House of Meat

Dinner at Carne de Hall-
Who would think that a restaurant loosely translated as "House of Meat" would be as lovely and refined as this one?

Carne de Hall is located about two blocks from our hotel. I chose this place based solely on a single glowing reference on Chowhound.com. It was well worth the risk.

We began with two glasses of white, both Hungarian. Wine is ordered by 10 cl (3 oz). These are smaller pours, letting us try more than one wine.
Gellavllla Glaszizling 2004/5, Balatonszolos (400-ft)
Nyakas Budai Cuvee 2004, Etyek-Buda (400-ft)

For my appetizer, I was already craving something light after all the heavy food we've had. They had four salads on the menu, but all had some sort of meat or fish with them. I asked if it was possible to get just a plain salad. " Of course" was the answer. What came to the table was a huge bowl of undressed baby lettuce accompanied by some bottles of olive oil and vinegar. I asked if I could have it dressed with a mustard vinaigrette listed on one of the salads on the menu and it came back perfect. It was exactly what I wanted. Mom ordered a cream of pumpkin soup which was also very good.

Red wines with main courses:
Vylyan Portugieser 2004-Villany-400 ft-This was decent, but not as good as the
Takler Trio 2003-Szeksard 700 ft- an excellent blend of3 wines.
Mom also ordered the Konyai Cab Sauv 2004/5 Balatonlelle- 600 ft-tasty and I ordered a glass of the Trio (best wine of the night).

For my entree, I selected the duck breast with mashed pumpkin and homemade noodles (which were more like dumplings cooked on a griddle. They were finger shaped and were so good). Everything on the plate was tasty and the duck perfectly cooked.
Mom had Filet medalions with grilled goat cheese polenta cakes and a shallot sauce. The polenta has the most pronounced corn flavor I've ever tasted. Again, everything is wonderful.
Too full for desserts, though they sound great.

13380 ft with tip included on the check (approx $72) makes this the most expensive meal yet. Still, a bargain compared with LA prices. Excellent service too.

Pedometer reading for day 2-5 miles