Enter the Gay Hussar’s wood-panelled downstairs room and you feel teleported back to another time-zone. The place is jam-packed with political cartoons, both old and contemporary, many apparently sketched in situ. Service is old-school, but friendly and solicitous. Together with retro dishes, starched tablecloths and a soundtrack of wistful Hungarian violin music, it creates the feeling that all is well in a more certain world. We’ve worried before about the authenticity of the menu, but our Hungarian companion gave it a general thumbs-up. Lovers of scarily rich food should sample the velvety cold wild cherry soup with sour cream, or the crunchy breaded fried mushrooms with tartare sauce (quite Hungarian, apparently). Chicken pancakes were fine but scored low on the authenticity index, whereas serbian chicken in a hearty paprika and tomato sauce (lecso) with tarhonya (an own-made pasta resembling barley grains) set things right again. From the extensive Hungarian wine list, our fruity golden Bátaapáti Tramini was a real find. To finish, we were exhorted to indulge in that most Hungarian of gateaux, decadent chocolatey dobos torta, or poppy-seed strudel with ice-cream. How to refuse?

Time Out Eating & Drinking Guide 2008