Gay Hussar

I have been going to this restaurant for about 12 years - just once or twice a year on the few occasions I visit London. The food and service here have always been excellent - until today. Unfortunately my food all seemed to have been (badly) reheated in a microwave - some of it tepid other parts piping hot- still very tasty but unfortunately not up to the excellent standards they have shown on all our other visits

Classic Central European food in a wonderful environment. Bring some friends. Book a private room and plot a left wing takeover.

I have been going to the Gay Hussar since 1991 almost every other year. My review is simple .... fantastic food, excellent service as well as customer recognition. The manager (he) and staff always greets me as a friend as if I were there weekly. What else do I need from a restaurant!!!!!!!! Oh yes, I have been to Hungary PS will be there this April or May

There’s nothing gay about the Gay Hussar. Eastern European it definitely is. You feel the oppression as soon as you walk through the door. The manager greeting us couldn’t look more miserable if she’d tried harder. Where’s the music? The ambiance? The happy customers? The hors d’oeuvres to start were incredible in a bad way. How can you get cucumber wrong? No matter, I was sure I was safe with a veal schnitzel for main....WRONG! The schnitzel had more resemblance to an old leather handbag and so incredibly dry I’m sure the waiter must have thought I ordered a side dish of cotton mouth. Seems the people I was eating with felt the same about their Hungarian delights. Most of it went back to the kitchen! Undeterred, we sampled a Hungarian liquor called Unicum to round off the night (none of us felt brave enough to sample the sweet cheese pancakes on the dessert menu). Has anyone ever had a liquor that’s slightly fizzy before? We questioned how long it had been on the shelf and were assured that the restaurant sells oodles of these a week. Really? People really come back for the aftertaste of stomach acid in their mouth? I’m amazed this place is still in business but it seemed to be busy when we left so clearly there’s no accounting for taste. After complaining to the manager, we were grudgingly given 20% off our food but it came with a lot of huffing and puffing. I’ve never felt compelled to write a bad review before but this was just horrendous. My advice? Give this place a wide berth and spend your money on Burger King instead.

First mistake, misunderstanding what ‘traditional Hungarian food’ really means on the online reviews. What we learnt, Hungary is truly shocking at food. Second mistake, staying for longer than 5 minutes after justifying to ourselves it will be an experience and broaden our horizons. What we learnt, not all experiences make your life better. Third mistake, asking the waitress for a recommendation. What we learnt, the waitress has obviously never eaten at her own restaurant. Fourth mistake, ordering Hungarian wine. What we learnt, Hungarian wine perfectly compliments Hungarian food. Final mistake, after not being able to finish the starter or main course opting for Unicum as a liqueur. What we learnt, its actually worse than it sounds and it was worryingly fizzy, however it’s easily the best thing we ordered! In summary, would I go back? No. Would I recommend it to anyone even if they were from Hungary and hadn’t eaten in 3 days? No. Do I understand why Mo Mowlems autobiography was used as decor and she stared at me for the whole meal? No. Have I ever felt the need to write a review before? No. Am I confident said Unicum was less than 10 years old? No. Will I remember the lessons learnt from this experience? Yes.

Stepping into the Gay Hussar is like stepping into a time warp. A time warp that takes you back to a time when food was made with no love, skill or care. Tesco own brand oatmeal bread was concealed under linen napkin lines baskets. Portions were tiny and slopped onto canteen plates. I paid 18 pounds for a goulash that i could have easily made a better version of, with better ingredients, for 2 quid. So what if politicians eat there, the place is crap.

If you are familiar with real Hungarian cuisine you will be very disappointed with the Gay Hussar. Most of the dishes are poor copies of the real homemade Hungarian fare and to be honest I would feel embarrassed to bring somebody to this eatery and proclaim it as being real Hungarian restaurant. The quality of the dishes is poor and the taste leaves allot to be desired. When I went there the other evening they had run out of Galuska (dumplings made of flour, eggs and water) that would be like a fish and chip shop running out of chips. The lame excuse from the waitress was that they had run out of eggs and they could not buy them locally as only very special organic eggs would be acceptable!! The Gulyas soup was over spiced, the gypsy pork medallions were over cooked without a hint of garlic or taste and the shredded liver was like rubber. Finally my partner decided to try and brighten up a miserable experience by ordering the Somloi Galuska, this tasty rum flavoured sponge bathing in lashings of chocolate sauce, raisins with fresh whipped cream on-top had been turned into a piece of stale dry cake with a few drops of chocolate sauce dripped over it. The chef has apparently been there for 22 years, I think this guy has done more to destroy the identity of Hungarian food than anybody else. At £80 for two for such a disaster I would recommend that this place is avoided like the plague. Unfortunately, if you want to experience real Hungarian cuisine you have to travel to Hungary!