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Citadella Restaurant in the Rocky Mountain Springs Lodge offers such a stunning panorama of the Valley that owner Steven Zoltan calls it his million-dollar view. Guests on Citadella’s patio are treated to the vista as they enjoy the Hungarian fare for which the restaurant is known.
“We have a beautiful view on the top of a hill. That’s why people like to come here – and the food,” he said. “We have an unobstructed bird’s eye view of the Rockies from our balcony… We are very high up so we are above the trees so it’s a very nice view because we can see all of Radium from up here and the mountains… It’s very quiet and we have a lot of hummingbirds and we just don’t even know we are in a town.”
Citadella Restaurant is not only in town: at 5067 Madsen Road it’s just a two-minute drive up from the intersection of Highway 95 and Highway 93.
Sixteen years ago when Mr. Zoltan heard the venue was available, he snapped it up.
“I like people and I like helping the customers and I like serving. I serve with my wife (Edith Fazakas)… We are Hungarians so we are specializing in Hungarian food.”
Their offerings include cabbage rolls, goulash soup, chicken paprikash, crepes and more. They also serve standard fare that ranges from steak to pasta and can prepare vegetarian, gluten free and lactose free meals. Plus they are fully licensed.
With so many options, Mr. Zoltan can’t choose just one favourite dish.
“It’s hard to decide. Everything is very good,” he said. “The beef stew is very famous. The chicken paprikash is one of the favourites… Everybody loves Hungarian food. It’s very good. We have plenty of repeat customers. Everybody who comes to eat, they all love it, so they all come back.”
Their chef, Andrew Szabo, is also from Hungary. While Mr. Szabo works in a popular restaurant in London, England, he is preparing the food at Citadella Restaurant this summer.
Mr. Szabo came from a family of chefs; mother and grandmother were chefs themselves. He learned the trade young at home and also studied as a chef and a pastry chef.
“He makes excellent desserts too. Somloi Galushka (trifle) is our most famous one,” said Mr. Zoltan. “He likes the mountains and he really likes what he is doing so we have really, really good food.”
