Blue Danube Restaurant
“The Stuffed Cabbage melts in your mouth, it is so tender and the Chicken Paprikas is one my favorites.”
“Margaret and her husband have owned this restaurant for so many years I lost count.”
“The Saurbraten, stuffed cabbage, pierogies and spaetzel were the standouts in our entrees, but everything was enjoyable.”
Blue Danube Restaurant
Takes Reservations: Yes
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Bike Parking: Yes
Good for Kids: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
6 reviews
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Uch, I want to vomit.
My wife and I stopped in for a lunch today and left with the feeling that we ate very bad hospital food; overcooked, under-seasoned, over salted, and reheated over and over until the last sucker got the final serving.
I can't even begin to tell you how disappointed and (literally) nauseated I am with my meal at the Blue Danube. I love European food and I love little hole in the wall restaurants that time forgot. However, if they're serving crap food like Blue Danube is, it sort of cancels out those affinities.
The Mitetei appetizer was texture-less and odd-tasting and it appeared to have been microwaved. I don't think it was freshly prepared in their kitchen either. My wife's Mom, who is Romanian, makes Mitetei all the time. When it's made from scratch, properly seasoned and cooked on the grill, it's an amazing dish. The Blue Danube version is simply reheated garbage.
The goulash was another colossal disappointment. It's goulash, one of the simplest and most beloved of all Central European dishes. This one was heartbreakingly poor. It had a dull tan color with an overly thick sauce, zero flavors other than salt, and the meat was so fatty and tasted so "off" , there was no chance we could eat it. Also, no vegetables! Just very fatty meat and gloppy sauce.
We also got the Brussels sprouts with bacon as an accompaniment, which I assumed would be cooked in the oven to get everything nice and crispy. But no, they boiled it to death in broth, until it was near mush. What a shame. Could have been a great side.
The schnitzel was probably the best dish of the bunch, but still very, very sub par. It was very dry, lacked crispness, didn't have even a hint of seasoning, and the color was very light beige instead of a beautiful golden brown. A travesty if you love good schnitzel.
I'd like to say I feel bad about this vintage restaurant being disappointing or that maybe that it was just an off day or something. But based on the terrible quality of everything across the board, I have to assume that this is what they serve on a daily basis. That notion is really offensive to me as an aficionado of good German/European food and good food in general.
Absolutely the worst meal I've had in the area and one of the worst meals I've had in my life. This place needs a deep rethink as to where they go from here.
I have heard this family owned and operated restaurant referred to as a "Hidden Gem" and I agree completely. We enjoyed appetizers of homemade pierogies (which were divine with the sour cream!) and Turo Cscuza. I had never heard of Turo Cscuza before but our waitress encouraged us to try it and we were not disappointed. Noodles, cabbage, onion, bacon, sausage and feta cheese … a fabulous combination from Chef Peter. The serving was so large that I took some home to enjoy the next day, and my 10 year old son devoured it and said "when will you take ME to the Blue Danube??" We enjoyed Veal Oscar as a main course, and loved the "Bulls Blood", a dry Hungarian red wine. It appears that there are many regulars who come here and I completely understand why. I would recommend a reservation, although give walking in a try. You will not be disappointed.
It was difficult booking a last-minute reservation since this restaurant is small (about 12 tables), and is well known for the good food they serve there, and has a steady clientele of repeat diners.
The current family has operated the Blue Danube for 24 years. Prior to the Blue Danube, it operated for many years as the Transylvania Inn. It has always had the reputation for fine eastern European and continental cuisine.
After calling for our last-minute reservation, we received a call back from Margaret, who is the manager and a family member. Walking into the restaurant, we were greeted by Margaret, who was working at the corner of their small 5-seat bar. We were promptly seated at a table for two at the back of the restaurant.
Our server, Tina was quick to take our drink order. They have a small beer menu featuring several domestics, as well as some imported European beers. I'm not sure how Tina did it, but she managed to tell us about all of the specials, as well as many of the appetizers, all without referring to "crib notes" that could have been written on her hand, but weren't.
We took in the warmth and old world charm of the restaurant as we sipped our beers, looked at the menu and gave Tina our order. After enjoying one of the several awesome appetizers, I ordered the "Touch of Hunedoara." It included a sampling of stuffed cabbage, weiner schnitzel, mititei (Romanian sausage) and noodles with fried cabbage. The portions were generous so, claiming I had a doggie at home, I asked for a to-go container.
Even though I was totally stuffed, I managed to find room for the chocolate mousse cake. It was one of the very few items that they don't actually make in-house, but you'd never know it.
After topping our dinners off with a flute of champagne, sadly it was time to leave. With ambiance screaming "old world," European-inspired dishes at a very reasonable price, and service that is hard to find these days, we'll definitely be back.
Central European food is not attractive to look at, but if prepared properly, it is wonderful to eat, and Blue Danube does it right. This sort of food is not available in abundance, not for dinner, in a comfortable sit-down restaurant (there's certainly great Polish food in North Trenton, but they're more lunch places). I've been a few times over the years, most recently, about a month ago, and the food was great – every last bit of it.
I am a big supporter of Trenton; I spent many years living there, and still have many loved ones there, so I don't even listen to people when they talk about how "scary" the place is. Big stinking babies. Don't buy drugs, and chances are you won't run into any trouble in Trenton. Easy peasy. The Danube, though, is located in a slightly out-of-the way and run-down side street of the city, in what is now primarily a residential district. And not everyone has the same ideas about lawn care in that part of town. So there's that. But it is a quiet neighborhood with a lot of families, as opposed to knuckleheads, which is a plus. But the differing standards about the proper length of grass isn't really helping the Blue Danube. Not their fault though.
My thoughts about the decor are subjective, so take them for what they're worth: the place has a lot of old world charm. But, to me, it's dated, tired, even though many of the details (stained glass lamps) are pretty. I would not mind seeing a bit of an overhaul, design-wise. But I doubt that will happen – Trenton's restaurant district is not the same as it used to be, and I suspect the Danube, like nearly all of the other restaurants, will be heading to the suburbs soon. On one hand, it's painful to watch that happen, but on the other, I would be really excited to see how this particular restaurant reinvents itself. Anyway, I'm deducting a star for the outdated interior.
Everything else about this restaurant is great. Service is helpful, timely. And the food is such a treat – it's hard to find such delicious pierogies, stuffed cabbage, homemade sausage and noodlen, and chicken paprikash. Oh, and they make a Romanian meatball soup that's a must-try as well. Prices, for the most part, are in the $12-20 range per entree, per person — not cheap. But the food itself is not only a novelty, but it's, as mentioned, delicious, and the portions are big. It's definitely worth the drive into Trenton!
We waltzed into the Blue Danube just before 7 on a Saturday night during Christmas Week, and were immediately seated without rez at a very cozy table for two along a back wall that felt very private. The layout of the restaurant reminds of many other old Chambersburg establishments that set up a kitchen in an old row house. While not in that part of Trenton, it is close enough to offer the same sensation. It was do doubt done in the 60's or 70's, and has all the charm you would expect from a deeply urban environment at a time when Trenton was still an All American City. Sadly, those days are history.
The staff is friendly and helpful, and quickly understood that we were first-timers who needed a brief guided tour through the menu. Although my grandparents came from this part of the Old World, our being kosher kept us from sampling most of the better offerings from a Budapest or Viennese kitchen. We ordered the Danube Sampler, consisting a Pierogies, Stuffed Cabbage, Sausage, and curly Noodles, all in their appropriate sauces. As an appetizer it was a good introduction to several tastes we would not otherwise reach in one meal. The star of the plate was the Stuffed Cabbage; tender cabbage and soft ground beef and pork mix with rice, with a mild sweetness that was most enjoyable. The Pierogies were also soft with a potato/cheese filling and nice Sautéed Onion topping. The special sausage was a very small piece, but that was just as well as the flavor was a bit odd to my tongue and would take some getting used to.
Our entrée was a shared Pork Schnitzel and Brown Sauce with a side of the same noodles. It was quite good, but not particularly unique in any way. The Brown Sauce was ladled on a bit heavy, perhaps diluting the taste of the breading and pork.
There was some confusion about our order, but our server handled it well, and we ended up with a free glass of wine to make up for it. That was reasonable.
Bottom Line – We really enjoyed the atmosphere of Blue Danube, and the wait staff. The food was good, but not great. The standout was the Stuffed Cabbage, with the Pierogies a close second. I would not rush back to try more things on the menu, but if someone suggested a good East European dinner, I would not hesitate to recommend a return visit.
"Interesting" is the key word. We'd read about the place so when passing through NJ we made a reservation and a special stop for dinner a while back. It certainly isn't a place that anyone would just happen to walk by and find on a residential block, so clearly everyone who came had made a special trip. There was one very hard working waitress who couldn't possibly meet everyone's needs (for example, when one older gentleman knocked over his beverage it was up to him and his wife to clean it up). We've had our fair share of potato pancakes, and theirs was passable; the soup and salad that came with the dinner were quite acceptable. The main plates themselves left a bit to be desired; the first item on the menu, "Old World Classics," "Pete's Choice" for example, certainly had lots of food on it, but the flavor (or lack thereof) of the "filet mignon" chicken, mittei (beef sausage), and sea of vegetables were something of an acquired taste, or perhaps they needed to acquire taste! For dessert, however, the Savarina was distinctly lacking in the promised rum, although the small wine list was a good value. We wouldn't go back for the food, but for a mid-1950's American experience that time has somehow passed by Blue Danube makes the list.