“When creating a new dish, the three most important factors that we take into consideration is texture, flavour profile and presentation.” – said Matthew Piercy the Executive Chef of The Ritz-Carlton, Budapest. The secret behind Deák St. Kitchen’s new autumn-winter menu concept is traditional Hungarian cuisine revamped. The team of the multi-award winning restaurant has always laid emphasis on sourcing all possible ingredients locally, but this time there is a new keyword: tradition with a touch of glam.
An outstanding starter is the Hungarian duck foie gras au torchon with cocoa, homemade brioche, compressed plum and roasted macadamia nuts. The cocoa may sound unusual at the start, but its slight bitterness brings out the softness of the foie gras and they go down well together with some homemade brioche. This is one of the best courses on the current menu, do order one each as after just one bite, you will definitely not want to share.
Sure to become a big favourite is the red bean soup of Chef de Cuisine Róbert Sugár, made from his grandmother’s special recipe. The beautiful smokey flavour of the crispy pork knuckle is a great match to the soft and light sour cream soup, while the confit red beans and potato pieces add a refreshing touch.
To create a superstar among the mains, the chefs took one of Hungary’s oldest and simplest recipes, rakott krumpli (Layered potatoes) – usually loved by all visitors to the country – only to deconstruct it and then build it up again in 21st-century style. The traditional falvours are all still there, but the presentation is more modern. A homemade sausage with caraway, a piece of layered potato that is crispy on the outside but melt-in-the-mouth on the inside, a 65-degree poached egg and sausage foam topped with sausage crumble decorate the plate. Putting a bit of everything on your fork gives you the true taste, but all elements taste fantastic one by one, too.
From the dessert selection we tried a traditional and classic Rákóczi túrós, which is a sweet cottage cheese cake with apricot jam, lemon zest and meringue. The refreshingly citrusy flavours are a perfect end to a meal, of course, with some sweet dessert wine.
As another novelty, the Deák St. Kitchen team started dry-aging their meat, which results in more tender and flavourful steaks that now also feature on the menu. A true specialty, Australian Wagyu is available, too.
Classic is luckily still in style at the elegant but cosy Deák St. Kitchen. The new menu is available now, so if you are after high-quality Hungarian dishes, this is the place to go during the colder months. For more details, visit their website.
