A lot of travel destinations claim good food. And as a matter of fact, testing different cuisines is probably my most preferred method of exploring a new place. What better way to acquaint yourself with your surroundings than by snagging a snack from a street vendor, and then sitting on the curb and watching the world go by as you savour it? Or stumbling across that tiny cafe tucked inside an unassuming alley…the one that just so happens to boast the best cappuccinos and pastries in town?
A few weeks ago, I met up with my friend Kerry in Budapest, and I had been well-prepared for the culinary delights that awaited us. My friend Paula, who is Hungarian, had armed me with a list of ‘must-eats,’ and I was ready for the challenge. From paprika chicken and goulash to lángos and dobos torte, we had our work cut out for us. I also had a list of suggestions from the ever-ready travel guide known as…Pinterest. So needless to say, we wasted no time getting started upon arrival! After a few hours of exploring, we stumbled across a pub containing what is possibly the most well-known Hungarian dish…
Paprika chicken (tasted a lot better than it looks)
With that first meal complete, we started the ball (of gastronomic delights) rolling and just kind of…kept on going. I know it sounds trite to say that every morsel we put in our mouths was delectable. I hate it when people over-idealize anything about a travel destination (food, scenery, culture, whatever) while everyone who is forced to listen rolls their eyes behind their backs. And of course, not every single thing we ate was incredible. But believe me when I say that mostly, it was. It just was.
On Day 2, our itinerary included a stop at Gelarto Rosa, a tiny gelato shop known for sculpting ice creamy roses of all colour combinations. It was conveniently located directly across from the St. Stephen’s Basilica, one of our destinations for the day. So after stopping in the church to ooh and ahh at its breathtaking architecture, we made a beeline for some gelato roses. Only afterwards did I realize that I should have picked more interesting colours than cream and…white. Oops. Kerry’s rose, however, was definitely Pinterest-worthy.
As you can see, the weather was not exactly cooperating with our vision of a leisurely gelato in the sunshine. We decided to combat the chilly winds and threatening rain-clouds with a visit to one of Budapest’s most well-known spa baths. After soaking up enough steam and natural hot spring waters to warm up sufficiently, we re-hydrated with a lemonade in the park. And yes, even the lemonade in this city is spectacular…
The sun came out!
We took a break for a bit as our stomachs were protesting from an overload of calorific combos , but were back at it in full force the next day with one of the biggest ticket items on our list: the Great Market Hall. For those of you from Vancouver, the Great Market Hall is a combination of Granville Island and a food festival at BC Place. It basically has loads of stalls with kitschy tourist stuff for sale, as well as a lot of cool handmade items. And then you turn the corner and reach the food section, and immediately forget about anything that came before. A smorgasbord of treats and specialties were on offer, and we decided to sample as much as we possibly could. As we hopped from stall to stall and piled our plates, we were sure that we wouldn’t be able to eat everything, but somehow we managed to. I wanted to stop at a few points, but there are moments in life where you just need to persevere…
In no particular order: goulash, cabbage roll, potato/sausage/cheese combo
And somehow, by a sheer miracle of the human body, we found room for dessert…
Kerry meets “Walnut Dream Langos”…
We rolled walked out of the hall and back to our flat, our time in Budapest coming to a close. We only had a few hours before we had to catch our night train to Prague, but we had one final non-negotiable stop. Paula, who had given us many of the great recommendations for our trip, had basically said that if we only ate one thing in Budapest, it had to be a slice of dobos torte. As Wikipedia states, this little devil is “a Hungarian spongecake layered with chocolate buttercream and topped with caramel.” The amount of butter that apparently goes into it is ridiculous. Good thing calories are processed differently when you’re on vacation, right????
<photo thanks to Wikipedia>
Few cities can combine phenomenal food with affordable prices, but Budapest is one of the ones that manages it. It has not yet been tarnished with the paintbrush of mass tourism, and so has the rare added perk that the people putting the food in front of you are also usually serving up a genuine smile (as well as a potential commentary about the dish they are placing in front of you). The city is also refreshingly unpretentious. There are definitely more than your fair share of fancy dining opportunities…but what stands out in my mind are the little bakeries that dot so many corners, full of locals grabbing a pastry and a coffee on their way to work. Or the sharing of snacks on a park bench. A gelato in a courtyard. Or kicking off your shoes in a park and cracking that beer open while the sun streams down.
(ok, I cheated…this picture was taken in Prague 😉
Gypsy Broad Abroad 