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“Are you ready to sacrifice yourself?” This is the opening question from Cafe Transylvania owner Kate Balazs, who then sits at our table to talk through her extensive menu of Romanian and Hungarian specialties.

We joyously contemplate goulash, tripe soup, stuffed cabbage and house-made sausages, then she springs up to fetch a mysterious black liqueur and pours each of us a thimbleful. It’s a guessing game that ends with cake (if we guess correctly) or push-ups (if we get it wrong). We fail: Kate, I promise I did my 20 reps.

The ebullient restaurateur then pulls out an atomiser and sprays peach brandy into our mouths: a palate cleanser.

I am struck afresh by the endless wonder of dining out. Simply by driving 40 kilometres south-east of the city to outer suburban Hallam and pushing through a door into a modest shopfront, it’s possible to enter into another reality that has been painstakingly, avidly created as an expression of culture and the urge
to share. It’s beautiful and special.

Kate and Imre Balazs are from Transylvania in central Romania, land of Gothic castles and brown bears. They moved to Hungary, where they owned a restaurant, then came to Melbourne 17 years ago. Perceiving a gap, hankering for the taste of home, they opened this quirky cafe, deli and daytime restaurant in 2017.

Everything is cooked from scratch. Kate reveals that her kitchen cracks 720 eggs a week, just to make all the cakes.

The Balazs have put in all the hard work so I am indeed happy to sacrifice myself at their altar of fine food. Soft red capsicum stuffed with herbed pork mince is served with rich ladlefuls of soupy tomato and a dollop of sour cream. Stewed chicken is smothered in paprika-scented mushroom sauce; we have mashed potato but you might prefer polenta.

Garlicky cevapi – a skinless sausage, made with pork or lamb and beef – took Imre two years to perfect – time well spent.

Kate watches me eat her cabbage rolls because she wants to witness my eyes glazing in delight. Obligingly, I am overcome by the tart pickle of the cabbage and sweet melded flavours of the meat. It’s all honest and hearty.

Sacrificing myself for cake is a hobby, but even I am overwhelmed by the dessert cabinet. Rum-soaked brioche is piled with cream. Walnut meringue and lemon buttercream are layered to create the iconic Esterhazy cake. Dobos cake is a delicate arrangement of vanilla sponge and chocolate cream. And there are
rumballs, profiteroles and vanilla slice. Those 720 eggs are certainly put to excellent use.

Cafe Transylvania is a marvel, an expression of eastern European comfort food that’s pure pleasure. Bookings highly recommended.