If you happen to find yourself in Budapest, on a warmish afternoon, in the middle of the summer or fall, and your stomach tells you it's time for lunch... you should go to Central Kavehaz.
It's where my sister and I found ourselves on August 28th at around 2pm. We were just a little bit tired from the mornings explorations and needed rest and refreshment. After being seated at a lovely table we perused the menu and selected Aspagagus soup with goat cheese and ricotta gnochi, cesear salad with grilled chicken, and for dessert coffee with a blend of milk and cream.
I can hear you now. Cesear Salad and asparagus soup???? In Budapest??? What are those two thinking? Oh judge us not. You can only eat so much sausage, streudal, goulash, paprika chicken, and other traditional Hungarian fare.
This was one of our favorite meals in Budapest. The soup perfectly flavored, the gnochi tender and creamy. The Cesear salad was topped with a juicy grilled chicken breast that had been seared perfectly and was doused with the most tangy delicious dressing I have ever wrapped my lips around. I sipped on my chilled white wine and was perfectly content as I sat there and watched the goings on around me. When the 2 ladies adjacent to us ordered coffee after their meal, we did too. Why not - we had copied everything else they had for lunch and found their choices quite to our liking. This was a meal I will remember long after I have forgotten my name and my telephone number.
Your last line made me laugh, Carol! You and Mary Ann have such a great outlook on life and travel. I enjoy reading about your adventures and seeing your photos and travel journals. I've wondered when you might teach an on-line journal class! The bits I've seen of your journals are pretty great and I look forward to seeing your Budapest pages.
Posted by: Diana Giffin | 09/09/2011 at 10:46 PM
The last line made me laugh out loud! You and your sister are each extraordinarily humorous and great at story telling, true or not! I have a yen to go to Budapest. You girls made it so inviting. I see the trip in my future... Thank you for inviting us into your life.
Posted by: Joyce | 09/10/2011 at 12:23 AM
Yum...just yum. :)
Posted by: Judy H. | 09/10/2011 at 08:47 AM
LOL Enjoyed this post, both the YUM and the giggle!
Posted by: robin cox walsh | 09/10/2011 at 11:19 AM
I'm with everyone else here! That last line is one of the best descriptions of an unforgettable meal I have ever heard. LOL,TOO!
And why not order what you did in Budapest? Many restaurants world-wide now base their thinking on 'world fusion' when it comes to dining delights. I'm thinking if you live in Budapest you might also want a change from traditional Hungarian fare. I'm in the U.S. and very hungry right now. I wish I could head on over to Central Kavehaz for a bowl of that Asparagus Soup. You made me want it - real bad!
Posted by: Sharon | 09/10/2011 at 12:41 PM
I'm seriously trying to diet and you post THIS menu? I'm headed for the fridge and my emergency bag of carrot sticks! (The description was, literally, lip-smacking.)
Posted by: Michele Unger | 09/10/2011 at 05:04 PM
Everything looks and sounds delicious. too bad there isn't a sound track so we could hear the chatter, clink and clack of the silverware, and the ooooohhhhs and aaaahhhhssss of you and MA drooling over your meal and smacking your lips.
I have had a memorable meal that could make me forget my name and phone number. It was in a little off the beaten path restaurant in Newport, OR where I had steamed peanut clams, home baked sour dough bread slathered with butter. a perfect dessert. Everything just worked...the aroma of the broth, the taste of the bread and the ambiance of the place...divine! Makes my mouth water just thinking about it, and that was 20 years ago!
Posted by: Joan | 09/10/2011 at 05:17 PM
And you'll have your travel journal with illustrations to remind you.
Perhaps you could have your name and telephone number tatooed somewhere? Just a thought.
Posted by: Chrissy | 09/11/2011 at 11:38 AM