Basic HTML Version
JUNE-JULY 2012
WIZZ MAGAZINE
29
LEFT:
A LOT OF BOTTLE AT
ARANYSZARVAS.
BELOW:
THE STATUE HOLDING AN
IMAGE OF POET BENEDEK
VIRÁG, OUTSIDE OF
TABÁNI TERASZ
COVER FEATURE
BUDAPEST
The Tabán you see today differs from the
pre-war bohemian quarter of Serbs, Greeks
and Gypsies, razed in the 1930s. Set
beneath the key landmarks of Gellért Hill
and Castle Hill and squeezed up against
the river, you will find today’s Tabán is quiet
and lush with greenery.
But another local landmark, the
Aranyszarvas restaurant, pre-dates the
1930s by some margin. At the turn of the
16
th
and 17
th
centuries, the Szarvas tavern
was attracting Serb and Magyar alike.
Hungarian intellectuals and revolutionaries
of the 19
th
century met here. Renovated
as a restaurant in 1971, the ‘Golden Stag’
was itself revolutionised when a trio of
influential culinary entrepreneurs took over
in 2008. This was when groundbreaking
chef Gábor Mogyorósi arrived, relocating
from a destination restaurant on this
side of the river, the Csalogány 26.
Despite personnel changes, and thanks
in part to the arrival of top chef Antonio
Fekete from abroad, the Aranyszarvas
remains at the forefront of Budapest’s
contemporary dining
scene. A regularly changing
and concise menu currently features
such delights as wild garlic veloutée
with ravioli stuffed with rabbit, and pork
belly carpaccio with radish and rucola
for starters. The stand-out main dish is
mangalica with sorell tagliatelle, making
best use of the recently revived indigenous
breed of pig. Note, too, the rarely found
Tokaji dessert wines, including the 6
puttonyos aszú Lenkey 1999 at Ft20,000
(€67) for half-a-litre.
Opposite its elegant and expansive
terrace, beside the Tabán Museum, the
Tabáni Terasz can trace its own history
as a restaurant back to 1961. Once the
home of 18th-century poet Benedek Virág,
celebrated in statue form outside, this
pretty eaterie comprises three terraces,
a wine cellar and classic restaurant
interior. Both in terms of decor and
cuisine, the Tabáni Terasz aims to revoke
the Mediterranean atmosphere of the old
neighbourhood. Grilled fillet of catfish in
DINING, TABÁN