Onyx

Onyx in Budapest, Hungary is one of only five restaurants there to earn a Michelin star. Located on Vörösmarty Square and adjacent to the famous Café Gerbeaud where the two head chefs work in tandem to serve the 55-seat restaurant. We chose the Hungarian Evolution Menu with pairing and dove right in with a serving of three little bites, of which the ham on the brioche was my favorite. Next, we were presented with a bread basket and three smears: house-churned butter, cream cheese and pumpkin, and a terrine. So many restaurants do this course differently now but my husband, who is a bread lover, likes the fact that the bread was there early and was plentiful. We then moved on to a tomato, apricot, quail starter that was a nice flavor combination.

 

The Evolution Menu began with a water buffalo tartar with garlic panna cotta and rice crisps. This was paired with a 2011 Istvan Szepsy Tokaji Szent Tamas 45. The garlic  panna cotta had a nice flavor but I actually liked the tartar with just the crisps. Our next course was a goose liver paired with a 2010 Barta Öreg Király – Late Harvest Furmint. The mousse and the pate of goose liver were lovely while the apple tart was an unnecessary addition to the plate since the candied apple shell on the pate added enough apple flavor for the dish. The foie was followed by a cauliflower, sunflower seed praline with smoked sterlet powder paired with a Gallay’s Bükk Blanc from 2013. I am not usually a cauliflower lover but this dish was really nice. Who knew powdered fish could taste so good?!

 

The next course was a mushroom veloute with crayfish and pork foam. The soup was paired with a 2015 Heimann Kadarka from Szekszard, Hungary. The white on top of the soup is the pork foam and it added quite a lot to this dish. I wish the mushrooms on the toast had been sauteed as their flavor didn’t match the richness of the rest of the dish. The main course for the evening was a beef brisket with kohlrabi, carrot and cress. This was paired with a 2007 Kúria Kövesföld by Malatinszky Estate. The kohlrabi was flavored with basil which is why it is green but it was a bit runny once the cress cup was cut into. The brisket was just a bit tough but had very nice flavor and the carrot puree was delicious. We then had a palate cleanser of vanilla panna cotta with raspberry sorbet to move us to the dessert.

 

Dessert was a 21st century Somlo sponge cake paired with a 2010 Kikelet Tokaji Aszu 6 puttonyos. This was more like a layered mousse with sponge crumble, but still yummy. Our last bite of the night was a great selection of petit fours from the pastry cart. We finished the evening with a Zwack Barack Palinka from 1941 — a very strong alcohol but still had flavors of apricot after all these years.

 

The evening’s service was very professional and worthy of the Michelin star but there was quite a bit of wait between courses and we left the restaurant so late that only the evening buses were running. We came into the restaurant a good 30 minutes before a couple next to us and they ordered the same menu; by the fourth course we were almost getting our food at the same time and we are not slow eaters. Despite that and the slight suggestions I listed above, the dinner was very good and well worth the price.

Onyx Restaurant, 1051 Budapest Vörösmarty tér 7-8. (Entrance from Harmincad street), Budapest, Hungary; Tel. +36-30-508-0622; Reservations necessary; Lunch: Thursday – Saturday: 12 noon – last arrival 1:30 pm. Dinner: Tuesday – Saturday 6:30 pm – last arrival 8:30 pm.