Hungarians must have hidden stomachs

Those of you that haven't met/seen me should know, I can eat. Sadly, for my wardrobe, life expectancy, and general level of attractiveness, I can eat.

So it is a big deal when I say HOLY SHIT Balaton serves a lot of food.

We went in there the other day to check it out. We'd been in the Shaker Square area most of the day (with the exception of a hike around one of the nearby lakes that featured prominently me falling on my ass and sliding down a hill of mud), catching a movie and even buying cheap crap at Goodwill, so it worked.

We opted for the Hungarian Wood Platter, which was alleged to feed 2-3 people. We were both hungry from our hike and from missing breakfast (this took place beginning about 4 PM). We figured it'd be like an appetizer sampler, but unless we suddenly live in the land of giants, that was not what we received.

Seriously huge portions, as you can see above. The picture was taken after we gave up, originally it included three plate-size pieces of schnitzel (2 veal, 1 chicken), 2 good sized pan-fried pork chops (covered in a bed of seriously delicious thin n crispy fried onions), about a 1/2 pound of bacon, a bowl of spaetzle, two bowls of cabbage and paprika, two big bowls of pickled beets, about 1.5 pounds of sausage, and other stuff I can't remember. It was all delicious, and we gorged ourselves, yet didn't touch more than 30% of the platter, if even that much. All told, it cost $50, and could easily feed 5-6 people (more if you aren't big eaters), so the price was right.

So, if you have an army of folks that dig Eastern European fare, no real aversion to a distended belly for a day or two, and fifty bucks lying around, check it out. You won't be disappointed, and you will have a fridge full of leftovers to last you the week.