What do you get when a Hungarian marries a Portuguese and they open a restaurant? Delicious food and a Michelin *! That’s the origin of Essencia Restaurant in Budapest, Hungary.
Located on a quiet street in Budapest, Essencia offers three tasting menus, one Portuguese, one Hungarian, and one that’s named May 17, the day their daughter was born and is a blend of the two other menus. I’ve been to Portugal and loved the food but I’m in Hungary so I selected the Hungarian tasting menu called ‘Here at Home’ while Bob chose ‘Origens’ the Portuguese menu.
Our cute and delicious Amuse Bouche
Bob’s courses
So….. I liked all of my courses, but the one I wish I could eat again and again and again is the Hungarian Vegetable Porridge. It was an amazing vegetable dish topped with trout roe. If I wouldn’t have been too embarrassed, I would’ve liked the bowl.
The rest of my courses
They offer a non-alcoholic pairing made from fresh juices. While the drinks weren’t fancy, they tasting wonderful and we enjoyed them. We also enjoyed a glass of wine with our ‘main’ protein. Bob chose a Portuguese wine while I kept with my Hungarian theme with a local white wine.
And then there’s final departing treats! As soon as I saw the Portuguese Pastel de nata, I was excited. It is a delicious dessert that I loved when I was in Portugal. I was equally relieved that they gave one to each of us, not just Bob. Otherwise, there might have been a tug o’ war over that treat!
The menu changes regularly and is already different today than it was the night we ate there in April.