Cool fusion

A little gem of a restaurant opened a few weeks ago in District XIII. Café Paradiso swears by international fusion cooking, and comes up with some fairly wild combinations.

On offer are risottos, noodle dishes, fish, meat, wok specialities and salads: nothing unusual you might think in a metropolis which has an Italian, Chinese, French or Hungarian restaurant on every street corner. However, at Café Paradiso it all depends on the right fusion and preparation of the food: traditional desserts are given a quirky note, and Mediterranean dishes are cooked Chinese-style in the wok. The food also looks good. The mahi-mahi fried in butter with lemon rice comes served as tomato covered rice cube. The fish and the rice are perfectly seasoned and have a slightly lemony aftertaste. The giant chicken breast with asparagus salad is interesting as the chicken has been so finely tenderised, that you can roll the asparagus salad up in it. The dessert menu also has some surprises in store: the tiramisu risotto, for example is a mixture of tiramisu and traditional rice pudding. The Hungarian madártej speciality, originally a dessert consisting of vanilla sauce and beaten egg white, has also been given an interesting twist. It is served here with the name of Illy Black Magic. The sauce is much creamier and tastes of coffee rather than vanilla and the beaten egg white has a better consistency. The prize, however, goes to the desert named Chef Chocolate, a fresh brownie which oozes chocolate and leaves you wanting more.

Café Paradiso
District XIII, Victor Hugo utca 35
Open on weekdays from 11am to midnight, on Saturdays from 5pm to midnight, closed on Sundays
Tel.: 349-5351

Ágnes Lukács
www.budapesttimes.hu - Monday, June 25, 2007