'Fusion: Pricey As A Wedding' by Peterjon Cresswell

Let us first deal with the Restaurant. Fusion, a Budapest buzzword of contemporary culinary mores, is here somewhat of a misnomer. For instead of the chef, in this case Zsolt Beke, fusing specific global cuisines to come up with something creative, exciting and original, here fusion means a menu of Thai dishes and Indonesian dishes and Japanese dishes and Indian dishes and Mediterranean dishes and Hungarian dishes. And club sandwiches.
 
Fusion, therefore, is a bit of a con – confusion if you like. Furthermore, and surprising, considering that the team of Beke and restaurateur Árpád Lász­ló have been responsible for the successful Spoon Café & Lounge floating eaterie on the nearby waterfront, the menu contains notable curiosities. 

The first item in the ‘Grilled Mediterranean Specialities’ section is Angus steak with Dijon mustard. OK, Aberdeen is closer to the sea than Dijon, but it’s the North Sea. 

A separate and more extensive sushi menu – ask for it, it may not be offered on arrival – carries a 15% service charge. The main one levies 10% – with, of course, full scope for scribbling down a further gratuity when the bill comes. Is sushi harder or heavier to carry than Angus steak for the smart, swift, English-speaking waitstaff? Probably not.

And the food? Little wrong with the four soups (Ft1190-1690), Chinese hot and sour, gulyás, Thai hot and sour prawn and, presumably summer-only, melon cream – according to a quick straw poll among the dozen terrace tables. 

But the mains… Far East cuisine, surely the zingiest and sassiest known to man, is here brought to a bland pulp of rice, vegetables and soy sauce, at least in the case of the spice-light nasi goreng. 

Itemised on the bill as ‘sült rizs zöldség’, nasi goreng is too high-faluting a menu description for the kind of vegetable fried rice any corner Chinese cheapie could fling in the microwave and charge Ft400 for. Here it’s Ft2,490. While we’re on prices, how can any borjúpaprikás merit a tag of Ft3,790 unless the calf has been hunted by golden crossbow in the tiger-infested slopes of Nepal? Then again, that might be straying into fusion, and we wouldn’t want that, would we?

As for the sushi, the Fusion platter (Ft3,890) promised hosomaki of avocado, sweet shrimp, tuna and others – and delivered half-a-dozen of exactly the same combination in each piece. The taste and consistency were acceptable – but there is better to be had at a handful of places within a 30-minute radius. 

Desserts? Praiseworthy. 

The mango pudding with grapefruit (Ft1,190) is worth the visit alone. There’s strudel too. Wines and cocktails are predictably pricey – cheapest glass Ft1,200, average mixed drink Ft1,600 – but the selection of mainly Hungarian labels looks reasonable. 

Mojitos (ginger, lychee and, groan, Red Bull) are concocted with an unspecified white rum. 

With its long, island bar inside inviting the weary shopper to order a tropical tipple and hang the expense, Fusion is best frequented by the thirsty and those with a sweet tooth – much like the cukrászda would have been. Ignore any false promise of Asia. Confusion can be costly.

Fusion Restaurant and Lounge
Váci utca 20.
Pest, District V.
Tel: +36 1 266 41 44"

Source: Budapest Sun