Hungarian Chef Viktor Merényi impressed judges with his authentic cuisine from his native country during the Fourth Embassy Chef Challenge held at Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center.

“It was the local indigenous products,” Merényi said. “The amount of different flavors.” He says this is what set him aside from the other chef’s dishes.

Merényi was ranked number one among his competition from other Washington embassies: Korea, China, Morocco, Iraq, Georgia, Bahamas, Norway, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Jamaica, Japan, and Kazakhstan.

The Commonwealth of the Bahamas stood out by serving beer from its island. It was a hit among guests who paid $250 to have a taste of the world for two-in-a-half hours.

Last year’s winner was Danish Chef Lars Beese. This year Chef Sondre Bruvik won as Beese’s challenger with his Norwegian dish and guests voted Bahamian Chef Devin E. Johnson best dish.

“The people choice is the most important to me,” Chef Johnson, said. “There’s hundreds of people that vote and only a few judges.”