Jonas’ Restaurant
The porridge is: hot! … hearty Hungarian food that tastes homemade and genuine but don’t expect re-heated leftovers to taste the same.
Jonas’ Restaurant is the only place you can get Hungarian food in Calgary. (Somebody correct me if I’m wrong!) This is one place I really had a lemming for while in Japan… two words, Chicken Paprikash. Chicken paprikash is one of the most famous Hungarian stews and is traditionally served with little dumplings (spätzle) that are small round pieces of egg-noodle. But I’m getting ahead of myself here. First, you will get some rye bread with butter and jalepenos as a free appetizer.
I wasn’t sure how to eat these so I just spread butter on the bread, lined up some jalepenos on top, and chowed down. These peppers were SPICY. I couldn’t even finish one.
Pasta with Feta Cheese served with Dill (Small) $6.00
This was the vegetarian’s pick. He said it was all right. I tried a bit and didn’t think it as that good either. Something you can make by yourself at home easily and for a fraction of the cost!
Chicken Paprikash served with homemade dumplings (Regular) $17.00
This was what I had been waiting for. When the server came with the dishes, she promptly gave me the pasta… before I pointed out that the much larger dish was mine. “Oh, that’s funny…,” she chuckled before leaving. Yes, the girl at the table is eating the meat dish which is twice the size as the vegetarian dish. I like my food. ;)
The chicken paprikash was just as good as I had remembered. Soft and flavourful chicken in a smooth stew… very hearty. It’s hard to tell from this picture but there was a very generous amount of chicken as well!
I’m ashamed to say that I could not finish. (I blame the smoothie I had earlier…) I ate about half before getting the rest to go. When I re-heated this in the microwave for a midnight snack however, I found the chicken paprikash suddenly had a gritty taste to it. It definitely left a weird taste in my mouth. My tip? Eat up and don’t have any leftovers!
Jonas’ Restaurant
937 6th Avenue SW
(403) 262-3302
