At the foot of the Bükk Mountains, in a fabulous forest setting, surrounded by a six-hectare park, you will find Avalon Park in Miskolcapolca, which offers a wide range of gastronomic, recreational and entertainment facilities. All of this has been offered in the premium category for six years now, almost always with a full house, proving that it is not only in the Western Transdanubian region that there is a solvent demand for everything.
Avalon Resort & SPA strives to offer a unique gastronomic experience - says Gergely Bajusz, Gastronomic Director. At The pasta for their authentic Italian cuisine is made by the chefs themselves, and the recipes are collected from the best Italian kitchens, with the chefs learning the skills on the spot. And although they don't serve food specifically for children, many of their dishes have become a favourite with the little ones. One of these is the Fool's Wheel pasta, which we have to think of as a Bolognese ragus with a twist. And because Hungarians love meat in breadcrumbs, they also have Avalon meat in their menu, of course in a reimagined version. That is, the farmhouse chicken breast is fried, then wrapped in Italian ham and topped with mozzarella. Wrapped in this way, it's finally placed in the oven and then on the plate.
The park's other gastronomic unit was renewed this summer Beer Garden & Grill Garden, which offers street food and grill dishes for alternative cuisine lovers. The menu includes Pit Box smoked meats, Kamado Big Green Egg charcoal grilled meats, burgers with a unique juicy meat patty and beer-battered rolls. They are particularly proud, the gastronomic director stressed, that every part of their medium steak is medium, not just a small part of the middle. Australian, Argentinian and Japanese premium beef are also present, as well as New Zealand lamb. They like to experiment with premium meat products, but also like to serve seafood and seafood dishes. The restaurant is also not modest with its awards. In 2018, it won Best Italian Cuisine in Central Europe at the World Luxury Restaurant Awards, and in 2019, it won the award for Best Italian Cuisine in Central Europe. Ospitalitá Italiana has received a rating from the Italian Chamber of Foreign Trade.
The sweets, which are made locally in their own confectionery factory, are a firm favourite with guests. They've even developed a new speciality cream. As it happens, Gergely Bajusz had a great recipe for tiramisu, one of the fruits of his 15 years living in Italy. He intended this to be a pulling cake. He hadn't even thought about cream when he was designing his repertoire of cakes, as he hadn't been friends with cream since childhood. But the customers were looking for it, so they developed a special type of it, Avalon cream, which has since become so popular that it is now used in cakes and is the most popular of their sweets.
New this year, Avalon Park has also opened an underground wine cellar, the Vino Salone, where you can taste wines from 14 countries. Here you can choose from around 3,000,000 bottles of great wine, presented by internationally renowned winemakers.
At Avalon Park, the period of forced restaurant closures last winter due to the COVID pandemic was used to improve services and expand seating. The 60-room hotel, which opened in 2015, has now been expanded to 80 rooms, the restaurant can accommodate 200 people, and the entertainment facilities have been expanded, with a 450-square-metre indoor area added to the 2,500-square-metre outdoor playground.
Gergely Bajusz was proud to say that their guests come from all over the country, so it is worth booking in advance. But it's also a rule that they don't turn away guests without a reservation. And you may have to wait a while, but you'll still get a table even if there are a lot of guests. Avalon Park is optimistic about the future and hopes that there will be no COVID closure this winter. Because although they did have a home delivery service during the last lockdown, when a premium dinner is boxed and on the table half an hour after it is ready, it is nowhere near the experience of a cosy restaurant with music, a waiter and a good wine to accompany the gastronomic delights.
