Country Style Hungarian Restaurant – 450 Bloor St W, Toronto, ON M5S 1Y5
Country: Hungary
Was cash only when we visited
Must-try Dish: Pork Paprikash
Dinner Guest: Young Matt

Hungarian food is hearty, and exactly what you want when both hungry, and looking for comfort food. Upon sitting down, we took in the atmosphere – it was busy, and the decor reminded us exactly of what someone would expect a Hunagrian restaurant to look like, without being tacky. There was some Hunagrian wine on offer, served only by the glass, half liter and full liter, so we opted for a half liter to start and got to exploring the menu options. 

This restaurant is family owned, and has been in operation for roughly forty years. The woman who served us is the daughter of the people who started it, and she made us feel at home with her explanations and recommendations. 

Goulash is typical to Hungarian cuisine, so we had something along those lines on our radar, and our server suggested that we order the Pork Paprikash, as an alternative to the soup because it’s both delicious and easier to share. Let get something straight here, it was amazing. There was a sauce that relied heavily on paprika to season it, on top of small hunarian style dumplings. These dumplings are different from the Chinese, or the Polish sort, but instead are more similar to an Italian gnocchi nood, but with its own flair. There were tender pieces of pork throughout the sauce that gave the dish an extra heaty layer. This is a must have. 

The Wooden Platter was the other part of our order, and it certainly delivered. This is a massive wooden board decked out with two types of schnitzel, sausage, cabbage rolls, dumplings, fried potatoes and beets. There was also some coleslaw to add to the chaos. 

This platter was a complex thing of beauty. The wiener schnitzel, which is the traditional schnitzel, was brown in colour and has a rich flavour. It was massive, so there was a lot to go around. THe Parisian schnitzel was also tasty, but less so. It was more blond in colour and had a softer, bland taste. 

Despite the schnitzel pair being the game changers if the platter, the cabbage rolls were awesome and there were no complaints about the sausage,. 

Even though we were three diners, there was a struggle to finish everything, not because of taste, but rather because of volume. Needless to say, there was no room for desert, and Mandrea Bike sat back and enjoyed the rest of the wine. 

Hungary doesn’t have the reputation of having world-class wine, but you could be surprised at the taste and quality available when in the country itself. There are entire wine regions, and the streets of Budapest are filled with Hungarian wines to sample and enjoy. It seems like they like to keep the good stuff for themselves, and we don’t blame them! 

Eat with you soon, 

Mandrea Bike
(Mat & Andrea)