Magazine: Highway food

In the last 4-5 years changing consumer needs resulted in a higher quality of food and services in roadside restaurants. Our magazine has recently discussed how the operators of major filling station chains consider gastronomy a new area of competition: they have recruited the best chefs and source top ingredients to make gourmet sandwiches, hot dogs, paninis, superb salads and various street food dishes. A premiumisation of the product selection and services is also taking place in many independent roadside restaurants too. We would like to introduce two such places with different concepts to you.

Tekergő restaurant is at the 45th kilometre of the M7 motorway’s Budapest side. Gergő Turantz and his sister Katka took over the place from their father in 2015.

They modernised the interior, the kitchen and the menu – Gergő named their new style ‘highway food’. There is a great team working in the restaurant – some of its members have been in Tekergő for more than 10 years. The restaurant is trying to work with local suppliers, they buy ingredients for Italian food from specialists and source meat from a butcher’s in Budapest.

The menu changes according to seasonal trends and changing consumer needs. Summer is the main season, but the BBQ dinners are popular throughout the year. Hamburger and pizza are two of the place’s signature dishes, although classics such as goulash are also served. About 60 percent of the guests are regulars in Tekergő. Main dishes cost HUF 2,490-5,990 (the latter is the price of the Argentine rib eye steak). Ten types of wines are served, their prices range from HUF 3,000 to 6,000, and craft beers are also available. Last year Gergő and Katka won the international BBQ competition in Tállya and represented Hungary in the world final in the USA. Currently Tekergő is ranked 1st on Tripadvisor in the Velence region. Mr Truantz is happy to see that some foreign guests return to the restaurant year after year.

Attila Szakály
owner
M7 Bistro

M7 Bistro can be found at the 60th kilometre of the M7 motorway, in the Fehérvár rest stop. Owner Attila Szakály has run the family place since 2011 and the restaurant got a new name, design and chef last year. As part of this conversion, the interior and the menu were divided into ‘economy’ and ‘premium economy’ sections. M7 Bistro serves classic dishes such as bean goulash, and there are lighter, multi-course meals served at lunchtime for people working nearby and the locals.

The chef Péter Bokor used to work in Austrian fine dining restaurants for 10 years. Main dishes cost HUF 1,080-2,600 and the place doesn’t serve alcoholic drinks. A new menu is compiled every week and the main season is summer. They make their own jam, dairy products, fruits and vegetables, and flour is supplied by local farmers. Mr Szakály reckons the M7 Bistro’s competitors are the units of international motorway restaurants, fast food restaurants and filling station snack bars. He told that it would be a success if they could continue the current level of sales growth.