Cseri Miklós (szerk.): A Resti. Skanzen füzetek 5. (Szentendre, Szabadtéri Néprajzi Múzeum, 2011)

vermicelli, meat on a separate plate and the marrow-bone on a small plate were brought to the table. In such a restaurant a menu was set up for lunch and an other one for dinner. Fish soup of Szeged, veal stew with rice or roasted lamb with plum - whatever the guest choose. These were the real railway restaurants, called by the people 'resti'. The resti of every town had its speciality. White table-cloths were changed for checked ones after World War II - but good meals and drinks were served. The zone-stew, the roll with wiener schnitzel and the rissole refer to a new the period in the history of the resti. And then, the same thing happened to the resti, as happened to the railway... Stained table-cloths, less and less cooked food, the draught beer has disappeared, a wine of poor quality poured in the spritzer. Coke has replaced the syrup. If there is still a resti at all - because the resti's close down one after the other. They disappear. I remember, a few years ago, as a student I used to travel to Debrecen. While waiting for the connection in Füzesabony in the impressive station designed by Ferenc Pfaff, we were rewarded with rissole, washed down with spritzer and Unicum (the Hungarian bitters). - The restis close down, or they are replaced by refreshment bars, where wooden tables and chairs are replaced by plastic furniture and slot-machines took over the entertaining. And the food... The choice is no more between roast beef or zone-stew. Chips and peanuts represent the assortment. Sure, this cannot be called resti any more...