Address: 18 Oborishte Street, Telephone:846 86 87

As I trotted of to the Hungarian Restaurant (as it's simply called) in the wintry cold, I hoped to acquaint myself with the Hungarian kitchen.
My cousin has been residing in Budapest for over six months now and told me on several occasions about the somewhat peculiar food experiences she'd had. I remember one in particular - fruit soup. With anticipation I awaited her answer on my question: `what the hell is that?' She simply replied: `compote'. Well, that's one way to put it.
I practically ice-skated into the small restaurant; the warmth of the place was very welcoming. There were only four or five tables for smokers downstairs and a non-smoking area upstairs, which I expected to be even smaller. Plates and other works of pottery decorated the walls, as well as some posters of children in traditional Hungarian costumes. All in all my first impression of the place was - `cute'. I noticed that the place was quite full, considering it was already past lunchtime. The clientele was rather mixed, I heard (couldn't see them cause they were sitting in the non-smoking section) some Americans, and saw a Bulgarian couple and very cute elderly Bulgarians, as well as a lady of indefinable nationality. In her attempts to order in Bulgarian, and I must confess that she did quite well, there was a very strong accent of some kind, although I couldn't put my finger on where it came from. I sat down next to the window and a shelf with heaps of promotional material on tourism in Hungary. The waitress brought the menu, which to my surprise contained things like Shkembe chorba (tripe soup), Shneshanka (yoghurt salad with dill and cucumber) and Kebabcheta (the long meatballs) among other typical Bulgarian dishes.
Now, I am a big fan of Bulgarian cuisine, but I was however determined to find some Hungarian food. As my eyes scanned through the menu, and skipping all chicken fillet dishes and Goulash, for the simple fact that I do not like them at all, I finally found something that sounded somewhat adventurous and out of the ordinary: green plums and bacon (4,73 leva), served hot. And then I saw stuffed peppers Hungarian style (4,80 leva). So that's what I ordered. The waitress warned me that the plum dish would take a long time to prepare. `Well, how long would that be, I asked cautiously'. `Ten minutes', she replied in all seriousness. Trying not to offend her by laughing, I bit my cheeks and said: `No problem, bring them on whenever they are ready!'
Meanwhile I thought it useful to educate myself on the wonders of Hungary - spa's, cathedrals, cemeteries, goulash, Tokai grapes and, of course, Lake Balaton. My plums arrived and all in all I was a bit surprised to find out that my so-called starter resembled a snack or hors d'oeuvre more than anything. Dried plums wrapped in bacon stuck together with a toothpick. But, they were very nice (although there isn't really much else to say for them other than they were in fact just dried plums wrapped in bacon), if not a little too much. After having eaten about eight of the things, I already felt that my stomach was filled up and that I really had too save some space for the main course.
The peppers arrived shortly. In order not to confuse these Hungarian peppers with their Bulgarian counterparts, these peppers were of the rounder, fatter type and stuffed with a large quantity of meat and a small quantity of rice. The sauce that came with the dish was of course made from red peppers. Boiled potatoes topped with parsley accompanied the peppers. The peppers were juicy and tasty, as was their filling. The sauce added a spicy touch to them. All in all, I can say that it was a pleasant and quiet restaurant experience, good service in a friendly and, yes, to mention the word again, cute atmosphere. The bill amounted to 11,18 leva.