Some of Uncle Sam’s favorite smoky specialties are now available right in the heart of a bustling Budapest park, just in time for savoring the flavors of summertime amid urban open space. Using proper equipment imported from the USA, diners at Terminal can now order classic barbecued delights like pork ribs, beef brisket, and more – all available with unlimited mugfuls of cold beer.

Since last year, downtown Pest’s super-central Terminal Restaurant (located in Erzsébet Square within what was once the city’s main bus station, now also serving as home to Design Terminal) has made a slight shift from offering casual fine dining to a more popular line of quality gastronomy appealing to younger diners, but this doesn’t mean that the old menu has been entirely forgotten. The excellent dishes inspired by street-food classics are still in the menu, as well as the “unleashed” weekly chef's specials (such as roasted-garlic cream soup and brisket with potatoes and sour-cherry dressing).

The man behind the food is not just any head chef, but a real celebrity foodie who bears his identification on his arms: Zsolt Serényi, aka the Tattooed Chef. As an dedicated BBQ connoisseur, Serényi has a great deal of experience as a restaurateur and cook, with his career highlights ranging from a laid-back Mexican-American restaurant to a fancy French spot, along with a huge Bavarian beer hall and a special open-kitchen bistro – not to mention his long-standing gig hosting a cooking show on Hungary’s TV Paprika channel.The fact that Terminal opened up towards youngsters is a sign of Serényi’s influence. A good example of this is the BBQ platter for groups, which contains a heaping pile of Terminal’s finest BBQ offers, and comes with two hours of unlimited beer or fröccs (wine spritzer) consumption.

Thanks to its huge picture windows and sprawling terrace, the historic Bauhaus building that houses Terminal is a uniquely laid-back and sunshiny space for this feast, with the additional bonus of a great view over Erzsébet Square. Fortunately for everyone, the adjacent Fröccsterasz also serves some of Terminal’s BBQ options, like the beef burger, the pulled-pork sandwich, the chili con carne, and the chicken wings (each 990 HUF).The meats are slow-cooked in a wood-fueled Southern Pride smoker imported from Tennessee, giving Terminal’s BBQ selection a mouthwatering texture and aroma unique to Budapest. The beef, chicken, and pork specialities reach the plates after having been “smoked” for a good 16-18 hours.

We arrived early in the afternoon, with the thought of “the hungrier the better” in mind. For a starter, we ordered cold-smoked goose liver with onion jam and toast, which had a pleasant fullness to it. We recommend spreading it on the toast with some of the fat and a bit of the onion jam to get the perfect combination of flavors.We wanted to test the aforementioned smoker, so we ordered a BBQ main course. Our choice was the BBQ plate, the size of which is for two persons minimum. First, we bit into the beef burger made of a 20-dkg well-done beef patty, a homemade bun, cheddar and edami cheese, and fried bacon. This heavenly creation was filling by itself, but still more meaty goodness awaited on our plate.

Let us fast forward: we’d crown the brisket (cooked for 16-18 hours) as the cream of the crop. It is rare to find beef so light and soft, making you feel like you could eat any amount of it. We awarded the side-dish gold to the vegetable mix, consisting of spinach, zucchini, string beans, and bell peppers.

Of course, the manly portion required some beverages to wash it all down: we chose the organic red-grape spritzer, which tastes similar to must but having no alcohol whatsoever. It comes in half-liter portions with ice, and there are also white-grape and apple-spritzer variations.Then came the last course before dessert, the spicy pre-smoked pork ribs with BBQ sauce, best with cornbread and the mascarpone-, onion-, and corn-filled jacket potatoes. Once again, the meat was light and soft like the brisket.

After a short breather, we chose the mascarpone and fruit sponge cake among four tempting desserts. It was cool, soft, topped with fresh strawberries, and gone fast. As for our verdict: when at Terminal, try to resist the temptation of overindulging in their delicious selection of BBQ foods – don’t order everything in one sitting, but return often and eat your way methodically through the menu all summer long.