Posto 896 Italian & Hungarian Restaurant

🇭🇺 HUNGARY / Focusing on the Hungarian side of the menu is an experience hard to find in Los Angeles.

🇭🇺 HUNGARY
📍 15615 Ventura Blvd.,
Encino, San Fernando Valley
🅿️ Small plaza, valet at times
🥤 Wine and beer

📸 All photos by Jared Cohee
for Eat the World Los Angeles

If you take an Italian flag and rotate it 90 degrees, you have a Hungarian flag. Certainly the cuisines of these two European nations must be related and have similar effects when rotated, right? Actually far from it, but this kitchen is helmed by two chefs, one from each of the two countries featured on the menu. These chefs are friends, and work together seemingly seamlessly, but the options are given as two columns rather than fusion.

Thankfully the only fusion is in the name. The Italian word “posto” simply means “place” and is used often in the language when naming businesses, but 896 has a much deeper meaning for Hungarians. This was the year that the Principality of Hungary was established as the Carpathian Basin was settled by Hungarians, a much larger area than the present-day borders of the nation.

The separation of the two nations on the menu extends to the wine list, which features a nice tight selection from both. Italy is obviously much more well-known for its wines, but when else are you going to be able to try some of these options from different regions of Hungary. The group that enjoyed this meal was well taken care of all night by Norbert, who patiently shared so much of his deep knowledge of Hungarian wines and provided samples so the table had the right pairings for each course.

The service in general here gives off a stuffy first impression but is actually very friendly and casual, thankfully. It sort of makes sense in its setting of a tiny storefront in an Encino shopping plaza. You could call it “Valley strip mall fancy,” but it is more than that as multiple rounds of the happy birthday song were sung to separate tables proved.

In Hungary people will decide the temperature of their meggy leves ($14, above) based on the season, a cold bowl of this sour cherry soup is a summer favorite. While a Los Angeles winter does not approach anywhere near the frozen temperatures of Hungary, a February evening was used as an excuse to enjoy the soup hot. The sour cherries themselves are hidden deep under the surface, a broth that is thickened with sour cream and also includes hints of cloves and cinnamon.

A typical meal in Hungary starts with a sweet dish or two like this, some cheese or plum dumplings, and pastas dusted with poppy seeds or walnuts. Choosing the latter, a plate of diós tészta ($23, below) arrives as all four jaws at the table drop. Ribbons of pasta are covered with grated walnuts and a dusting of powdered sugar, surely a dish that could count as dessert as it was on this occasion.

The unique experience is ultimately very satisfying even if the sequencing was adjusted by the novice diners. A future visit will probably indulge in the poppy seed version (mákos tészta) just to give it a try, as well as the plum dumplings. Hungarian white wines seem to be on the sweeter side, and they also carry a couple of dessert wines as well, both enhancing these flavors.

Once it was time to eat the savory dishes, the table is covered with Hungarian specialties. There are salads on the Italian side of the menu, but for Hungarian vegetables you can get a couple pickled options or a grilled variety plate called grillezett zöldség ($12, below left). Tejfölös uborkasaláta ($10, below bottom right) is a vinegar-brined cucumber dish with onions that is topped with sour cream. Its sharp bite should be a part of any meal here.

While cabbage is in the title, the töltött káposzta ($30, above top center) is a thoroughly meaty experience. Hungary’s version of stuffed cabbage is much more sour than those of Russia and other places, as if the stuffings have been wrapped in sauerkraut. The savory beef and turkey combo inside is like a warm hug, and along with the rice and sour leaves is just about the perfect bite.

Besides goulash, chicken paprikash is probably the meal that anyone who has sampled Hungarian cuisine has tried. The version here is probably what they would call elevated, and can be enjoyed with noodles or rice. The order of csirke paprikás ($31, below) chose the latter since there was nokedli with another dish, but future dinners will be nokedli-only if no one is gluten-intolerant.

As you can probably guess even if this is the first time trying the dish, paprika is the star here. A creamy sauce of it is poured over some dark meat and of course more sour cream. The bird itself seems to be slow cooked and its meat can be peeled off the bones with a spoon.

Of a similar hue but completely different taste is the vadas ($32, below), which they translate to a hunter’s meal. This plate has beef cutlets pan-seared and placed over nokedli before everything is drowned in a vegetable puree. With turnips instead of onion, this seems to be the Hungarian answer to France’s mirepoix, but the aroma of each bite is somehow sweetened by the addition of cinnamon.