Where and what to eat in Budapest. How much does it cost to eat? List of points on the map

Have you ever heard of kołacz, langosz, Hungarian-style goulash? You've certainly come across at least one of these dishes here in Poland. 

As it turns out, our cuisine has borrowed some interesting dishes, which you may not even be aware that they come from our southern neighbors :) 

Budapest is full of beautiful places, cafes, pubs with live music and most importantly for wine lovers and wine bars where you can buy a glass of delicious Muscat for the equivalent of 5 zloty.

Fish soup - Halászlé

It is impossible to leave Hungary without trying the national dish - fish soup. Interestingly, it tastes different in every region. Different ingredients are used to brew it, which makes the reception of the dish always a great surprise. The soup will taste different at Lake Balaton and in the central part of the country, and the original one can only be made using a selected type of onions and peppers. To cook the soup, carp meat is most often used, but in addition you will meet other freshwater fish such as catfish, pike or zander in the composition. Bread is very often served with the soup. 

The cost of soup is about 950 HUF (about 12 PLN).

Budapest where to eat , map list of points, Hungary, kollel, fish soup, paprika,

Langosz

This dish is impossible to miss. You will meet it at every step, in different editions. It is fatty, warm, caloric and irresistible! :) Most often it is served in a version with garlic, or with sour cream and grated yellow cheese. In Budapest you will meet many "stalls" selling this delicacy. I recommend one on Mt. Gellert, and a stall by the name you'll find on the map attached to this post. Personally, I do not recommend langosz bought in the underground subway where you get pre-baked pancakes heated in the microwave. Such langosz is definitely less tasty and rubbery. Look for places where the pancakes are freshly baked, and you certainly won't regret it.

 The cost of langosz in the simplest version with garlic is about 650 HUF. A more "fancy" version with bacon, peppers, cheese, cream is about 1100 HUF.  (8 zł - 14 zł)

Lepeny

A type of Magyar pizza - baked in the form of a sandwich with cheese and sausage toppings. When I first ordered the dish I thought it was terribly small and I wouldn't eat it. Don't let the small form of these warm "sandwiches" fool you. By the fact that they are stuffed with yellow stringy cheese, cold cuts and other toppings, I guarantee that you will not leave the table hungry. My set came with crispy fries and ketchup.

The diner I visited had many other fancier versions of Lepena - such as with goose liver, Greek or Lepena with beef stew and chili. 

The cost of the dish ranged from 1700 HUF to 2250 HUF (21 - 28 PLN). 

Sausages with peppers and beer :) 

A moment's rest while exploring the city? Probably in Poland you would quickly take out a kabanos and snack on a roll (I do that ;P). In Hungary you can do the same with the south you can't do without sausage with a lot of paprika, which is why I was tempted by paraszt kolbasz - smoked pork sausage, which you can get in almost every grocery store.  

Chicken stew with handmade noodles and paprika sauce - different, but still Hungarian - and how! ;)

For the umpteenth day in Hungary, we had "tried" most of the readily available local dishes. During a tour of the Great Market Hall we got hungry. In the hall, in its upper part, you could find small "pubs" with fast food versions of local food, unfortunately they were heavily crowded and we decided to look for something with good reviews on the Internet. 

That's how we ended up at a place serving local cuisine, with pretty good service, moderate prices and photos of the dishes ;). I was tempted by the falusi csirkepörkölt házi galuskával. In free translation, chicken stew with noodles and tomato and bell pepper sauce covered with sour cream. The dish seems trivial, but as usual the spices do the job, and trying it with your eyes closed you could tell we were in Hungary.

For those interested in visiting the place, I throw up a direct link to the menu with photos and descriptions in several languages - Paprika Jancsi Étterem :)

The cost of the dish is about 2450 HUF (30 PLN). 

Hungarian "warm" delicacy kürtöskalács (kurtoszkołacz)

While visiting Budapest, we didn't have the opportunity to come across kürtöskalács too often. Nevertheless, when one was in the area, before we spotted it, we could first smell the peculiar, sweet aroma of baked yeast dough and sugar.

Kürtöskalács is a traditional Hungarian delicacy. It is increasingly appearing in Poland as well. I have personally encountered it in tourist destinations under the name "kołacz".

In general, it is a delicacy in the form of yeast dough, sold mainly (according to my observation) in the most crowded places - i.e. near the subway. It is baked over a live fire or, more and more often, in gas toasters - similar to those used for baking kebabs. 

The cost of kołacz depends mainly on the area in which we will buy it. The more touristy the more expensive. In the vicinity of the metro, away from the monuments, we bought them for about HUF 500 (PLN 6).

Everyone is familiar with the "Street Food" - from burgers, non-Legan fries, to vegan dishes. Meet Street Food Karavan Budapest 

It's evening, you're after a few beers, you don't feel like going into a "fancy" pub for dinner. You are thinking of eating something unhealthy, greasy, warm and nutritious. Yes - you need to go for streed fuda ;) 

Street Food Karavan Budapest - is located in a basin of so-called ruin bar's - near Szimpla Kert, which I wrote about in another dedicated article. Upon entering the area, you will be greeted by the smell of fried burgers, fries, bars with local, kraft beer and a large number of tables and loungers. I didn't notice any typically Hungarian food modifications on site. Most of the dishes are familiar from other similar places of this type. If you're not hungry, it's worth a look if only for the cool atmosphere and the look of this courtyard lit with colorful lanterns.

At the very top of the page you will find a Google map with marked places we visited or intended to visit but turned out to be closed, or it was out of our way to stop by. The map is the result of "internet analysis," that is, places that appear frequently as recommended by other travelers, but also our discoveries on the spot. I hope it will make it easier for you to get around the city.

If I were to sum up the topic of food in Budapest in one sentence: don't be afraid to experiment, Hungarian food is delicious and will definitely surprise you positively more than once!

Did you like my entry? Do you have comments? Please comment, it will be a suitable motivation for me to work further on the blog :) 

 

Czydaj dalej

Marcin

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6 things to bring back from Hungary and Budapest

Hungary, although located quite close to Poland, has a completely different climate, culture and cuisine. When visiting our neighbors, it is worth bringing products that are not readily available in our country or are much more expensive. 

I present to you our personal list of things worth bringing from Hungary. 

1. Hungarian white and red wine 

Hungary is a true kingdom when it comes to wine selection. Hungary is home to two regions known worldwide for the production of this beverage. We are talking about Eger, known for the production of Egri Bikaver red wine, and the Tokaj region where the unique sweet white wine - Tokaj - is produced.

In addition to the above-mentioned places, in principle, throughout the country you can find smaller wineries and wines from the so-called home production sold in plastic bottles, which are not inferior in taste to those with well-known labels. What's more, even "ordinary" Hungarian wines, which can be bought for 7-15 zlotys at popular discount stores such as Lidl, taste excellent and you will certainly find among them pearls for which you will have to pay much more in Poland.

More about Hungarian wines can be found in another post about our stay in Eger.

2 Paprika

Being in Hungary, it is impossible to come across the ubiquitous paprika. Someone who does not like the taste of paprika or is allergic to it, for example, will not have it easy because it is found in virtually every product. How surprised we were when, while shopping in the Hungarian Lidl - a store where we usually stock up in Poland - we noticed a lot of similar but different because enriched with paprika products. We could mention, for example, the cheese spread for sandwiches, which we knew only in versions with horseradish and chives, while in the south it was replaced by a version with paprika. The same is true, for example, of cold cuts which in most cases also have this additive. 

Hungarian paprika, market, hall, souvenirs from Hungary

When sourcing paprika in Hungary, it is worth remembering that the one called Erös is the spicy version and Édes the sweet and delicate version. Paprika is very often found in paste form in a jar or tube. The best known and most associated by Poles is Erös Pista - Strong Steak. Pastes, in addition to containing a lot of paprika, are also very salty. They are used in the preparation of dishes such as Halaszele, which I mentioned in my post about what to try in Hungary. 

Erös Pista - Strong Stefek Hungarian paprika, market, hall, souvenirs from Hungary

The history of this spice itself is very interesting, as it dates back to the time of John III Sobieski, when the blockade of the main sea routes caused pepper to stop reaching the country of the Magyars. The resourceful Hungarians began to replace it with paprika, which in turn was brought to Hungary by the Turks.

3. salami 

Salami very often "lands" on the tables of Hungarians as an ingredient of a typical local breakfast. Of course, very many of these cold cuts come in a version with paprika, which I personally recommend especially with beer :) 

The most famous Hungarian salami, however, is Pick Szeged, which is made from the meat of the Hungarian special breed of Mangalica hairy pig. What distinguishes it from other types of salami is that it is covered with a white coating, is cured and aged for a long time in cold air.

                                                                      Salami Pick Szeged

4. ceramics and lavender products from the Tikhany peninsula 

Almost everyone has heard or will hear at least once in their lives about Boleslawiec ceramics, which stand out from other such products because of their unique designs and shapes, which have been patented and cannot be used by other manufactures. The same is true of the Hungarian porcelain manufactory in Herend, which is located just 40 kilometers from the famous Tihany peninsula. In addition to traditional tableware, plates, sugar bowls, cups, this Hungarian manufactory has become famous for the fact that trophies in the shape of an ancient vase are produced there, with which the winners of the Hungarian Formula 1 Grand Prix are awarded. Among other things, in 2019. Lewis Hamilton received just such a statuette. The factory has also been producing awards for Japanese sumo and judo champions for more than 30 years. You can find more about Herend products and porcelain here.

As for the extremely charming lavender peninsula of Tihany itself, you will also come across a large number of stores and local ceramic manufacturers there, where their studios are located in thatched cottages where you are sure to find something that catches your eye.

Tikhany is also a "lavender kingdom" - which is best explored by going there between June 30 and July 1 - when the town holds a festival of lavender, which was brought to the place centuries ago by the Romans. Surrounding the town are fields, full of this unusually 

5. herbal liqueurs 

One of the world's more recognized herbal liqueurs - Uncjum - is made in Hungary, Budapest to be exact. Its label is impossible to fake. A red circle and on it a silver plus sign. 

In the composition of the liqueur you will find as many as forty varieties of herbs from the Pannonian Plain. The product is aged in an oak barrel for at least 6 months. Its color is dark brown. The taste itself is original and will certainly not appeal to all gourmets as it is bitter. In addition, it has a specific herbal and spicy taste. The amount of alcohol is 40%. In the beginning, Uncjum was only available in pharmacies, but over time liquor stores began to sell it. To this day, Uncjum can be found in pharmacies which may seem rather strange :) 

In stores we will meet a lot of "substitutes" and other alternative manufacturers of similar liquors. 

Especially those in mini bottles resembling our Polish "monkeys" catch the eye. If you're not convinced that it's worth bringing such a souvenir from Hungary, it's definitely worth stocking up on the mini version.

6 Strasbourg pate, foie gras

a product about which there is a lot of noise not only in Poland but also around the world due to the controversy aroused by the production method of this dubious delicacy. In Poland, its sale and production was introduced in 2000. Hungary is among the few countries where this ban has not been introduced. This means that you can make a stock of this peculiarity. I personally decided not to buy it and bring it back because of the way this product is made. 

Well, ducks or geese are force-fed through a long furore put into their throats with very large amounts of feed. In the long term, this causes the livers of the animals to swell and enlarge up to tenfold resulting in great suffering and pain. The so-called cirrhosis of the liver is formed. It allegedly makes foie gras pate exceptionally good.

Czydaj dalej

Marcin

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