When I’m walking through the City Park, I sometimes find myself wondering what a Sunday lunch at Gundel must have been like a hundred years ago. And I wonder what the famous guests – who frequented this venerable restaurant in great numbers throughout its long history – actually ate? I recently had the opportunity to sample a menu similar to the one served to Queen Elizabeth in May 1993. Anyone can enjoy this experience if they pop into the restaurant in the coming days.
Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and her husband, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, arrived in Hungary at the invitation of Árpád Göncz, President of the Republic. During their four-day stay in Hungary – alongside the customary diplomatic engagements – the royal couple attended a performance of the ballet *Sleeping Beauty* at the Opera House, went on excursions to Kecskemét and Bugac, and had lunch at the Gundel restaurant.
On 5 May, at this notable ceremonial event, Prime Minister József Antall and his wife hosted a luncheon in honour of the royal couple. The choice of Gundel and the luncheon held there were particularly significant because, reportedly, this was the only formal occasion during their four-day stay when the royal couple did not eat a meal prepared by the court chef they had brought with them from home. Before the gala lunch, the kitchen prepared ten trial menus to ensure that everything could be served within the exact time limit of 1 hour and 40 minutes. The menu was handwritten, and the waiters were taught a special choreography. The Kurír reported on the preparations as follows: „Twelve impeccable English waiters – eight in black tuxedos and white gloves serving the food, and four in waistcoats, also wearing white gloves, serving the drinks – will be on hand to attend to the guests” every wish and whim. The section of road in front of the building was completely closed off, with onlookers lining both sides of the road to await the car carrying the Queen and her husband. The guests were escorted up to the upper floor via the Palace’s red marble staircase. Upon arrival, the guests enjoyed a welcome drink on the upstairs terrace. The staff had prepared a selection of exquisite drinks, one better than the next, but Her Majesty suddenly said: “Gin and tonic, please!”
According to one account from the Gundel Palace, nobody had anticipated this, so Kálmán Kozma, the hotel manager, took the stairs three at a time down to the ground-floor bar to fulfil the request. The dishes for the dinner were conceived by Kálmán Kalla, Gundel’s executive chef at the time, so that the monarch’s headdress – that is, the royal crown – would feature in the presentation of every dish. Of the menu christened „Four Crowns”, it was the soup that proved the greatest challenge; here, the vegetables were ultimately shaped into tiny crowns. For the starter, salmon was served with Hungarian asparagus, followed by a pigeon essence. The main course consisted of veal fillet, accompanied by paper-thin potato crowns stuffed with Hungarian wild rice, and chanterelle mushrooms stuffed with goose liver. For dessert, there was a crown baked from thin, crisp pastry, decorated with real strawberries and strawberries moulded from parfe. In addition, alongside the Gundel wines from their own cellar in Mád, a 1952 Tokaji Aszú was also served, the grapes for which had been harvested in the year the Queen ascended the throne.
The Gundel building has been serving the culinary arts since 1894, so this year marks its 130th anniversary. (The main reason for its construction was that, in the 1860s, the City Park was becoming increasingly popular; moreover, the Budapest Zoo and Botanical Garden opened in 1866. It was then that the decision was made to enhance the increasingly popular park with a restaurant.) The Eventrend Group, which has been operating the restaurant since 2021, aims to make the restaurant accessible to everyone once again this summer, with its huge outdoor seating area (capable of accommodating as many as 500–600 guests at a time!) , whilst also showcasing the history of this historic building the launch of the „celebrity menus” series As the first member of the initiative, they made this royal lunch available for anyone to sample. What’s more, dining here also supports a good cause: as part of the Gundel Mission, 5 per cent of the proceeds from the ‘Celebrities’ Menus’ series are donated to the National Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing.
The Four Crowns menu is served only at dinner time, on Herend plates with silver cutlery. It comes with a welcome drink of English sparkling wine, and they have also set up a Queen Elizabeth II selfie spot. Guests can choose from two-, three- and four-course options; the smallest menu costs 17,000 forints and the largest 26,600 forints, excluding service charge and wine selection. This menu is available to guests from 8 to 17 July.
