This Wednesday Györgyi and I went to Blues Kert (garden) for the daily lunch menu. The weather has been so nice, and we wanted to eat outside, so at the last minute we remembered Blues Kert. It’s in Újszeged (New Szeged) and just a few minutes from where we live. We had been meaning to go back to this nice little grill terrace ever since last summer, when we attended a wedding reception there for one of Györgyi’s closest friends, Julia.

The first course that day was a tomato soup with little square pocket noodles. I don’t know if it was homemade soup or not, but it was very delicious. Not too heavy or creamy, and just the right amount of sweetness for lunchtime.

The second course was a simple chicken breast seasoned with paprika and maybe a little salt. This isn’t the best picture of the plate, but I had to include it to show my Mom how tan my arms are getting. She’ll be proud.

Even though the chicken breast suffered the usual Hungarian culinary sin of pounding chicken breast as thin as paper, it was cooked well and had a great flavor. And typically I’m a critic of chicken breast dishes here and almost never order them because in addition to thinness, they’re usually very, very oily. This one was not oily however–not at all–which made it a pleasure to eat.  The chicken was served with a big pile of delicious potatoes. They were boiled then smashed with butter, parsley and salt. I restrained myself from eating the whole pile and just ate half, but I could have easily eaten all of them. And probably another bucked-sized bowl.

We went to Blues Kert around 11:45, which is early for lunch. But by the time we left, the terrace was filling up, and almost everyone was ordering the daily menu.

In addition to the daily menu, we each ordered a diet coke. The daily menu was 900 HUF (5 USD) per person and the coke was 300 HUF (1.60 USD). The menu price (900) is a little higher than other area restaurants, such as Szeged Etterem, which is about a buck cheaper and where you will also get complimentary water. But for $7, it’s a pleasant lunch outside.

We’re going to go back soon for dinner. As we were leaving one of the cooks was firing up a giant charcoal grill, which is a very good sign since I almost never see or eat food that is cooked to order on a real barbecue grill.

So overall high marks. Great atmosphere, understandable English menu, friendly waiters and good food. A nice start to June.

Blues Kert
Szeged
Főfasor 14
06 62 432 183

On Wednesday Györgyi and I went to Kertvárosi Vendéglő for lunch. It’s a little restaurant across from Hotel Forrás, which is Szeged’s first 4-star hotel. It’s also opposite of the new and expensive swimming pool complex, the Napfényfürdő Aquapolis. Györgyi and I had actually been there twice before in the winter for soup, which was quite good. Then they closed down for about four months or so, only to just reopen with an outdoor sitting area.

We kind of had high hopes for Kertvárosi Vendéglő because we liked their soups, but unfortunately our lunch was pretty lackluster. And I’m being kind.

The first problem was that they didn’t have an English menu. Now let me clarify my position on this before my inbox is flooded with hate mail. I think it’s perfectly suitable for a restaurant in a village or small town to not have an English menu. And it’s every business owner’s right not to have one. But when you’re located across the street from the only four-star hotel, spa and swimming complex in a University town, it’s a little odd. And we are particularly interested in this issue because it’s what we do in our business– translation, marketing, etc. And even though I can read a Hungarian menu, I was imaging the English gent or German woman who tried to figure out the word for “chicken” or even “beer”.  This is not a language of cognates.

Györgyi had the daily menu. It was 750 forints (less than $5) and came with a soup and entree. This is 100 forints less than the really great daily menu that we had at Szeged Etterem two weeks ago, though it lacked the complimentary water and dessert. Her soup was garlic soup, which she said was actually pretty good. She said it was rich and creamy but not too heavy. And I noticed that the crutons were homemade, which is a plus.

Our main dishes were unfortunately not as good. I really don’t enjoy writing bad reviews, but I feel like I have been writing about so many restaurants in the area recently that it wouldn’t be fair if I just ignored bad meals. And the main dishes were honestly bad and definitely not worth the money.

Györgyi’s main dish, which was the daily menu, was pork knuckle and fried potatoes. Pork knuckle is served everywhere here. It’s a staple dish. And when you’ve had a few drinks at a festival and the vendors are serving freshly fried pk, it’s nearly irresistible. But she said that her knuckle was almost all fat. In addition to that, the potatoes were not sufficiently drained after frying, which was apparent from the oil on the plate. This is something that goes on a lot in Hungary, but considering the prices of the food as compared to other little restaurants, Kertvárosi Vendéglő should know better. In addition, Gy said the food wasn’t even hot.

I ordered chicken breast with vegetables. The chicken breast had been pounded so thin that you could almost see through it, and it must have been cooked on the griddle for like 20 minutes because it was literally as tough as jerky. The vegetables were pretty good.  They were well-seasoned and had a good crunch. But even worse than my chicken jerky were the croquettes. You can’t tell from the picture that they were on the plate because they were put under the hot food. Bad restaurants do this often here as well, in addition to not draining the fried food. But it’s absolutely a no-brainer.  If you put an item like a croquette or french fry under hot food it will create a steam cabin, making whatever is under the hot food instantly soggy. Sigh.

With two waters and a tip our order came to 3,000 forints. Even though this is only $15, it’s a lot more than most people in Szeged pay for a weekday lunch. The cook at Kertvárosi Vendéglő may have had an off day, so I won’t make sweeping judgements. The outdoor area of the restaurant is very nice.  Good atmosphere and music. And our waiter was really friendly and even asked me how things were in English. But the friendly staff and nice decor couldn’t save the food this week. And even though Gy and I go out to eat several times a week, we probably won’t go back.

Kertvárosi Vendéglő
Szent-Györgyi Albert u.
6726 Szeged
06 62 480 088

We went to the Szeged Étterem Borozó és Pub today for the daily menu. I’ve been there before and really like the food and the service. I’ve never been downstairs, however, to the Wine Bar és Pub part of the restaurant. And that is where they serve the daily menu.

Daily menus are pretty popular throughout Europe. Many restaurants have them during the week and they’re really well suited for business lunchers or those looking to have a little less expensive meal at a nice restaurant. And most of the time they come in three courses.

Today our first course was vegetable soup:

Second course–roasted pork with bacon and mushroom sauce and a side of oven potatoes.They even left some of the crispy potato skins on the plate. Yum. The pork was so tender and the potatoes were really sinful when dipped in the decadent sauce. Something about eating out at lunch makes me think it’s okay to consume bacon lardons. Need to address that at some point.

And the third course was a sponge cake roll with apricot jam. A sweet little finish to a great lunch:

The inside of the Pub was pretty nice. Gyorgyi said it was too light and sterile, but I liked the brick on the wall and the cellar feel. I imagine that for dinner and late service they turn the lights down, otherwise it might be a little bit startling for the evening hours.

We drank the complimentary pitcher of lemon water. That meant that the total for one ended up be just 850 HUF. When you add a tip, that comes to about $5.50 USD. Considering the amount of food, the service that only took 45 minutes, and the fact that this is one of the nicer restaurants in Szeged, that price was a total steal. I will definitely go again for the daily menu.

And now that the weather is nice, their huge terrace that overlooks a promenade park in the city center is open. And though the main courses are more expensive, it’s worth sitting outside just for the great wine and good atmosphere.

Szeged Étterem
6720 Szeged,
Széchenyi tér 9
06 62 649 448
szegedetterem.hu 

Today we drove up old 5 Road to Fehértói Halászcsárda for lunch. Fehértói Halászcsárda means White Lake Fish Soup Restaurant. Hungarians LOVE long proper titles for things. There must be several village names that are spelled with more letters than there are residents.

White Lake Fish Soup Restaurant is a roadside csárda on what used to be the main road that led from SE Hungary to the capital. That changed a handful of years ago when the M5 highway was built and most of the business along the road died out. I wrote about it a little over a year ago, if you’re interested.

Sometimes if we want to take an easy weekend drive, we’ll go on the road, passing through the quaint little villages and stopping at little roadside vendors for seasonal veggies and fruit. And every time we exit the Szeged city limits we see the huge crowd of cars at Fehértói Halászcsárda.

The truth is that it’s sort of a miracle that this establishment is still open. Sure, it’s been around since a time when people went to the restaurant in horse and buggy (they have old pictures to prove it!). But because the road is sort of a ghost road now, not that many people pass by the place unless they are afternoon drivers or happen to live in a village along the road without easy access to M5.

There is one really good reason that it remains open and successful: they have great food.

I had the half order of catfish paprikas. It’s a very typical Hungarian fish dish, served with a thick paprika sauce. I can honestly say that the catfish paprika at Fehértói Halászcsárda is probably the best I’ve ever had. Considering that this region is known for catfish-preparing excellence, this is pretty high praise. Györgyi ordered me the house dumplings, which I think were made from corn meal into a dumpling cake with a streak of fresh, sour cheese inside. Light, delicate, perfectly balanced in texture and flavor, not to mention dripping with the slightly spicy paprika sauce, those dumplings were so spot on I don’t think I’ll ever be able to have a generic dumpling again.

Györgyi ordered the trio of grilled fish and grilled veggies. This really isn’t a specialty dish, but she wanted to order something healthy. All foodie travellers should note, however, that in Hungary, as in most countries in this region, grilled doesn’t really mean grilled, but rather sautéed in butter, butter, butter, citrus and spices. Oh well.  She said that the fish was great and despite the butter and oil, the vegetables were perfectly seasoned and delicious.

Our bill, with a diet coke, iced tea, and the standard %10 tip, came to 5,000 HUF or $27.

There are so many other items that we want to try, including the fish soup. A table of Italians next to us ordered some kind of whole, pan-roasted chicken, and on our way out we both stared enviously at a woman who was blissfully eating crepes with berries and cream.

Outside we gawked at the huge fish soup cauldrons. I didn’t ask, but I’m sure that they use this cauldron to make fish soup during festival time.

Even though I was stuffed and had already completed an extensive morning workout, Györgyi made us climb the tower next to the restaurant.  But I’m glad that we did because I could get a great view of the fish farm adjacent to the restaurant. In addition to the restaurant and panzio, the property houses a fresh fish store where you can get all types of fish and fish dishes from the region to go.

The inside dining area is huge and is non-smoking. I can’t think of any other restaurant that is non-smoking in Hungary. And during the warmer weather, the restaurant has a giant outdoor sitting area. It was too windy to sit outside for our lunch, but the big, family-style tables looked very welcoming.

If you’re in the Szeged area, I highly recommend trying this restaurant. There are many fish soup restaurants in Szeged, but this one combines great food with a friendly staff and old-world kitsch decor.

Fehértói Halászcsárda
Budapesti út 41
6728, Szeged
+ 36 62 555-960
http://www.fehertoihalaszcsarda.hu