Budapest Food
When it comes to the world's finest cuisine, Hungary does not spring to mind quite as readily as French, Italian or Thai. However, Budapest in recent years has been undergoing something of a culinary renaissance, keen to prove that there's more to the country's cuisine than goulash.
Gastronomic progress aside, however, Budapest cuisine is still fairly traditional, with a heavy reliance on the Hungarian staples of paprika, sour cream, onions, eggs, butter and wine, not to mention plenty of meat. Magyar cuisine is traditionally cheap and is served in large portions, which can be an advantage to the tourist on a budget, although diners may wish for smaller portions of some of Hungary's heavier dishes. That said, Hungarian chefs are slowly moving away from some of the stodgier staples and their reliance on lard is definitely declining, to the delight of more international palates.
Throughout the city menus are typically printed in both German and English and restaurants are legally required to clearly list all prices. However, diners, especially tourists, should check their bill carefully, as it is not uncommon for restaurants to deliberately overcharge.
Vegetarians may find they struggle in Budapest, as meat features heavily in almost all savoury dishes. The number of vegetarian restaurants is far fewer than in many other European cities and those that do exist tend to be a little joyless, following in the Paris vein that all vegetarians must be lentil-munching teetotallers. When in mainstream restaurants, veggies should look out for fried mushrooms, Trappist cheese in breadcrumbs and egg dishes.
International cuisine has infiltrated Budapest in recent years, with hungry travellers now able to enjoy everything from Chinese to Italian and Russian to Mexican. For the truly unadventurous, there are also a small number of American chain-style restaurants.
Coffee house culture is strong in Budapest and the city provides a low cost but equally authentic alternative to Vienna in this respect. Many of the city's traditional 19th century coffeehouses have closed, but a few remain, or at least are faithful at recreating the traditional atmosphere. New York and Gerbeaud are among the houses that come highly recommended. Hungarians are big coffee drinkers and drink strong, black espressos regularly throughout the day. Milky coffee is available on request, while teahouses are also becoming popular, especially among younger urbanites. Budapest also has an abundance of patisseries catering for sweet-toothed travellers. Traditional Hungarian cakes are appetising, if rich, with strudels, stuffed pancakes and pastries also popular.
Bar culture has not taken off in Hungary the way it has in cities such as Berlin, although there are still many opportunities for drinking. Budapest's wine cellars and beer halls have changed little in the past 40 years, leaving them either unpretentious or unsophisticated, depending on your point of view. Beer is less popular than wine and spirits, while wine is often served with soda for a Hungarian take on a spritzer.
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Eating and Drinking
