Food trucks keep popping up around the capital – festivals, open-air events, and the nightlife of Budapest aren't complete without them. Although they can park anywhere, we haven't really encountered them outside of the party district, and definitely not at the intersection of Üllői Road and the Grand Boulevard. However, from now on, the best of the genre parks inside the courtyard of the former Kilián barracks at 51 Üllői Road, where Élesztő opened its big brother. Instead of craft beers, here the spotlight is on various heavenly bites.
The Kilián barracks has long stood completely empty with its crumbling yellow walls on the corner of the Grand Boulevard, even though there were attempts to operate pubs in the courtyard, with more or less success. The staff of Élesztő organized the refurbishment of the ground floor, and the cooperation with the ten participating food trucks in two months, with the long-term aim of settling in the garden, located only a few meters from the nearby Corvin Negyed transport hub. When the food trucks were selected, besides the quality of the food, the appearance was also important, so that the food wouldn’t be made in tin or wooden booths, but in charming classic cars. Three cars still haven’t arrived to the location, but Mr. Pisztráng with its trout, and the delegates of Krak’n Town and Töki Pompos are expected within a few weeks. When a truck is invited to an outsider event, they have to indicate their intention at least two weeks prior the event, and then they can roll out.
For example, the Gnocchi Food Truck is stationed here; probably uniquely in the world, the truck serves tasty street food with this Italian pasta, which is quite difficult to make. Zsolt Jakab got ready for the opening with new courses and pastas, so guests can test their Thai shrimp pasta with sugar snap peas and coconut-curry sauce at the Kilián garden. We tried gnocchi with basil and tomato sauce, served with parmesan and plenty of appetizingly stringy mozzarella (1,300 HUF).
The truck of BBQ, right next to the gnocchi car, used to offer its meat specialties – smoked for 10-20 hours – at the Danube bank at Szentendre, where it was accompanying Kacsakő Bistro. The pulled brisket we tried in a sandwich was baked at 110°C for 18 hours, so it goes without saying that every bite was a piece of meaty heaven.
Thanks to Kristóf Steiner, even vegans can have an abundant meal at the garden, as the food truck called Kristóf konyhája (meaning “Kristóf’s Kitchen”) was put together for this very project; here they have multiple vegan courses to try, from chestnut and Brussels sprouts salad to chocolate cake with walnuts, dates, and squash. As inveterate carnivores, we were quite convinced by the world-peace style Middle Eastern cauliflower with tahini yogurt, pine nuts, pomegranate, and tabbouleh, and also by the Bollywood style eggplant with Indian red lentils, fresh lemon, and lafa (both courses cost 1,290 HUF).
Gobu debuts in the garden as a completely new brand, with its exclusive grilled sandwiches served with salads, dressings, cheeses, selected spices, and fresh ingredients cooked on an iron plate. The sandwiches’ names are playful puns on the ingredients, like Szalma-Nelli (meaning “Salmon-Ella”, it’s filled with scrambled eggs), Hal-álos (meaning “Deadly”; the first half of the Hungarian word also means fish, which is a nod to the smoked salmon filling), and MAO-CE Tunkol (a pun on Mao Zedong’s Hungarian name, roughly translates as “Mao Ze-Dunk”, the sandwich is filled with Asian-style chicken breast and ginger), and their prices range from 1,400 forints to 1,850 forints. The burgers and wraps of All About Street Food, operated by Kossuth Klub’s Muzikum Bistro, almost seem conservative compared to the other courses, but those who don’t want to experiment definitely will be satisfied with Torkosság (meaning “Gluttony”), the giant wonder-burger made from 100% beef (1,890 HUF).
Although food is in the spotlight, the garden doesn’t lack specialty drinks thanks to Vespresso, which rolled over here from Karaván to offer specialty coffee and hot chocolate, and Borkas, famous for its traveling fröccs, which warms up the shivering souls with 21 types of mulled wine, including lavender, apple pie, orange, and gingerbread-flavored ones. Each meal can be accompanied with the beers of Élesztő, among which Cocoa Porter from Reketye Brewery is back on tap again, and as a novelty item, they also offer hot soups with the beers.
The cold winter undoubtedly makes it harder to enjoy the culinary specialties, but there’s a shelter inside where visitors can get warm, and the only fixed spot, the bar of Élesztő, will be surrounded with a heated tent very soon. Here, by the way, Brewdog, the famous Scottish brewery which is rarely found in Hungarian pubs, is the newest cast member.
UPDATE: Closed
