 LALA'S HUNGARIAN PASTRY 836 Elm St. Manchester 647-7100 Serving: Monday and Tuesday, 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Wednesday-Saturday 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Cuisine: Hungarian Lunch entrees $4.95-$15.95; dinner entrees $8.50-$15.95 Scoring: Our Gourmet and The Dining Companion each grade a restaurant in six categories, for a combined total score of up to 100 points. Visit the Dining section of NewHampshire.com to read previous Our Gourmet reviews listed by town. |
Lala’s Hungarian Pastry has been operating at the same site for years, but if you’ve passed it up thinking that all that is served is sweets — as we have — it’s time you stopped in and tried the rest of the food.
Appetizer: 18/20
OG: What caught my attention was the little sign that said “cold sour cherry soup.” I love cold fruit soups and it was a nice day, so we stopped. I got a big serving of tasty, tangy, sweet and creamy soup laden with cherries and just a taste of cloves. 9
The Dining Companion: I sometimes look for the unusual, and seeing a beef tripe soup ($4.90), I went for that. I have always been curious about tripe, so I tried it and I’m glad I did. For the uninitiated, tripe is the stomach lining of a cow and is considered a delicacy in some parts of the world, but is not used much in the states. It was basically a vegetable soup with tender small pieces of tripe that melted in my mouth. Definitely a treat. 9
Entrée: 17/20
OG: My choice was the beef goulash ($7.95), which was served piping hot on noodles, a side of rice and some nicely cooked carrots. It was a good-sized portion — the kind mom would serve, if my mom was Hungarian. In fact, dining at Lala’s reminded me of eating at mom’s house where good, home-cooked food is served.
The goulash consisted of melt-in-your mouth beef with a tangy flavor with just a hint of heat from the paprika. 8
TDC: I decided to try the chicken ala Romano ($10.95), which was boneless chicken breast stuffed with cheese and ham smothered with one of the best dill sauces I have ever tasted. It was served with a side of potatoes and rice pilaf. It was a great tasty surprise and both I and OG deemed it a “would order again.” 9
Dessert: 18/20
OG: With “pastry” in the name, one would expect an assortment of sweets to finish off the meal. One wouldn’t be disappointed. Dozens of different and beautifully presented pastries are available. We couldn’t make up our mind, so we brought four good-sized pastries home for later: a chocolate salami ($2), an Amadin cake ($3), a kreme ($3) and the cheese pocket ($1.75). We split them up later and they were all delicious, but I was especially fond of the kreme, which had flaky layers of pastry dough filled with a creamy custardy concoction. 9.5
TDC: I too enjoyed the little taster plates we had put together with the four pastries. I also liked the kreme, felt the cheese pocket was a little drier than I’d like, but really liked the taste of the chocolate salami, which was somewhat like a tightly rolled chocolate jelly roll with a creamy center instead of jelly. 8.5
The rest: 18/20
OG: When I’ve walked by Lala’s, I thought there was basically a pastry counter and that was it. I was surprised as the restaurant stretched back a ways and was larger than I imagined. The walls are decorated with what I assume to be Hungarian tchotchkes, the effect being that of an ethnic urban bistro. We ordered at the counter and our meals were brought to us by owner Ladislau Lala who seems to run pretty much a one-man show. 9
TDC: Being that Lala’s looks really small from the Elm Street sidewalk, I also expected to walk in and find a small counter with maybe two or three tables, but I was pleasantly surprised. There seemed to be at least 10 tables and they weren’t on top of each other. 9
Value: 18/20
OG: The prices at Lala’s are quite reasonable and the portions generous. You can get by without spending a lot of money and still be rewarded with a good hot, filling meal. I could easily have had just the soup or just the goulash — and the pastries, of course — and been perfectly content. 9
TDC: For a lunch, either of the soups and the homemade rolls served with them would be plenty, making it a great cheap eat. Lunch meals run from $6.25 for a garden salad with chicken up to $12.95 for the pork tenderloin, so there’s something for every budget. They also serve breakfast with the most expensive item being $4. 9
TOTAL: 89/100
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