The delicious, traditional Hungarian cuisine is the mirror of this country’s climate, fascinating history and rich culture, ethnic influences, but also influences of its neighbors and other countries. Over the centuries, the traditional food recipes have been passed down from parents to children, such as the famous goulash soup. The individual ingredients have been occasionally changed and recipes adapted with time, influenced by the Ottomans, French, Italians, and numerous other nations throughout history, and new foods from all parts of the world entered Hungarian kitchens. Yet, the traditional dishes remained. If you’re want to try Hungarian goulash, the famous fishermen’s soup, vadas – hunter’s stew, paprikash, green pea stew, cabbage rolls, and much more, here are some restaurants you should visit.
Szegedi Halászcsárda
If you’re up for some finger-licking túrós csusza or Catfish fritters with onion rings, make sure to grab a table in this lovely, characteristically Hungarian restaurant next to the Danube River. You’ll find that the portions are generous and not overpriced. If you can eat one thing here, then it’s got to be the Hungarian fisherman’s soup, made Szeged-style, with soft fillets of carp in a thick, slightly spicy fish broth with ground paprika, which takes some time and work to prepare well. If fish dishes are not your thing, no problem. Have some lamb, a cheese platter, cottage cheese noodles with pork cracklings, a vegetarian meal, a dessert out of their large selection, or something else from the menu.
Rosenstein Restaurant
Leave the city center and you’ll find a family-run restaurant that serves some of the best traditional Hungarian and Hungarian-Jewish food in this amazing city. It is not kosher though, but there are vegan, vegetarian, and gluten-free meals available. However, it’s best to reserve a table before arriving. Come for some tasty goulash soup and stuffed cabbage, then try some beef stew called ‘pörkölt’, chicken and/or catfish paprikash, and flódni dessert. If you’d like to try some traditionally prepared meats, fried lamb and various veal and wild game dishes are on the menu. Patrons of this restaurant praise its must-have matzah ball soup and cholent that takes hours of slow-cooking to get just right and flavorful.
Gettó Gulyás
You’ll find this gem of traditional Hungarian cuisine inside one of the city’s most beautiful and oldest, as well as the most vibrant districts, the old Jewish Quarter. This place is quite popular with tourists, and you’ll need to reserve a table. Enjoy its wonderfully decorated interior and Hungary’s many classic creamy, soupy, goulashy, and stewy delights. Though the menu is not long, it offers the most traditional of meals, such as goulash, chicken paprikash, beef stew, meat with potatoes, and túrógombóc dessert – the foods you must try at least once if you’re in Hungary. You can also have a vegan, vegetarian, or gluten-free mail, or a traditional meal with a slight modern twist to it.
Pozsonyi Kisvendéglő Restaurant
So you want a traditional, large-sized Hungarian meal in a family-style restaurant with classic red-and-white checkered tablecloths, and away from the tourist-heavy streets of downtown? We got you. You’ll find this restaurant in a lovely location with tables placed outside during the summer for you to enjoy the weather. This is the type of place where middle-class local families go out to eat, as it’s cozy and cheaper than downtown diners. What to eat here? There are over a hundred options, so you can try many traditional dishes here. The goulash, paprikash, and pörkölt stews are proven must-tries. Also try some egg dumplings, túrógombóc cottage cheese dumplings, slow-cooked beef and bread dumplings in sweet-sour vegetable sauce, schnitzels with potatoes, and Hungarian crêpe palacsinta.
Tüköry Étterem
This is a charming place popular with both tourists and locals alike, with hearty and tasty meals, located in the downtown area. Opened in 1958, its interior has barely been touched, maintaining its wood wall panels and wooden booths, red-and-white checkered tablecloths, tables outside for a pleasant lunch in the summer evenings, traditional recipes for its dishes, and reasonable prices. When it comes to ordering, we recommend the pörkölt beef stew, various schnitzel-dishes, turkey with spinach, Hungarian pancakes with chocolate sauce and ground walnuts, among other yummy meals.
Huszár Étterem
Located outside the center of Budapest, this lovely restaurant serving local cuisine is named after the Hungarian light cavalry soldiers. It is visited by tourists, but it’s the type of place at which Hungarian families go to eat a homemade, freshly cooked, filling lunch for a reasonable price. The dishes are strictly traditional, such as the tasty goulash, pörkölt, chicken paprikash, beef or chicken stew with mashed potatoes, and gesztenyepüré – a puree of sweetened chestnuts with whipped cream. There are many mouth-watering foods available, and you are bound to find something you like. As the place gets full quickly, especially on the weekends, it’s better to book a table – which is generally a good idea in Budapest.
Bon appetite! Jó étvágyat!
