Located on Kertész Street slap bang in the middle of Budapest’s bar quarter, the Refuge Bistro provides that sought-after rarity, dishes that are both delicious and gluten-free at the same time. In surroundings more resembling a wooden ski chalet in the Swiss Alps, an affordable lunch menu changes weekly while, in view of the buzzy location, wines are by small-batch Hungarian producers and beer are either Belgian, craft or both. A regular cultural agenda is also promised.
Owner Susa Horváth left her position as a manager in the communications sector to indulge in the culinary trade, particularly in gluten-free cuisine. She has worked as a private chef in the past, accepting commissions for 100-head dinners, but this is her first time working in a restaurant. Her goal is to offer dishes that are not only healthy but deceivingly delicious as well, so that even guests who are not sensitive to gluten won’t suspect a thing.
Susa considers coming up with wheat flour-free recipes to be a challenge instead of a nuisance, and likes experimenting in the kitchen. In fact, she thinks success comees from trial and error – but the best ingredients also help. Instead of the most common gluten-free flours, such as starch and corn meal, she uses mixtures containing millet flour and brown-rice flour, just that little bit healthier as well. There are, however, limits to this challenge: for example, Susa stopped making hamburgers because she just couldn’t get the bread right.
For now, they have a lunch menu available between noon and 4pm. This past week, you could eat creamy wine soup with cinnamon foam, fish soup with homemade matchstick noodles, cream of squash soup, as well as meaty and vegan stuffed cabbage, duck breast with cabbage noodles, and zserbó pie, walnut and cocoa beigli cake and mákos guba cake for dessert. (Soups cost 700 HUF, main dishes 1200 HUF; alternatively, two courses are 1500 HUF, three 1800 HUF.)
Refuge does not have a fixed menu, only a few stand-alone dishes, such as the refuge salad (with vegetables, egg, brie cheese and smoked trout) and, from 4pm, fondue cheeses and sausage platters – in vegan options, too. You can rinse down the food with the wines of small Hungarian wineries (Babiczki, Babarczi, Gedeon, Heumann, Tóth Ferenc, Feiszt), or draft and craft beers (Leffe, Hoegaarden, Belle-Vue Kriek, Menedék). The kitchen is allergen-free, with primary producers’ eggs through YouTyúk and smoked trout from MrPisztráng.
Atmosphere might just be the bistro’s strongest point, making it an ideal meeting place for friends and quiet rendezvous alike. The interior recalls wooden Alpine huts, decorated with plentiful wooden surfaces, rope, along with skis and sledges for authenticity. Separate sections ensure privacy for couples, and the bistro is completely child- and dog-friendly – on this visit, the owner couple, who decorated the interior, were present with their three children and pooch.
The stage and piano and the basement aren’t here to collect dust – cultural events are among the bistro’s future plans, including literary evenings held by the Young Writers’ Association, concerts and pub theater performances.
