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Since
the death, through natural causes, of my ageing
horseless carriage getting out of town has proved
difficult. However, the other night, I was talking
to that nice man from American rent-a-car when he
offered to let me practice my drinking and driving
by lending me one of his brand new Fiat Bravas. |
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I have been waiting for the opportunity
to visit Villa Medici (8200 Veszprém,
Kittenberger u. 1 Tel (88) 321 273) which has been
credited with being one of the top restaurants in
Hungary. I found the Villa Medici at the bottom of
a gorge next door to the zoo. The restaurant lurks
in a modern, purpose built building that is not unattractive
although I was hoping for a prestigious old villa.
This pink single story building is surrounded by a
good well maintained garden and the view is limited,
by the canyon walls, to the weeping willows of the
zoo's car park and the bridge which flies over the
gorge.
I elected to sit outside, where it was remarkably
peaceful, and demanded an emergency beer, before consulting
the menu. A thrush hopped about the well mowed lawn
and when I asked what he recommended he simply dug
his beak into the ground and came up grinning with
a worm wriggling in his mouth. Not for me I decided
and went back to the menu. |
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| There are two, four course set meals
at Ft.2,900 and one, five course at Ft.3,700. There
was also a well chosen menu with ten starters and
thirteen main courses. I nearly opted for a set menu
but ended up with smoked duck breast and grilled calves
liver. The duck was presented in a circular fan of
thin slices with dressed lettuce in the middle and
red peppercorns sprinkled across the large plate.
Good presentation but I always find that these very
thin slices make it difficult to really taste what
one is eating. In contrast the veal liver, which I
wanted pink, came in big chunks and was cooked through
(a point). It was accompanied by mashed apple and
potato. I enjoyed this dish, as I always enjoy good
calves liver, it was simple but well presented. I
admired the chef for putting such a simple dish on
the menu, and generally speaking, the dishes appeared
to be straight forward. They need to be when the chef
does genuinely cook dishes to order. I assume this,
not just from the food, but by the comment, on the
menu, about all dishes being made to order and thus
patience was required. I nearly had the pheasant breast
with goose liver just to see if I could finally get
non pre-cooked pheasant in Hungary. |
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The wine list was also well presented
with a selection of basic wines at Ft.1,200 and an
impressive list of better Hungarian wines with descriptions,
in Hungarian only. The prices were realistic and in
the ft.1,600 to Ft.1,800 range. I relaxed on the terrace
and enjoyed a bottle of Pinot Griss and a bottle of
Merlot from the cheaper list.
The final reckoning was for Ft.4,500 and I had been
economical with the food, and maybe not so with the
wine! However I certainly would agree that Villa Medici
is a good restaurant and after this experience in
my top ten. |
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| I returned to a testy looking Brava
(oh! for my old car he grew up when drinking and driving
was de rigeur) and decided to see if I could find
a spot for an afternoon nap. To Brava's relieve, not
far away, I found the Vidám Pallér pension
(Veszprém. Miklos u. 10. Tel: (88) 328 437),
though from the outside the old building was not impressive,
however I decided to check the rooms and suddenly
I found a few of the most pleasant rooms I have come
across in this country. The first room was an acceptable
double room, but the second was a large room with
a large balcony which looked up at the castle. There
were three similar rooms which cost from Ft.5,500
to Ft.6,500 per night. To Bravas relief I took the
room and went into meditating mode. |
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I have been to Veszprém before
and always found nothing to encourage me to stay and
so that evening I wandered around the town centre
in desperate search for a bar worth drinking in. Brava's
hopes of an early night were dashed when I found the
Grand Canyon Western Pub (Kossuth u. 6) where I was
able to lean against a good bar and reflect on the
times drinking and driving was normal.
C YA |
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Note:
There was a funny sequel to this article: it was a
furious letter to the Editor about responsible reporting.
The editorial staff published it with glee and happily
told me it was my entire fault. |
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| Fine Dining in:
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