The Epicurean Hungarian Restaurant

Tonight we took a trip up to the Bende in Glen Elyn and when we were checking out we saw a flyer by the register advertising this resturant. I'd seen a previous post here about it and was going to try it soon but since we were already close we decided to give it a go. It is indeed in a location that used to be a Leona's but there's been some remodeling done. They've had dark wood inlaid on the walls and they've decorated with various Hungarian items and pictures. Tonight the place was a bit empty although there was a party in the back dining room.

They have a full menu of Hungarian wines and other spirits. I started off by ordering a glass of Tokaji Furmit. Then our waitress brought out a basket of bread and small biscuits with cheese on the top of them that are called Pogacsa. We decided to also try their Langos ($1.50 for two pieces) which was also very good, with a nice garlicy flavor and very flaky and crisp. For our entress I had the Marhaporkolt (beef gulyas) while it was nice it was sort of missing the caraway taste I'd grown used to when ordering it from Paprikash and my husband had the Turos Csuza (egg noodles with farmer's cheese, sour cream and smoked bacon pieces). Each of the entrees there come with soup and I tried the Csirkeleves (chicken soup) which was good but... chicken soup. My husband had the gombaleves (mushroom soup) which I thought was far better of the two.

The interesting thing is that they also have a menu of sides. There is around 10 or so things to choose from on there and we decided to each get one. We ended up with Tarhonya (which is a dried egg noodle) which was very good, but a bit hard to describe. We also had the Puliska. I'm not sure that I can properly do the description justice but it's a very traditional thing that you'd see farmers taking into the fields with them for lunch. It's cooked corn meal which is then baked into a dish and cut into little slices. They offer it two ways, one with cheese, which we had, and one with sauteed onions. It was very good but I think that it may be an aquired taste. My husband says that it's somewhat considered to be peasant food. Both were rather large portions and I don't think anything on the side menu exceeded $3.50 in price.

They offer you a seperate menu for dessert and they had most of the usual suspects as far as dessert goes minus Dobos Torte. They offer three type of Palcsinta, Gesztenye Puree, and Somloi Galuska. We decided on the Somloi Galuska which is sponge cake with raisins (which I believe have been soaked in rum) chocolate sauce and fresh whipped cream. I wasn't sure if I'd really like this or not, the few times I've had it at Paprikash it was a bit overwhelmed with alcohol but this was really done very nicely with the right amount of alcohol vs cake.

After we finished our dinner we had a chance to talk with the owner Tamas and his wife. Both are very nice people. He told us that he had been involved in Paprikash for over 10 years and this was his new venture. He's a bit worried about filling the place up and being able to get the word out that he's open for business now. He told us that nearly everything is made in house. The only thing that isn't is their salami and sausages which they get from Bende. Everything else including the breads and desserts are done within the resturant. He's very proud of this and hopes that people will see this when they come in and eat.

Before we left he and his wife treated us to a glass of Csaszar Korte (pear brandy). I have to say that I really enjoyed this. It's a very pleasing taste but I've become such a lightweight in recent years that I felt a bit tipsy going out of the resturant.

Overall we had a very pleasant experience, the food was good and the service was very good as well. If you've been to Paprikash you will see a lot of similarities in the set up of the resturant. They do seem to have a more expansive menu than Paprikash does. You can still see some tale tell signs that it was a Leona's but I think that they're working on getting all of that taken care of. They expect to have their credit card machines in by the weekend, they were supposed to have them by now, but there was a delay of some sort.

We did bring home a small menu from there and I'll see if I can get it scanned and posted if anyone has interest in seeing it.

The Epicurean Hungarian Resturant
4431 W. Roosevelt Road
Hillside, IL 60162
708-449-1000
http://www.thehungarianrestaurant.com

Note: The webpage only has contact information as of right now.

Hi Erzsi,

My wife and I have been to Epicurean a few times, and love it. We hit Bende about once a week - we live nearby.

Comparing Epicurean to Paprikash, for me, is a no-brainer. Paprikash had lousy parking, could be smoky (nonsmoker here), and loud. I agree with another poster who mentioned the quality has gone down. A new Paprikash is opening in Arlington Heights, maybe in March. I'm guessing things will improve with the new place. However, as a resident of Glen Ellyn, Hillside is much closer.

You might enjoy browsing a website I have, where I keep list of Hungarian things, like churches, restaurants, groups and grocery stores.

http://www.hungarianbookstore.com/Groceries.htm

http://www.hungarianbookstore.com/restaurants.htm

Hungarian Women's Club of the Western Suburbs
http://www.hungarianbookstore.com/hungarianwomensclubofwesternsuburbs.htm

Tony

Hi Tony,

Thanks for posting those links I'll definately take a look through them. I agree that the parking at Paprikash can be a problem. Even with the lot across the street on busy nights it can be hard to get a space in there. Being as it was the only Hungarian resturant in town we'd stop in off and on. My last couple of visits weren't terribly enjoyable. We had what I'd label as very rushed service, it seemed the prices on the menu increased and the food wasn't really what I'd gotten used to in my past visits. I will say that they'd always been very accomidating to us if we had a large party or group arranging a nice space for us to use.

For me too the Epicurean Hungarian Resturant is closer, and the Bende on Roosevelt is closer for me as well, I also felt that the service I had there was back on par with what I'd had in the past at Paprikash. The portions were generous and there was plenty to take home the next day. Plus the side menu is a very nice addition. It allows people to sample different things in smaller portions at reasonable prices. I think that we plan to have dinner there on Valentine's Day this year.

Tamas (at Epicurean) has been quite generous with us each time, so it is hard to compare prices, etc. I think as he gets going, puts a real sign up, and gets some advertising going, he'll see business.

We've never had more than six at Paprikash. My wife is intending to go this month with about a dozen other Hungarian women to Epicurean, where space is abound.

Tony

Priamel wrote:Tamas (at Epicurean) has been quite generous with us each time, so it is hard to compare prices, etc. I think as he gets going, puts a real sign up, and gets some advertising going, he'll see business.

We've never had more than six at Paprikash. My wife is intending to go this month with about a dozen other Hungarian women to Epicurean, where space is abound.

Tony

I do agree that better sineage will help him out immensely. We drove past on our first try missing the sign. I think that your wife will have a good go there for a large group. When we dined there the Bende family was having a birthday party for the eldest family member (I believe they said he was 91) they were using the room to the back and it seemed to have plenty of space for their party and it was easily 20+ people.

Priamel wrote:You might enjoy browsing a website I have, where I keep list of Hungarian things, like churches, restaurants, groups and grocery stores.

I looked at your book selection and I recommend one book that I didn't see. Culinaria Hungary. I believe Bende occassionally stocks it, although their website shows it as out of stock. It's a bit expensive ($75 hardcover on Amazon) but it absolutely the most informative book on Hungarian cuisine I have come across and easy to follow. Plus great pictures.
I picked it up while living in Budapest for $20, upon the recommendation of some locals (there's a Hungarian edition of it too). It has everything you need to know about the basic techniques and ingredients of the traditional Hungarian kitchen. I cannot recommend it enough.

At the Epicurean Hungarian last night, we had some excellent crispy garlic bread (lángos) and körözött, a bunch of little balls made of Feta, Kosher butter and a Hungarian farmer cheese – all very good.

After several fine, fresh salads of red cabbage and cucumber, the Wife had the filet mignon with a sauce of paprika-splashed sweet peppers and little slivers of calves' livers. The beef was a good piece of meat. The flag, a cute touch.



I had the lamb shank with tarhonya, or “egg barley,” which is a type of pasta that looks a little like barley and seems like it might have been pan-fried. The lamb was prepared according to a Transylvanian recipe, and aside from the garlic, I couldn't identify the spices but I liked the flavor; there was a lot of meat on this shank, and it had a pleasant chewiness.



This is a very warm and welcoming place, and you can see pix and a full menu here.

http://www.thehungarianrestaurant.com/index.php

If you check the gallery at the above site, you will see that the interior hunting lodge type décor is not suggested by the bland exterior of this place.

Hammond

David, did you try any of their soups?

Cogito wrote:David, did you try any of their soups?

Yes, I had the sour cherry (and found a good wine to pair: http://lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?p=149606#149606) and The Wife had the fish soup, which she also liked very well.

They had a lot of soups on offer last night; in addition to the two we had, there were mushroom, chicken, and one or two others.

Better than Paprikash is not hard. But better than Klas and Podhalanka? I think Epicurean may be right there after our excellent meal tonight, and will return to confirm this leaning. The food reminded me the most of Healthy Food Lithuanian, only with better bacon grease to fry everything in, and a more upscale ambience - the whole restaurant has the lodge-y vibe of the front room at Klas, but with really nice linens and place settings and more engaging servers. Like others upthread, I was warmly greeted by the owners and, since we were the only table in the place at 8 PM on a Sunday night (they're open until 11 PM, a rarity in that area), they sent us out a complimentary plate of their garlic bread, which is actually a yeast-based fried dough brushed with some smashed garlic gloves, and then invited us to linger over some complimentary brandy and stories while they worked on closing the place down.

Everything we tasted was earthy, coarse, rich, and homey in the best way, from the diced vegetables in the top-notch soups (goulash and mushroom) to the pan sear of the spaetzle-like barley pasta and oven roasted lamb shank, which simply melted on the tongue. Piles of red peppers and onions, cooked down in rendered bacon fat, adorned everything, and the bacon itself was exceptional - tiny ribbons on my friend's fresh noodles with farmer's cheese and sour cream went a very, very long way, with a remarkable buttery, smokey, salty aftertaste that lingered much longer than your standard cut. Between Priscilla's down the street and Epicurean, it's hard to find friendlier hosts or heartier fare. Thank you, LTH, for yet another most worthy find!