For the past 14 years, Ferenc Kovács has been the master chef in two Danubius hotels in Budapest’s Margaret Island: the Thermal and the Grand. On Margaret Island now for 28 years, he currently has 50 chefs and 5 pastry-cooks working for him.
The Grand Hotel is Margaret Island’s treasure, built when Budapest was born from the unification of the three towns of Buda, Óbuda and Pest in 1873. As one of Europe’s top health spa hotels, the modern Danubius Thermal right next door attracts a different, though equally demanding, clientele, with different types of catering services and cuisine at their disposal.
What they do have in common is chef Kovács’s inspired approach and his ambition to always seek out new developments. It is his principle that, no matter what is prepared, the flavours of the ingredients must be preserved and distinctly experienced in the finished dish. Guests will not need to add extra flavours, because the dishes will be perfect the way they are served. Tarragon will be clearly present in Bernese sauce, and the green pepper sauce will retain its characteristic flavour without being obtrusive.
Though dedicated to a modern and healthy cuisine, the chef is also a master of authentic Hungarian dishes. Two styles of cooking are united in his goulash soup or his rump steak with vadas sauce. The menu also includes sausages made from the mangalica pig, indigenous to Hungary.
The Grand Hotel terrace, which is a centre for nouvelle cuisine from springtime till autumn, utilises the unique locale of Margaret Island, a wonderful green space in the middle of the bustling capital city. A wide variety of cured meat and pickled fish are prepared here on the grill: salmon steak, pike-perch fillet, shell-fish, pullet steak, turkey steak, beef steak, T-bone steak and barbecued pork. (The most popular dish on the menu is lamb with rosemary.)
The side-dishes reflect the season. There is a choice of 15 fresh seasonal salads on the salad bar which can be combined with 5-6 types of dressing and a variety of nuts and seeds.
Chef Kovács recommends a light starter to Danubius Magazine readers: spring asparagus salad with fresh garden herbs. For main course, the chef’s choice is T-bone steak with grilled vegetables and a green pepper sauce. It is a true piece of art, and to finish off the meal, a strawberry dessert with floating islands cream is the perfect ending.
Visit Margaret Island to find out whether all these dishes really taste as wonderful as they look—you won’t be disappointed!
