It’s great that we have Halkakas, which is based on Hungarian fish, but these are salt-water fish:
TheBigFish is right next to Oktogon, run by the same people that also operate the fish market in Budaörs. This guarantees the quality of the ingredients and just like a good steak, good fish is 95% about the ingredients. The remaining 5% depends on the chef: it’s good if he doesn’t spoil what he receives ready-made.
Then Dzsidzsi Csekey wrote about the place and reported on all sorts of disasters like inadequate offerings and tasteless fish, so I lost interest in experimenting for some time. I was hoping that most of the problems could be overcome and in a few weeks the situation would change for the better, so we waited until this Saturday to try TheBigFish.
If you are already bored by my article: the restaurant is still struggling with teething troubles and isn’t particularly cheap either, but there’s nothing like it in Budapest.
The location is great, the design is good, the chairs are tall enough, the counter is full of fresh fish, and it’s great that we can watch from an alcove as our lunch is prepared. It’s also great that the sun dumps its photons through the enormous windows. There is light.
However, the ordering process is not correct. I don’t know how it could be improved, but it’s not right as it is: you go up to the counter and say what you want. The only staff member selects a fillet or a full fish, depending on what you asked for, and walks back to you. She asks you if it’s good. You say it is. Then she measures it. Next, she does the same with the next course. With your partner’s fish. With the fish of all the guests at your table. It takes about 5-6 minutes per person. And people are waiting in the queue. For you. More and more people. Half an hour after opening, when you are already eating at your table because you came first, you look around and see that the line is at least half an hour long. And you wouldn’t dream of having another fish, although you might want to. You’d starve to death rather than have to wait in the line again.
Luckily, you can get a drink from the waiters, but it’s hard to catch one because on this Saturday the place was so full that by the afternoon there was not a single vacant seat. TheBigFish is a huge success.
This is obviously not due to the ordering process, but the meals, which are really fantastic. We didn’t order anything special, just roast squid, salmon steak, trout, sea pikeperch and yoghurt salad. And we weren’t fully satisfied either because the pikeperch, the trout and the sides were cold. When I complained, they warmed it up immediately and when they returned it, it wasn’t any drier (obviously they spat into it). And indeed, it was warm.
So, although they are still working on overcoming problems after opening, we have arrived at the gist of it: they didn’t spoil it. Indeed, they even emphasized what’s good in these fish. I’ve seen the same fresh, high-quality fish in such a great variety within only a 13-meter zone of the sea. It’s taken for granted at TheBigFish that everything has a fresh, clear flavor. And it’s due to the good concept, the good technique and considerable experience that the outcome is a well prepared, juicy food with moderate but proper seasoning. I adored the squid. You’ve got to taste the sea pikeperch, the seasoned olive goes very well with the fish, and although the fried potatoes were a disappointment, the potato salad with mayonnaise and the French potato side matched the fish very well. The house wine is not very nice, but it makes you just as drunk and likely to grin as the similarly bad, but after all very cheerful Croatian wines.
We paid a total of HUF 12,290 for three. This is not cheap. But we were really full. In a way that you can rarely be at home: without any feeling of being full but full of good fish. We had some wine too, because after all this is healthier than a knuckle with juicy meat (which is also great).
Viewed from a different perspective: a restaurant of the same quality in Budapest is no cheaper than TheBigFish, and if you order the same dishes at a place that is spitting distance from the sea, you wouldn’t pay less. So, the place isn’t overly expensive; it’s a fair price and basically without any competitor in Budapest. Therefore, it’s great news for everyone that it has opened.
Go there and eat a lot of fish because fish are good.
TheBigFish
Budapest, Andrássy út 44.
06-30-6942855
12:00-22:00
Translation provided by Helpers Business and Immigration Services. Find us at www.helpers.hu
