N28 Wine and Kitchen

N28, a casually elegant restaurant just off Andrássy Avenue, is the project of Márk Molnár, the son of Tamás B. Molnár, who is a revered gastro journalist in Budapest. Márk spent the better part of the past two decades working in Spain, and the menu is a collection of Spanish and Hungarian dishes. N28 doubles as a boutique wine store, meaning that you can pair your food with an enviable selection of Hungarian wines, sourced from all the major wine regions (Tokaj, Somló, Eger, Balaton).

Of the tapas and aged meats, the star of the show is the Mangalica ham, sitting on toasted bread and layered with foie gras and pieces of tender shrimp. From the mains, I’d return for the gambas al pil-pil, sweet-saline prawns doused in a rich, buttery sauce spiked with chili peppers. The goulash, made from deer meat, is also very good. Vegetarians shouldn’t miss the brie salad with black truffles. Mains are €15-20 and there's a more wallet-friendly weekday lunch prix fixe.

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