Green oasis in Ferencváros – Kilenc Kert serves healthy burgers and hot cocktails - English

Réka Gubinyi and her partner, Szabolcs Horváth, plus co-owner, Attila Baleja, have just opened Kilenc Kert on gentrifying Thaly Kálmán utca in Ferencváros. At this secluded island of tranquillity, they serve burgers prepared without oil and cocktails with plenty of zing.

The Rékács couple flew over from operating the SkyWard Wind Tunnel, a popular floating attraction on Csepel island, to the world of hospitality. As parachute instructors, Szabolcs and Attila used to train soldiers in the Hungarian Army, before they opened their first restaurant, SkyWard on Csepel. After the pandemic, they decided to relocate to the city, finding the ideal property in Ferencváros.

They were definitely thinking of a terrace, but eventually it became a garden. It’s quite surreal – and exhilarating – to sit out in greenery, with the concrete of the city outside. You can have a beer, a cocktail and a snack, the burger and fries prepared without oil.

The burgers, fried onion rings and potatoes are all the more healthy because of it. Speaking of conscious nutrition, the traditional bun prepared by popular artisanal baker Szabi a Pék is gluten-free, and a wholemeal version can also be requested.

Pomegranate and homemade fruit sauce go well with the grilled goats’ cheese salad (HUF 2,590), the spiciness of the cheddar-filled habanero snacks (HUF 1,490) is just right, there’s no lack of oil in the fried onion rings (HUF 990) and the raspberry chocolate soufflé with vanilla ice cream (HUF 1,190) melts in the middle as required.

The honeymoney burger (beef patty, red cheddar, honey-mustard sauce, iceberg lettuce, purple onion, sweet cucumber, fried onion rings, HUF 2,690) is spicy and complex, with accompanying honey and onion rings fashioned in the shape of dollar signs.

The Garden XXL burger (double-beef patty, gardener’s sauce, double camembert, spicy red-onion jam, double-toasted bacon, rocket, tomato, purple onions, HUF 4,490) is the real all-in one option, for which you’ll need all ten fingers and plenty of napkins.

The main target audience at Kilenc Kert is not the many foreign students or partygoers, but local residents who’ll find their own natural habitat in this particularly friendly place, with its picnic overtones. Bring your own blanket and parasol.