Budapest Restaurant and Palinka Bar
Budapest Restaurant is next to Elsternwick Park, 6 miles south of the city of Melbourne, and serves a range of Hungarian, European and modern fare. Head chef Viktor Sallay, a native of Budapest, has been cooking Hungarian, Russian, Italian and even Australian dishes for more than 20 years. He formerly ran Melbourne's most famous Hungarian kitchen at the Newmarket Hotel, and now brings his kitchen to the trendy, brown, window-filled storefront across from a small lawn and a few pubs. Here diners can enjoy a great goulash, as well as stuffed capsicum, eye fillet Budapest and the restaurant's famous schnitzels. From one of the small wooden tables tucked along the walls or from the tiny, but well-stocked bar, guests can try Budapest's range of palinkas--pure fruit brandies imported from Hungary, Croatia, Montenegro and France--as well as a wide selection of European beers and Hungarian wines. The restaurant also allows dinners to bring their own wine for a small corkage fee.
Budapest Restaurant and Palinka Bar
273 Glen Huntly Road
Elsternwick VIC 3185
Australia
(03) 9530 0849
budapest.com.au
Korona Csarda Hungarian Restaurant & Bar
In the heart of Melbourne's Hungarian community, on the eastern edge of Melbourne, Korona Csarda serves a range of authentic Hungarian dishes prepared with the culinary guidance of top Hungarian chefs. The restaurant invites diners to experience traditional Hungarian cuisine in its entirety with its all-you-can-eat buffet, and tries to keep them coming back with a menu that changes every week. The best of its soups and goulashes remain intact as the selection rotates, and new dishes often include Hungarian goulash soup, stuffed cabbage, chicken paprikas with nokedli (egg dumpling), a wide variety of schnitzels and tokany (chicken or pork ragout). The interior of Korona Csarda looks like a community center, with awkward triangular designs on the wall and sometimes colorful over-the-top decoration; nevertheless, it does feel as though it could be a local's hot spot right in the heart of Budapest --- some nights the restaurant even plays host to traditional music and dancing.
Korona Hungarian Restaurant & Bar
760 Boronia Road
Wantirna VIC 3152
Australia
(03) 9800 4544
koronacsarda.com
The Little Hungarian
Smashed in between Grand Prix Bicycle shop and Weissman's Carpets, Caulfield South's Little Hungarian restaurant, near the Bay just south of the city of Melbourne, is a tiny shop with hardly a table to sit at. But it features huge portions. Chef Elizabeth Csuka cooks like she's at home and the food can make diners feel like family--diners already might feel like they're sitting in her kitchen, underneath shelves lined with bottles of schnapps and bull's blood. The little shop, tucked under a red, white and green awning, is right off Caulfield's restaurant and shopping strip and serves traditional fare, from chicken soup with noodles and crumbed mushrooms to chicken paprika, goulash and chicken liver with onions and stuffed cabbage rolls. The restaurant is filled every night, so calling ahead is almost required if you want to sit; takeaway is also available, but only between 4 p.m. and 5:30 p.m., as of January 2010.
The Little Hungarian
708 Glen Huntly Road
Caulfield South VIC 3162
Australia
(03) 9523 6032
