With no knowledge of Hungarian, the name 'Fatal' on a restaurant's door might make you think the chef was poisoning the soup. Fatal actually means 'wooden plate', on which many of the dishes are served.

Portions are extremely generous and reasonably priced.

Pork knuckle and a sliced beef dish named after Brassov in Romania costs HUF 1080. Cabbage stuffed with minced meat and rice is a traditional Hungarian dish, while fried cheese keeps the veggies quiet. Traditional fish soup from Szeged costs HUF 1190, and trout is HUF 1690. Half a roast duck with dumplings and cabbage costs HUF 1580. Add on another HUF 800 per person for drinks.

The restaurant is in the basement of the building, so it has the cozy atmosphere of a Bierkeller and, to get in the spirit, I had a bottle of Dreher beer, which was suprisingly tasty (I hadn't been impressed with Hungarian beers previous to this). All of us ordered soup for the first course, and I had the good fortune to choose bean soup (bableves)--like the others, it was served in a saucepan (which gives you an idea of the portion size!), and topped with sour cream and parsley. Mixed together, it was amazingly warm and good, with just enough spice to liven things up.

My main course was turkey breaded with sesame seeds and served with rice and potatoes. The turkey was delicious and moist but, unfortunately, after the bableves I could only muster a few bites

We had good service here as well - I can't say enough about this place.

The food at Fatal is plentiful and traditionally Hungarian – we dined on savory crepes filled with shredded beef in a hot paprika sauce and chicken served with rice and noodles in a mild brown sauce that were both excellent and plentiful. The menu is heavy with meat stews, ribs, noodles and soup served in bread bowls. Fatal also serves thick, hearty bread to go with it’s enormous stick-to-your-ribs entrees. The long, narrow subterranean dining area has a quaint arched stone ceiling and has two aisles of long wooden tables and benches – it reminded me of the cozy beer cellars we visited in Paris and Prague. The ventilation is terrible, so it can get really smoky (Hungarians smoke like fiends). Fatal is open till past 1:00 am for late night meals.

Fatal would probably appeal to college kids more so that it did to me – the smoke and the attitude got to me, but the food was certainly very tasty and a very good deal considering the quantity and reasonable prices. If you are looking for a good, hearty and inexpensive meal, and don’t mind the other stuff, give Fatal a try.