The people behind successful confectionery SUGAR! Shop, Eszter Horváth and Gergő Lábady, have long been planning a new place where breakfasts, light meals and their own cakes were the focus. After a painstaking search, they finally found the right place on Vörösmarty tér.
The beautiful interior of Marty’s – copper, cherry and pastel pink, like a Wes Anderson movie – is the work of Ákos Bara, but reflects the tastes of Eszter and Gergő. Art deco and colours inspired by 1950s’ America add a special atmosphere and make Marty’s one of the few places where sitting indoors is preferable to outdoors, even in nice weather.
It is no coincidence that an open bar is also planned for the restaurant – the sizeable counter in the middle would be perfect for propping up. Transparency is all part of the concept, and diners can see the chefs at work.
The breakfast and tapas section of the menu is Eszter’s work, but the main dishes have been conceived by chef Tamás Károlyi Tóth, once of the famed Tanti and Mák, among others. It was also important to make their own baked goods for breakfast, so Eszter learned the secrets of pastry-making on a course in France.
The proof is behind the counter, croissants, pains au chocolat and brioches. Sandwiches are made from their own sourdough bread. The takeaway options are equally eye-catching: on the counter by the door are three to four types of sandwiches and home-made pastries besides the cake slices.
Sitting down is also a good idea because the menu has a variety of choices every day. Around the basic concept of brunch and breakfast, you find a very rich selection, from traditional French-, Hungarian- or English-style breakfasts to croques monsieurs, various scrambled eggs, fried eggs and frittatas, and light, granola-based bowls for those who prefer a healthier start to the day.
Eszter and Gergő’s aim is, wherever possible, to source ingredients from small-batch domestic producers. This is why the English breakfast (2,690 HUF) features Debrecziner sausages and the croques monsieurs (2,390 HUF) cooked ham from Debrecen. Smoked trout replaces salmon throughout.
The cheeses and the cold cuts in the tapas also come from local producers, the creams from in-house sources. Takeaway packaging is biodegradable and recyclable.
Though a breakfast suggestion, the croque monsieur, with its large slices of homemade sourdough bread, cooked ham, emmental cheese and lashings of butter, is enough for lunch with a little green salad.
Visual pampering characterises Marty’s plate for two (5,290 HUF), which offers two-person sandwiches, croissants with butter, honey and jam, and a selection of homemade desserts. If you have a lazy day ahead, a glass of champagne may accompany.
The main dishes are lighter, the salad selection is strong, good news for vegans and vegetarians, the target audience when the menu was created. The quinoa tabbouleh (2,690 HUF) refreshes with its abundant mint, parsley and coriander, while the Oriental bowl (3,690 HUF) is a nutritious, energising health bomb, with hummus, quinoa tabbouleh, pomegranate lentil salad and sesame-oil chickpeas.
Meat lovers can go for the duck salad (2,890 HUF), dominated by the duck breast in its skin, accompanied by two small pieces of malt dumplings, tasty, crunchy beetroot and pickled vegetables.
Marty’s chicken (3,490 HUF) is a lovely example of the cuisine here: prime skin-fried chicken breast has a pleasantly nostalgic taste, with goats’-cheese polenta, caraway, marinated mustard seeds and roasted cherry tomatoes playing up the fusion angle.
Hungarian flavours are mainly found in the desserts: classic aranygaluska (1,490 HUF), dumplings lathered in white-wine apple sauce alongside the vanilla, and the plum dumplings (790 HUF), rolled with homemade breadcrumbs for extra crispness.
Marty’s kitchen&bar District V. Vörösmarty tér 5
Open: daily 8am-midnight
