Tag Archives: 2 stars

11/20/18 – Budapest – Onyx

Posted in Budapest, Hungary by

Dinner at Onyx is a perfect 2 michelin star experience. Service was very welcoming and friendly despite the fairly formal space and all dishes quite good. The bread basket is perhaps the best one I’ve had and its truly a shame that I couldn’t put more of a dent in it. Definitely a do not miss when in Budapest.



water buffalo tartare, shallot, mushroom

goose liver, coffee, almond

catfish, bacon, fish soup

oxtail consomme

venison “montage,” duck ravioli, celeriac, chervil


turo rudi, forest fruits

Brussels – 10/21/6 – Bon Bon

Posted in Belgium, Brussels by

As I dine out a fair amount, sometimes the meals tend to run together.  And when it takes me months to complete a blog post, it is not unheard of that I can’t remember anything about it.  Chef Christophe Hardiquest’s Bon Bon was a truly memorable experience.  I had what I thought was the best seat in the house at the chef’s counter which was so close that my bread is literally on top of a ticket in one of my photos.  Dinner started with a long serious of snacks.  They aren’t on my typed menu and I can’t remember all of the ingredients of each, but many are at least partially self explanatory and all were delicious.  There were many great touches in dinnerware such as the egg cup and the multitude of amazing knife handles.  Its funny that I will probably remember those knives forever.  I have a weakness for a cheese cart of any sort, let alone one with this many selections, but a macaroon cart?  Brilliant.  Highly recommend.



Saint-Jacques de Dieppe – Finement tranchees, Chantilly d’echalote, Gaspacho d’huitres

Moules parquees 2016 – A la marollienne

Raviole – A la truffe blanche d’Alba

Coeur de cabillaud – Broccoli, emulsion chaude aux huitres

Caille farcie – Racine de persil, Jus de caille, genevrier-gin

Incredible knife handles.  Each one in the block was different.

Assortiment de fromages


Il n’y a pas d’omelette sans casser des oeufs

Truffe – Mousse de lait cru a la truffe blanche, Opaline de chocolat, Poire pochee


Macaroon cart!

Berlin – 5/9/15 – Tim Raue and NENI

Posted in Berlin, Germany by

Tim Raue
Some friends had been to Berlin a few weeks before me and Tim Raue was their favorite dinner of the trip.  While I was visiting for a much shorter period of time and could only fit in 2 of Berlin’s 2* restaurants, I was certainly looking forward to this one and it exceeded my expectations.  I love encountering things I haven’t seen in other restaurants, such as the very cool tables with inlaid linen tablecloths – the perfect way to make a white table cloth completely modern.  Beautiful plates and plating and an overall absolutely delicious dinner.  I could go into much more detail, but suffice it to say this will be my first stop on any future trips.

Unfortunately I did not write down descriptions of all of the initial courses.

Green asparagus
violet | coriander
boiled green asparagus, butter & green thai chili, coriander coconut cream, mango

Pikeperch
kamebishi soy 10y | leek & ginger
steamed pikeperch, butter, spring leek & young pickled finer, stock of 10 year aged kamebishi soy sauce


Langoustine
wasabi | caantonese style
stock made from fish sauce, mango & carrot, langoustine turned over in starch flour and deep fried in wok, marinated with wasabi mayonnaise & deep fried green rice

Pork chin
papaya | nuac mam
smoked pork chin, jus from smoked paprika, nuoc mam jelly, carrot raw & cream, pickled papaya, sour tomato, trevisano salad, basil

Manny’s beef
beetroot | morel
manny’s dry aged beef shoulder, morel stock, braised beetroot, as jelly & meringue with morel mash, pearl onion pickled in port vinegar, green thai pepper

Strawberries
pondicherry pepper | basil
raw gariguettes strawberries, woodruff jelly & woodruff meringue, rhubarb-strawberry stock, ice-cream, pondicherry pepper oil


  
And my favorite wine of the evening

 
NENI
I’ve switched the order of lunch and dinner here because I just couldn’t start this post looking at this meal. Its rare that I have a meal that I would describe as horrid and leave hungry. NEHI is located on the top floor of the Hotel Bikini and was close to my hotel (and appeared on a recent Eater heatmap) so I decided to check it out for lunch. When I got on the elevator and it was full of tourists, I should have been tipped off that this would not be good. Ufortunately the only thing NEHI has going for itself is the gorgeous view. For the only time on this trip I felt like I was being ignored by waitstaff as I was alone. I received most of my food before I had even received my drink which is an immediate indicator that nothing is prepared to order. The salads were so horribly overdressed that they were literally swimming in liquid and one of my dishes was entirely forgotten but appeared on my bill. I left here starving, and went back to my hotel where I had some absolutely amazing hummus.
   
  
    

Berlin – 5/8/15 – Reinstoff

Posted in Berlin, Germany by

I never thought I would publish this post after almost losing 2 months worth of photos on my iPhone.  An expensive lesson learned….back up frequently.  Actually this dinner almost didn’t happen due to a delayed flight and crazy traffic. Then when I finally arrived at Reinstoff horribly late, I discovered that the restaurant had cancelled my reservation after supposedly not being able to reach me to confirm.  By some miracle there was an empty table in this relatively small dining room on a friday night. While the overall vibe was quite casual and friendly (and I felt a bit overdressed) service was impeccable.  So glad that I did not miss out on this one!  

Onion tartlet
Brown trout jerky
Chioggia beet and Mochi
Venison sausage



Black morel in stock, mushroom noodle and fermented shallots

Artichokes, hop sprouts and baby artichokes  in beer

Fried veal sweetbreads, peas, young lettuce, apple and liquorice
 Quail – leg, mirepoix and gravy

Quail – breast, vegetables in red wine and Mangalitza pork ham

Refresher – Medlar sorbet, fir shoots and orange wine
 Goats cheese from fresh to mature with roasted celeriac and pickled strawberries

Asparagus and mocca caramel

Tiramisu, Andraschko coffee and ice cream