sort of wonderfully inventive budget lunch menus that many higher-end local restaurants are now offering. How wrong was I?
A decent (but slightly wilted) mixed salad with two juicy shrimp, followed by what I assume was a whole tengeri sügér (sea bass) – two full fillets – perched atop some very nicely sautéed assorted veggies! Beautifully presented! With a quartered lemon on the side! (As opposed to those irritating, unsqueezable slices you usually get, and usually have to ask for.) For Ft 1,200 (€4.30)!!!
When the bill came, I figured there had to be some kind of bait-and-switch, but it seems that the only catch was me, who will now gladly be reeled in for lunch on a regular basis.
I’m sure that at that price any of the shrimps or the bass (looks like bream to me) are hardly fresh…
@Peter: I didn’t say they were fresh, and I assume that all shrimp in this town are previously frozen. Still, it was pretty darn good, and spectacular at this price.
I rather not eat shrimps if they’re not fresh and the same regarding some farmed greek fish but i respect your opinion if its about cheap food that you like writing about.
And yes, the lemon wedge makes a huge difference!
good weekend everybody!!!
Peter,
for your information, fresh shrimp are not available in Hungary. You can only get them frozen or even cooked (garnella) but certainly not available fresh.
Dear Peter and Chef James,
first the fillets are from a sea bass 300/400 gr.,
second, in this town, you can find all the fresh fish you want, just knock on the right door, if you can…,
third, yes, the lemon wedge makes a huge difference, or you prefere a useless slice of onion and cucumber?
What’s wrong with the frozen prawns if they are first quality?
Should be nice to see what you eat at your place… just see, thanks.
@Gladio – Dont you worry about what do i eat at my place, i’m a grown up adult and i can look (very well) after myself.
Second, i never said that you couldnt find fresh sea water fish in town, i know very well where to buy it, who sells it and if you want i can send a price list.
Regarding your 3 /400gr Greek Farmed Bass with a lemon wedge on the side, well, all i say its enjoy it yourself because i surely dont
Don’t you mean “Salad with Shrimps“
see nothing’s changed in my absence, children still try to outdo each other. peter WHY in a landlocked country would you expect fresh seafood especially for a budget meal???
i’ll have to visit soon, simply LOVE the menu.
exactly thats why i dont eat it, because IS NOT FRESH!!!
Peter, define fresh. Are you saying that there is a source in town
that flies in the morning’s catch from the Mediterranean or Adriatic
(presumably on ice to keep it fresh), and that I can buy it just hours
from its death? Because that would indeed be a trick and I presume
beyond my budget, but I wouldn’t mind being proven wrong.
Fresh shrimp are extremely perishable and if you don’t eat them
within 24 hours, they must be frozen. Frozen shrimp are fine for
several weeks if they are frozen in their shells. Shrimp are actually
one of the few seafoods I will eat in Budapest for this very reason.
fresh food – food that is not preserved by canning or dehydration or freezing or smoking
all what i’ve said is that i dont eat farmed or frozen fish and it seems like i’ve killed somebody…
and yes, there are sources in town who can sell you fresh ( not preserved by canning or dehydration or freezing or smoking) sea water fish…
@Peter: Well, tell us then where we can get the best fresh fish, either retail or wholesale. There’s no benefit to your for keeping it a secret; any increase in volume will only increase the frequency with which they send the stuff, lower prices, etc. BTW, I heard yesterday that the Metro out on the M1 has lots of good fresh fish every Thursday; what they don’t sell that day they freeze. Could this be the secret source?
http://www.hs.axelero.net/cgi-bin/en/index.php
http://www.rozmar.hu/
I’ve ordered from Hungaroshrimp in Budaors before (this one:
http://www.hs.axelero.net/cgi-bin/en/index.php). The shrimp was
excellent – but it was frozen.
Peter, FWIW, I agree with you, fresh fish is the best. I just don’t
think ALL frozen seafood is bad. If it’s been hanging out in the
freezer for months, yes, that is disgusting. However, if it’s just
been flash frozen and/or vacuum packed and iced so that it can be
transported without going bad, I don’t see anything wrong with
that.
Too bad the sea is so far away.
Anyone ever heard of Tsukiji? All that tuna comes in frozen. The biggest wholesale market in the WORLD…frozen! There are lots of things to complain about here with food, but frozen shrimp?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlYoD1EjSoQ
Sorry, there is also fresh fish there…not all frozen
Peter, you are a real fish conosseur, thanks, from today I will eat only fresh fish, but now, please, give us the price list and the name of the supplier.
ZZZZzzzzzZZZZzzzzzZZZZZzzzzZzZzZZ
The “landlocked country” argument is totally obsolete. Ever heard of EU? No customs, no waiting, no duties. Trieste is just 700 km. from Budapest and has a huge fish market. Fresh fish could be here the same evening by van or plane. The problem is that there is no culture = no demand = no delivery. That’s all. All other “reasons” for not having reasonably priced fresh seafood simply do not hold. And with the economy shrinking 7% do not expect any improvement this year (Or this century maybe).
BTW, frozen shrimps can be very good, especially tiger prawns from Far East, medium size or big. Small ones are not worth.
And avoid Tilapia at any cost: Not only its meat tastes really ugly, it has the worse Omega 6 / Omega 3 ratio and could indeed lower your health standard, believe it or not. It is one of the few fish species that have this bad feature and of course it is the most common here in Hungary (Cora, Auchan, Tesco but also smaller “quality” retailers…). Do not give it to your kids.
I’m going to have to go with what Pippo said. There’s too much fear of the unknown within Hungarian culture, and it’ll take generations before there’s enough demand for the variety of seafood you get in western European capitals. By way of example, a couple years ago I was down in Croatia with six Hungarians. We stopped by this unassuming seaside restaurant, very cheap, full of locals, and they had all this beautiful and strange fish lovingly displayed on ice. Out in the Adriatic you could see the fishing trawlers at work, not even a kilometre from our plates. And what did the Hungarians have? Six orders of spaghetti bolognaise. Argh!
Absolutely I agree with Pippo and Sean, how you can sell fresh fish or even frozen to people drinking from a 2 lt bottle of coca-cola at 7 am or eating the disgusting deep fryed fish overcooked in stinky overburned oil?
There’s a guy in Kispest who’s got huge underground saltwater tanks set-up beneath his house, been raising live shrimp for about five years. He’s got all kinds of shrimp down there. Forgot to build a proper staircase though, they cemented him in when they poured the foundation. So he’s been living down there, trapped w/ the shrimp. If there was a way to get him out…
Anyone know whether the ‘Top 33′ will eventually be updated?
the problem is to find 33 top restaurants (I’m talking about food, of course, not design and bla bla ….). I suggest to reduce the number or take off the world “top” and write “our list”that means is only the list of Chew, a personal list.
Nothing wrong with frozen prawns, I used to get it from India in ice blocks. It was perfect, but that sea bass is overcooked and the chef used flour, easy to see.
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