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40
Gastro Guide
Resto Xploration - Millenium da Pippo
Delízia
at the
Underground Station
Were there a Little Italy in Budapest,
Millennium da Pippo would surely be
one of the epicenters of that neighborhood.
Showcasing the best of authentic
Italian cuisine, with a special emphasis
on Sicilian specialties, the restaurant
has become a favorite spot (since its
opening four years ago) with both expat
Italians and everyone who likes treating
their taste buds to per eccellenza
Italian flavors.
Entering Millennium on Andrássy Avenue,
I would have never expected
I’d feel like I was stepping into my
imaginary Italian mamma’s kitchen,
yet that’s how I felt. What with the
cupboard filled with jars of homemade-looking
canned fruit, bottles
of balsamic vinegar and olive oil,
flanked with a kitchen table displaying
an abundance of Italian goodies like
various wines, different pastas, bread
and spices, while at the same time
sporting a huge wheel of Parmesan
cheese as well, I felt like I was actually
welcomed into a house somewhere
in the Italian countryside.
Stepping further into what looks like
the authentic granny’s kitchen, my
companion and I suddenly found
ourselves in the dining area whose
design, due to the bordo red and
white tiles and green columns, instantly
reminded us of the millennium
underground’s stations as did
the “Rózsa utca” (the street next to
the restaurant) sign. No wonder the
place prides itself on its rustic design
BUDAPEST FUNZINE
and familial atmosphere, as the cozy
interior and friendly service made all
our Andrássy Avenue-related fears of
ostentation vanish into thin air.
On top of the many Italian treats, Millennium
offers a great variety of Sicilian
specialties as well, which as we
learned means more fish swimming
on the menu, so in lieu of one of the
30 pizzas we picked one of the many
pasta dishes and a piece of the giant
swordfish that was also on display at
the entrance. Millennium has a fine
selection of wines both from Italy and
Hungary. At the recommendation of
our amiable waiter, who suggested
that it’d go well both with the pasta
and the fish, we decided to have some
refreshing Pinot Grigio. That’s what
we were sipping while we were waiting
for our Zuppa di Pomodoro (a.k.a.
tomato soup) and sinking deeper and
deeper into the cavalcade of Italian,
English and Hungarian voices around
us. This is a place where people
speak Italian as much as they eat it.
The soup was neither too hot, nor
too cold, had a silky texture and was
just able to hit the right nerves on our
tongue to serve as a refreshing appetizer
for the main treats to follow.
Which they did. My companion’s
This is a place where people speak Italian as
much as they eat it.”
Spaghetti Grana (a specialty not on
the menu but recommended by our
waiter who told us that at a real Italian
place you don’t select your food
from a carta, as in many cases there
is no carta at all) was as delicious as
it was elaborately made. The abovementioned
giant wheel of Parmesan
cheese, the grana, suddenly arrived at
our table with our waiter, who brought
the spaghetti over, still sizzling in the
pan he was holding in his hand. A cou-