The Hungarian Experience

To celebrate our friend Chris' birthday, Chris and his wife, Suzanna, invited us to their favorite traditional Hungarian restaurant in Hillside, IL. It was my first Hungarian experience and an unforgettable one!

Chris is American-born, but he is fluent in Hungarian. It was impressive to see him communicating with the servers and ordering for the table. We ordered many traditional dishes, and they are delicious! My favorites are garlic bread (Lángos), chicken or veal paprikas, garlic sausages and fried frog legs. There are a couple dishes on the menu that I just have to try -- calf's liver and their traditional fish soup! These two dishes are very different from anything I've tasted. The calf's liver is very tender and sauteed with onions. The fish soup is salty and sour, which I really enjoyed. Another dish that made an impression on me was the Zucchini. It was shredded in a creamy dill sause.

Chris also brought a lot of champagne, wine, palinka (traditional Hungarian fruit brandy), as well as Absinthe. It was my first time trying Absinthe, and Suzanna captured a great picture after I took the shot.

It was such a fun night! Jeff was our designated driver, so he was really holding his liquor :)