It used to be that we had something worthwhile to say about every second eating experience, but now we’re lucky if even one in four is worth writing about. And it’s even more uncommon to find a place we’re really crazy about, the way we used to be when we first started reviewing restaurants.
Drum roll: KIOSK is such a place. Even though it’s not new, it’s still in an experimental phase, which is made obvious by the fact that the lunch menu is only available on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. But what a menu!
We got ahead of ourselves here, so let’s back up and look at the neighborhood. Március 15 Square is a super venue, especially in the summer, but now that it’s been renovated, it’s pleasant in the winter too. KIOSK’s interior designers did a sensational job transforming the enormous interior of the main building. They took advantage of the height, and the interior is sufficiently industrial to make it clear that this place is meant for good times. Its retro furniture, ornate galleries and columns, and the sunshine flooding in through the huge windows create a fabulous atmosphere.
The menu is two courses for HUF 1350 or three courses for HUF 1750. This wouldn’t be expensive at less popular places in town, but here it’s bewilderingly cheap. A three-course meal right in the heart of the city center is the same price as a fast food meal with mayonnaise and ketchup.
Look what you get for this: vegetable soup with buttered dumplings.
Sensational. The dumplings are creamy soft. The vegetables are neither hard nor mushy; they’re crisp and fresh. The soup is marvelously clear and tastes homemade. It’s thick from all the dumplings, yet at the same time light because of the vegetables. And there’s a lot of it too.
Now on to the main course: herbed chicken leg rolls and pearl barley risotto. The description doesn’t seem so exciting, but once you feast your eyes on it, wild horses couldn’t hold you back.
The chicken is tender and by no means without character. It is rolled in bacon and intelligently seasoned, giving it a great flavor. The pearl barley is just as it should be: firm on the outside. You need a little zest to bite into it, but it’s not the kind of sticky blob you often get. Inside, it’s soft and light. A sensational dish.
After the first two courses, I was asked if I’d had my fill or if I still wanted dessert. I said I was really full but I still wanted to try the ginger and chocolate cake with lime sorbet. This is it:
Ten years ago this one would have been the best dessert in all of Budapest, but as part of a lunch menu, it’s still fantastic, outstanding.
To conclude, I had a brilliant lunch in nice surroundings with outstanding service and then paid a ridiculously small amount of money. I wonder how long the test run is going to last and how the prices will change later, but as long as the situation stays the way it is, you should give KIOSK a try because at the moment it offers one of the best values for the money in Budapest.
For now only from Wednesday to Friday, because on Monday and Tuesday there is no lunch menu and it doesn’t really have regular hours on these days.
KIOSK
Március 15. tér 4.
06-70-311-1969
Thu–Sat: 12:00–01:00
Sun-Wed: 12:00–24:00
Translation provided by Helpers Business and Immigration Services. Find us at www.helpers.hu
