Authentic Russian comfort food from Siberia – Gurman Bisztró sets up near former Moscow Square - English

Behind the Mammut twin malls, Lövőház utca has become something of a gastronomic mecca, lined with terrace restaurants. Near what was once Moszkva tér, Moscow Square in name and in character, a contemporary culinary and leisure hub is developing between what is now the relandscaped Széll Kálmán tér and the Millenáris Park. Here, Natalia Vaynovskaya has opened her Russian-style eatery, the Gurman Bisztró, serving the kind of comfort food that gets people through the winter from Minsk to Siberia.

“Don’t rush, darling!” insists Natalia Vaynovskaya as another bowl of steaming pelmeni is placed before a hungry diner at her homely Gurman Bisztró.

Slow food Siberia-style

“You can’t hurry when you eat. Sit back and chew your food with pleasure! Most of today’s diseases are caused by a lack of chewing, so our heads, our bellies hurt, and that’s why we can’t digest our problems either! Sit down, taste one bite at a time, you won’t regret it, plus you’ll be able to talk for a while”.

As a cheery mother and housewife, Natalia found that it was much easier to communicate with the children if she had quickly cooked up a kilo of pelmeni, Russian dumplings, for dinner. The recipe for the dough was given to her by her Siberian aunt, who also lived in Hungary for a long time.

Natalia makes the flavouring for the filling simple (salt, pepper, bayleaf) because in her view, the raw ingredients should not be spoiled, it’s the taste that really matters. Although she considers the selection of domestic potatoes to be quite poor compared to the average of 32 varieties available in Minsk, she sings odes to the quality of Hungarian onions.

In addition, you only need fresh sour cream and dill, as well as homemade ajika, a spicy chili-garlic-and-tomato dip based on an original Georgian recipe, to give this lunch a good zing.

The interior is pretty small and with the modest terrace only open for a short while longer, you can ask for anything to take away. Prices are pretty straightforward. Pelmeni and their close cousins vareniki (in meat, cabbage, potatoes, cottage cheese-and-dill, liver-and-onion and chestnut varieties) cost between 2,000 and 2,500 forints.

Borscht is 1,100 forints and fresh homemade apple pie with mint leaves is 600 forints. Among the drinks, you’ll find glasses of traditional sparkling wine, mors (made with home-cooked fruit and no added sugar), apple spritzers and kvass (low-alcohol liquid bread). Russian vodkas are kept in the freezer to accompany zakuski snacks.

Hospitality and harmony mingle in this traditional spot, with a musical backdrop to match. As they say, Кашу маслом не испортишь – you can never have too much of a good thing.