Marquis de Salade

Hey guys,

Ok, back in Budapest.  My mother and I went to a restaurant called Marquis de Salade . . . yes, that's the actual name.  And there's no indication that anyone there actually got the joke ;)

Upstairs, the restaurant is a very nice, simple and elegant front:

Incidentally, the place was empty.  This was because Mom and I went to dinner at like 6pm, i.e. a good 3 hours before people in Budapest go out for dinner.  Seriously, people get started so late in this city!  Not just in this city, apparently on this entire continent!  Bizarre

But the coolest part of this restaurant was the basement.  It has to be some kind of old catacombs or something like that.  The pictures don't really do it justice:

(by the way, this last pic is of the big table--man this would be an awesome place to have a party!)

So yes, Mom and I had a very delicious meal.  By the way, our waiter was incredibly polite and very helpful.  I dunno, that's pretty rare in Hungarian restaurants.  I'm not offended, I think it's just a cultural thing

Marquis de Salade actually specializes in Azerbaijani food, which is really, really cool.  I regret not coming with more people because there were sooo many things I wanted to try.  They really like pairing strong meats like lamb with fruits and spices, which I can totally get behind

But, since there were only the two of us, we ended up getting the salad sampler plate (it is in their name).  Not only a good sample, but a really nice break after all the Hungarian and Czech food that is, while delicious, not exactly light dining

The salads were, clockwise from the top:

• Hummus, which was delightfully light--heavy on the lemon juice, but somehow not overly sour
• Cucumber and tomato salad with a pomegranate dressing
• Russian salad with apples, chicken and a mayo-based dressing.  Managed to be tasty and rich without being too heavy
• Baba ganouj, some of the best I've ever had--managed to be really light while still maintaining that earthy flavor
• Cucumber, yogurt and mint salad.  Simple and tasty
• Carrot salad with a slightly sweet, slightly sour, slightly spicy dressing.  Incredibly inadequate description, I apologize

Anyways, that's all I have for now!  A++, would dine again for sure.  Later,

Noah out