Is this the future of Restaurants?

This week, I had the pleasure of indulging in many wonderful and delicious restaurants in Budapest (my mother was over), and evening after evening we sought out some of the more unusual and interesting restaurants that Budapest has to offer... 

One evening brought us to 'Sir Lancelot', where the staff dress in medieval costumes, the food consists mainly of large chunks of meat from every animal, the beer comes in 1 liter tankards, fire breathers, belly dancers & sword fighters interrupt the dining and the meal is presented with no cutlery, meaning that in essence, the whole thing is eaten with your hands...! Now, as wonderful as this experience was (and it really was an incredible experience, and I would recommend this to all), the next evening brought an even more unusual gastronomic experience, on the complete opposite side of the 'era' spectrum, with a concept that was completely new and unusual for me... this was the 'Cyber Gastro' known as Kaja.hu.

As we entered, the modern sleek feel of the place was perfectly balanced, and not at all overdone. The first thing you notice is that every single table has it's own computer screen built in, and completely flush with the table... a little mouse is hidden underneath, and gives you full control of the screen. Just like ordering something on amazon, you log in (with a code they give you when you arrive) and just like that, you can start ordering! Naturally I went to the beer section, clicked on a nice hungarian pint and pressed 'order'! No joke, within 30 seconds a waitress arrived with my beer, and set it down just beside my screen..!

The interface is extremely easy to use, and the staff offered assistance when we seemed confused, but half of the fun was simply figuring out the whole process, and clicking through all the menus, from the 'Gormet,' to the 'Fitness' and the 'Around the World' sections, there was a huge selection of food to be had!

Once ordered, the food arrived in no time, and I have to say, it was absolutely delicious. I guess my initial reaction was like ordering anything online... it could be cheap, could be different to what you ordered, could be, well.... bad. But this simply wasn't the case..! The food was absolutely delicious, and at an incredible price..! For in and around 1,000ft (€3.40) you could get a main dish which would fill even the hungriest and biggest of men. In short - the value for money was fantastic.

At one point in the meal, my mother raised her hand to ask the waitress for some ketchup... me, of course, evolving rapidly to this new style of eating, gestured her hand down, made a few little clicks, and within 10 seconds a little pot of ketchup was sitting on our table...

I was sad to see that the place was actually pretty empty... having lived 2 streets away for almost a year, I know that it is still pretty new, so I really hope it picks up, and I can easily see this new style of eating becoming a cult-followed, sought after experience. 

I truly do recommend this to everyone and anyone... the price was student friendly, and the quality of food was way above standard... If you check it out, be sure to look through the guest book page to find my 2 cents...

--

Written by Ciaran Jackson

--

Useful Links:
Kaya Website
Sir Lancelot Website


View Larger Map