The area around St. Stephan’s Basilica (Szent István Bazilika) became more and more popular in the last couple of years: new, stylish wine bars opened one after another just around the corner for example. What about the old residents of the neighbouring area by the way? To answer this question we visited Negro Bar, where a brand new menu was introduced less than a month ago. We were curios to find out more about the dishes so we gave the menu a try.
Negro is the kind of place where you can make bets on how many foreigners and how many locals there are – of course it’s not quite hard to find out, since the locality of the place is more than suggesting. For quite a long time we thought that Hungarians are not really hanging around St. Stephan’s Square during the day – however, in the evenings and at nights locals usually fill up the stairs of the Basilica while day are sipping on a glass of wine. The question arises – will locals conquer Negro as well? Will they ever have their lunch and dinner at the bar?Move along the tastes – focus on lightness
The new menu of Negro was designed to satisfy the different needs of the guests throughout the day. There are at least 3 or 4 options at all times for them so they can have breakfast, lunch and dinner as well. The new selection of dishes was designed by Chef János Kiss – who previously worked at Hyatt. Kiss wanted to create an exciting blend, a fusion of traditional and modern Hungarian dishes – this is how the new offers came to life.So, what’s on?
The menu includes the inevitable club sandwich offers, but there is Goulash soup and other traditional and classic dishes from the Hungarian cuisine and last but not least there are aubergine chutneys, salads and steaks all named after the bar itself. The first sign of the great change is that the less food is being served – which, in this case, is not a problem at all. The á la carte offers include 15 different meals.
The aubergine chutney is a great appetizer – it’s rather light, it’s a bit French-like and fortunately it is not stuffed with garlic so you can have some any time during the day. The club sandwiches, which we have already told you about before, are the most popular dishes at Negro Bar. The bar has its very own versions – you can either choose one big sandwich or three smaller ones with different seasoning. You should try the Negro steak that is served on a vegetable bed. If you are not keen on these offers you should choose the Coob-salad or you should pick something from the salmon, poultry or pasta dishes. The desserts – brownies and ice creams – are kind of mainstream but they are all right. Somlói galuska is a top notch. Don’t miss it! After your meal you should order an espresso cortado too which is almost like a smaller cup of cappuccino.
Be careful if you want to organize a birthday party, a reception or any other gathering at Negro Bar – you have to ask for the permission of the Basilica people first. Negro by the way is working in association with Creol. What’s Negro by the light of day is Creol at night on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.
Appetizers are around 1000-2000 forints, club sandwiches cost 2100 forints and the hamburgers are 2500 forints either you choose the big one or the three smaller ones. The Negro steak is 4500 forints and desserts are around 1000 forints. We are not surprised by the high prices – this place is in an area that’s all about the tourists and about the exclusiveness.
Let’s just sum up the things about the new
Negro: the new lounge-jazz atmosphere goes very well with the new menu, the tourist will still be in majority though you should visit them and have a lunch.
