Girbegurba, a narrow, one-lane street leads up to one of the most beautiful hillsides of Pécs, where you can enjoy a breathtaking panorama. But despite the magnificent views, you wouldn't guess that this is where you'll find perhaps the city's most successful restaurant, which seats more than 300 people and is at its peak on weekdays.
I spoke to Levente Balázs, the head chef, who has been working here for 10 years. He's worked his way up through the ranks and has been in charge of the kitchen for four years. And what is the secret of the restaurant's success? We'll get the answer to that too!
The Bagolyvár restaurant started as a family business in 1996. Since then, it has become so successful that in recent years it has been open from noon to 10pm on weekdays and weekends, with a full house almost all the time. This is a brilliant achievement, if only because it means 180 guests at a time, all served to a high standard.
István Behek and his family created the Bagolyvár restaurant and hotel, which is reached by a very narrow road up the hillside above Pécs. The panorama is stunning, and so is the experience, especially if you enjoy it from the huge terrace during dinner or lunch. But there is no denying that all this would not be enough to keep the restaurant running at full capacity day after day.
The restaurant has a special and distinctively Hungarian atmosphere. There are no plastics, but there is plenty of wood, a very impressive interior and a large glassed-in terrace.
-What kind of food can you expect to find here and what is the cuisine like in the Bagolyvár?
-We prepare traditional Hungarian dishes, but dressed up in a modern outfit. Of course, this doesn't mean that we serve tiny portions, but that we try to add more enjoyment to every dish. We try to make the most of the raw ingredients, with variety. There is a new menu every month, which always includes a chef's special, in addition to the A'la carte offer.
-What is the most popular dish, what is the flagship of the restaurant?
-Blueberry venison steak with brown sauce is our most popular dish. It's been on the menu practically since we opened, and its popularity is unbroken. By the way, 90 litres of brown sauce are sold every week. Of course we use it for other dishes, but we can hardly ever make enough. Another very popular and sought-after dish is the rose duck breast with dried cherry and potato noodles. We also have a hit with our pan-fried chicken, served with truffle stuffing and rice pudding.
-There are some very expensive dishes on the menu. How popular are they?
-We also make a lot of food from very premium ingredients, because there is a high demand for them. We consume 15-20 kg of steak a day, but we also use a lot of duck liver, game meat and fish. Steaks, game and fish such as toothfish and hake are also a real hit with us. The guests also really like the rye duck and the fish soup.
By the way, we organise twice a year the Kopács Fish Juice Days. During these 3-3 days 1200-1300 guests visit us.
-How many chefs are working in the kitchen and how hard it is to find workers these days, when we hear from all sides that the hospitality industry is facing a labour shortage.
-Nine chefs working in the kitchen. This means that there are a maximum of 6 of us on a shift at any one time. We don't have a labour problem. This is a place where many people come to learn, not just for the pay. By the way, our team is also very young, with an average age between 25-27.
-And the workload? Is it good to work here?
-The team is super cohesive. You could say it's almost a hobby, and we often even go out together for fun.
-How did the restaurant operate during the Covid closures?
-This is not a restaurant that can be converted to home delivery. We did have themed weekends during the first closure. Then we had chowder, chicken, chicken, etc. weekends. But it was really a time of closures and a time of improvements. In the spring of 2020, we opened the Owl Street Food restaurant in the Metro parking lot, which became very popular very quickly. During the second closure last year, we opened another restaurant next to the Arcade, which has a capacity of 80 people. Here, burgers and grilled meats are the main dishes. We chefs worked on these a lot. Now the system is that most of the food is prepared here and only the assembly takes place in these places. But there's a continuous improvement in the hotel as well. It now has 6 apartments and a wellness area.
-What is the goal and what is the vision?
-We would like to be the best restaurant in the area, in South Transdanubia. We are not far from this goal, we hope to achieve it soon.
