Essência Restaurant - Tiago & Éva — Restaurant in Budapest

We have been to Essencia, for both lunch and dinner in the past. This time, something was very amiss. Three people: we ordered three Hungarian rose sparkling to start. We asked to keep the wine list, so we can "play with the wines". A waiter comes over and tells us we cannot have it. They only have three lists in the whole restaurant. Really, and this is a Michelin Star establishment. Of the four appetizers, two were outstanding, the sea bream and steak tartar. One was fair, the tomato soup. The watermelon and ham was awful. The grilled watermelon, overpowered the very, very tiny three pieces of ham on the fruit. Then the watermelon a jus, just killed it all. This is a great example of a dish trying to hard, and really missing the mark.

The main dishes were the same predicament as the appetizers. Two people ordered the octopus with rice. It was nice, but did not in the least "wow" anyone of us. The veal cheek, breaded and fried should never have been served. Whoever in the kitchen was doing the butchering should know better. The piece of veal cheek was pure fat. No meat, just fried fat, and vile. How does this happen when one person is butchering and a separate person has the piece of meat to panier. Is there not any quality control or observance.

We did not send it back, as I know restaurants are still struggling. We let the waitress know, the food was not what is was in our past visits. Again, more than one dish was really off. We will not go back for some time and spend 60,000 HUF on mediocrity. The service too was a bit off. Lastly, I would strongly suggest to print more wine lists. If we had kept the list, and had the pleasure of discussing some of the wines, we would have...

Positives: amazing service and attention no "pressure" for being in fine dining restaurant, went there fully casual great atmosphere nice presentation of foods bonus pre-meal and dessert

Negatives: taste was not up to expectations presentation of their signature dish could have been better

Ordered the pulpo (as I believe it is their signature dish with what they acquired the Michelin-star) and it was average compared to other restaurants I ate pulpo at; those were not Michelin-star.

Also, the presentation was not as nice as on their website and in Michelin guide (check the website as I couldn't post a photo here).

Summary:

If you want to 1 - experience the best Michelin-star restaurant in Budapest or 2 - have a pulpo you never forget, Essencia would not be my first choice. Else, of course they are great that's why I've given 4/5 stars. It's just not 5/5 for me personally.

Will amybe give it another try some time in the future and then revisit the review.

Other restaurants near by:

My (probably) favourite restaurant in Budapest - Zeya - is just few steps away. Unfortunately, they are closed now for a longer time (3-4 monts). I have chosen multiple times Zeya (non Michelin-star) over Essencia as the taste is just as good if not better with also better prices.

Also, thete is Hoppá Bistro near which is not bad either. It can be problematic to reserve a table. They pretend to be very high-end and fine dining but they are rather on the upscale side. Still, they are not bad value...

My husband and I came here to celebrate our honeymoon. We have enjoyed fine dining before, but this was our first Michelin star experience. We chose the 7 course degustation menu with local wine pairing and found the experience impeccable.

It makes sense to me that a restaurant built around love (the fusion of their cultures, the honoring of their daughter in the menu) would be so loving in all it does. We were touched by the extras provided compliments of the chef and most profoundly by the care shown throughout: care for the food and its ingredients, care for us and our needs, and care for the personal elements. Daniel and Kitty (waiter and sommelier) especially showed such professionalism and warmth. They also took a Polaroid snapshot of us to commemorate our time and gave it to us with a sweet card to celebrate our marriage!

A note on the food: I’ve never cried over how good food tasted before, but last night I did. Everything was so beautiful and tasted delicious: it transcends individual flavor profiles like sweet and salty; although, that was there too and with such verve in conjunction with the wines. For example, the tomato essence tastes like memory. For me in particular, it had all the aromas and sensations of an October morning we spent harvesting the last of the tomatoes and clearing away the vines. Everything from texture to presentation and capturing the essence of each food in its moment was handled exquisitely. What a wonder and to have this sort of experience!! We...