Category Archives: Budapest restaurants

Náncsi Néni

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On Tuesday night we went to Náncsi Néni, which is a Hungarian restaurant in Budapest’s second district. In my previous post I called it a Hungarian kitchen, which is probably more accurate, because the intention is to provide quality, home-cooked Hungarian classic meals the way that grandma used to make. Of course our family is lucky, since we all have Hungarian grandmothers. But if you aren’t as fortunate, you should definitely make the journey out into the Buda hills to try this fantastic restaurant.

My parents have been hearing about the food here for two years, so Náncsi Néni was a good option to take them away from the unfortunate lack of traditional-style Hungarian cooking in the tourist capital.

The table was covered with candles, cloth and fresh herbs: citrom and oregano. Soon after sitting down, we ordered pálinka as a welcoming drink and a few bottles of wine.

The Hortobágyi palacsinta was a big hit.  It’s basically a chicken paprikas stuffed into a crepe.  How’s that for a Hungarian description!

All of the food was amazing. Among the group, we had fois gras, gulyas soup, catfish paprikas, trout, duck, breaded chicken and turkey with various potatoes and veggies. And for desert we passed round two different palacsintas (crepes). One had peaches inside and the other was chocolate with cream.

And even though they thought it was a little “strong” at first, everyone really enjoyed the pálinka. Of course, after the first one, the rest go down quite easily!

The wine highlight of the night was definitely a red “Bull’s Blood” from the incredible St. Andrea winery. It was a 2007 and the wine is called “Blessing”. While everyone seemed to enjoy it, we would be in store for many more of St. Andrea’s wonderful creations the next day during our trip to Eger and a private wine tasting at the winery.

First Pálinka

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Last night we went to Náncsi Néni, which is a fantastic little Hungarian kitchen in the Buda hills.  I will write more about it in another post, including some tempting food shots, but this post is about something more important: my Mom’s first pálinka shot.

Pálinka is a very common welcoming drink in Hungary.

It is fruit brandy, and can range in flavors and strengths. At our table, Györgyi ordered us plum and apricot pálinka.

It took a minute for her to react.

I call this the pálinka shoulder shake.

And you probably wont’t believe me,

but after it was over, she had another one. And liked it!

Summer Rides

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Even though the summer heat has been really brutal the last few weeks (over 100 this weekend in Szeged), Györgyi and I haven’t missed out on a few really nice Friday evening bike rides. A bike is definitely the best way to see the city. In five minutes you can go from the top of the castle to St. Stephen’s Basilica, from Buda to Pest and into all of the secret nooks in between.

I have a feeling that throughout the history of Budapest, the square in front of the basilica probably hasn’t seen that many Marin Co. California beach cruisers like the one Györgyi rides. It looks good here, though.

There is an irresistible fountain next to Szabadság ter (Freedom Square) near the American embassy.

Every time I’ve gone by in in the last few weeks there are kids emerging, soaked, from the fountain innards, or disappearing behind its high wall of water.

It’s another great example of interactive public art in Hungary. And on a hot day, even the most proper people stick a leg or arm in. I road through about halfway during the afternoon. It was deliriously refreshing.

After dinner, we road to Duna Park, which is just a few blocks from our apartment, to have an ice cream sunday. Duna Park is home to the city’s most expensive club sandwich, which naturally and shamefully I adore. It’s also where all of the sunglassed Hungarian celebrities hang out. It’s like the Hungarian Ivy. But all of the starstruck mystique is lost on me because I don’t really know who they are, except for Fenyő Miklós, who lives nearby and is always there in his orthopedic training shoes and who Györgyi describes as the Hungarian Elvis.

Our last stop of the night was at Holduvar, the restaurant/beer garden on Margit Island. We ordered two large Fröccs, (pronounced fruch). It’s a favorite Hungarian summery drink that dates back to the late 19th century when Ányos Jedlik invented soda water.  Yes, a Hungarians invented soda water (and Vitamin C and the hologram and the ball point pen and genius hair and the ability to catch a cold from an open bus window).

Fröccs is a combo of wine and soda water. I have to pause here for a second because I’m guessing my mom probably just passed out hard reading about the sacrilege that is to combine wine and water (except in church).  BUT, it’s actually quite good and a perfect summer drink.

We stayed for just one drink before biking home. And it was enough. By about 11:30 all of the underage American kids had snuck out of their hostels and were piling around the bar in their hammar pants and American Apparel dresses. As soon as the first girl asked the bartender, “Do ya’ll have Sex on the Beach?” in her perfect Georgia accent, we were outta there.  That’s summer in the city. Kind of great all around.

Bike Night

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Friday evening I met Györgyi at her office in the Chain Bridge Palace. It was my first full weekend with my new bike and I wanted to take advantage of hitting a few of our old favorite haunts in one long, summer night out on the town.

We rode up the castle to a little back alley beer pub right next to the Labyrinth on Uri u. It has four tables and they are almost never occupied, except by locals, despite the tourist attraction next door. This is probably due to the fact that there are several big touristy pubs closer to the main castle roads. But with the lack of tourists also comes the lack of tourist prices, so it’s a pleasant place to sit for an hour before dinner. I haven’t been there for two summers, so it was really nice to go back.

We road back down around 7 in order to make it to dinner by our reservation time. In July, the sun brushes Buda with the most incredible light. From this view, we could see Fisherman’s Bastion just peaking out of the greenery. And gliding down the castle road was the best cure for the evening heat that lingered all the way through dusk.

We had dinner at Iguana, local TexMex eatery. Luckily we called for a table just in time, because about 10 minutes after we arrived, the whole place was full. Györgyi is deep in thought here about whether we should have a shot of Tequila. We did. But just one. We didn’t want to fall into the river on our bike home.

Iguana is one of the only places in the city where you never hear anyone speaking Hungarian. This might have something to do with the fact that the American embassy is right next door, though American and Brit ex-pats and visitors are really skilled at sniffing out the Mexican joints in just about any town.

For our last stop of the night, we pulled into a riverboat two blocks from our apartment for a night cap. The sun had set and the sky and water were competing blue hues. It was nice to sit on a boat a little further away from the center of town, because the only noise you could really hear was the splashing water against the boat, the chatter beginning at the bars on the island, and the faint sound of the Roma fiddles as the dinner cruise boats passed the docks.

Only a few things lit the sky by the time we left. The dimming restaurant sign, missing the letters R and E, the kayak docks on Margit Island, and the tiny glow of the river bugs, which from a distance, you might confuse with stars.

Vári Cukrászda

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Well the season is upon us again.  Ice Cream Season! And as soon as the temperature flopped above about 65 F, Hungarians and the rest of us luckies living here marched the the nearest cukrászda for a scoop. Or two.

Based on Marci’s recommendation we drove alllllllllllllllll the way out to District 16 to go to Vári Cukrászda. Keep in mind that there are about 15 cukrászdas in our district alone, so to leave for the outskirts was a major test of our desire to have a good scoop. When we saw the little shanty building busting at its indoor and outdoor seams with people, we knew we had found the right place.


Once we made it to the front of the line the exact wonder of the tantalizing flavors was revealed. From the berry to the savory, their award-winning bio-milk only ice cream all looked beautiful. I had some kind of mint and chocolate scoop and a scoop of arabian coffee. Györgyi had a fig and a scoop of rhubarb, which she thinks is called Rhubarbara in English (like a proper lady).

This is not a white gloves service kind of place, so if you want that, stay in District V. But for maybe the best ice cream in Budapest (I know, I know, those are fighting words) visit Vári Cukrászda. Enjoy the flavors, the atmosphere and (finally!) this gorgeous weather.

Vári Cukrászda
1162 Budapest, Szlovák u. 86
+36 (1) 409-5107

BRAINS!

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I have been meaning to write about my lovely birthday dinner all week, but I’ve been distracted by the torrents of rain and trying to catch up on work. I keep hearing the song “I Need A Dollar” by Aloe Blacc. Probably because I listen to it about 20 times a day.  Who’s watching the HBO show How To Make It In America? I just adore that show.  But I digress.

Last Friday we went to Iguana, the closest thing Budapest has to a Tex Mex restaurant, a tradition I really miss from my American birthdays (and also the other 51 weekends of the year).

Iguana is a pretty good cantina-style joint. The food is good and the drinks are good and I won’t write a review about it here because considering the amount of American and British accents I heard last Friday, I’m sure that if you live here and are reading this blog, you’ve already been there. Really, I didn’t hear one Hungarian word all night.

We had a nice mix of foods, and the drinks from a few pictures above were called Bloody Brains, which Zsolt insisted that we order. They were delicious and fun and about 1/2 the price of the mid-grade tequila. Plus they felt creepy and brainy in the mouth, which was a selling point for me! Flavor? Sweet with a woody after-bite.  Mouth feel?  Brainy.

The japapeno poppers were especially delicious. I love this picture because of Györgyi’s creeping shadow going in for another kill. We didn’t take pictures of all of the food because the lighting was bad. And our hands were full…

At least we kept our promise to not mix drinks.

The night was such a blast though. Zsolt and Szilvi gave me two tickets to attend a beer academy! And I am seriously going to add this course to my CV once we’ve attended. And Marci and his girlfriend Ági were also able to make it, even though Marci was stuck in Szeged most of the day.

It was honestly one of the best birthday dinners I’ve ever had. And just so I wouldn’t forget my previous brush with important lessons of cake candle fire safety—

A birthday candle that really announced its presence.

Bean Soup and Robert Capa

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Because we were already in City Park at the zoo, we decided to walk over to Pántlika, which is a little retro restaurant/beer garden, and a throwback to the socialist era.  In the 70s, it was an information building handing out socialist propaganda information, and from the air, it is designed to look like the red star.  But it’s still more retro-style than good-old-days-propaganda.  They play fantastic music and have a very hip inside.  Even their website is cool.

Even though it’s technically in City Park and close to the Szechenyi Baths, zoo, Hero’s Square, museums, etc., it’s not something that your average tourist would just stumble upon because it’s a little further out of the way.  But it is definitely worth going to, even if it seems like a locals-only joint.  They speak English, the decor is totally retro-fab and the food (at least what we had) was very good.  And because it’s set in the woods, a fall outing is the perfect time to go.

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They claim to have the best bean soup in the city, so that is what I ordered, and it was excellent.  There is an option to add meat, so I might try that next time, but as far as bean soups go, this is the best I’ve had.  And how can anything suffer from the addition of little dumplings?!  Györgyi was going to also get soup.  Then she saw the neighbor table order the sausage and potatoes, and so her little Hungarian heart guided her to her choice.  Debreceni sausages, potatoes with sour cream and cheese.  Pretty much the most Hungarian lunch you can have, and she said it was also excellent.

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After lunch, we headed over to the Ludwig Museum to see the Robert Capa exhibition.  We were kind of tired, but it was the last weekend that the exhibition was open, and we definitely didn’t want to miss it.  And I’m glad that we didn’t.  I obeyed the rules and didn’t take pictures inside of the museum, but you may recognize these famous Capa photographs:

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Robert Capa was arguably one of the best war photographers of the 20th century.  He was born in Budapest in 1913 as Endre Ernő Friedmann.  After being arrested in 1932 in Budapest for being an anti-government protester, he eventually moved to Paris where he adopted the American-sounding Robert Capa name (in Hungarian, cápa means shark).

He was with the first soldiers who stormed the beaches of Normandy on D-Day, and heroically captured it on film (along with 5 other wars).  The exhibit was fascinating and silencing.  Especially the prints of the “blurry” D-Day photographs.  I didn’t know it, but the reason why the photographs are blurry (like the one on the left, which was the cover of Life Magazine), was because in the haste to get the photographs developed and printed, the fifteen-year-old lab assistant, Dennis Banks, accidentally overfixed the negatives.

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The exhibit at the Ludwig was lovely, despite there being just about every other person in Budapest there on the same afternoon.  From Life Magazine covers, to hand-written letters, to the photographs themselves (including his last photograph before stepping on the landmine that killed him), I really have to congratulate the museum on the exhibit.

Addresses:

Pántlika Söröző/Bisztró
1147 Budapest
Városliget (opposite Herminia ut 47)
222-2929

Ludwig Museum
Komor Marcell utca
IX. kerület, Budapest

Friss Pisztráng at Siesta Cafe

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Györgyi and I had a fantastic day yesterday, which we weren’t really expecting since all we’ve been thinking about it is buying the things on our list and packing to leave this week.  But suddenly, yesterday, things fell into place and we had a really quintessentially beautiful Hungarian summer day.  We woke up at about 5:15am.  The above picture is a view of our neighborhood at that time, and I swear I never get tired of look out over a peaceful thirteenth district skyline.

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Even though we weren’t going to run, since we had covered a really long distance the day before, and hadn’t rested in about seven days, we just couldn’t help being lured out by the cool, almost crisp weather for a short jog.  This picture above is from the Margit Bridge looking the opposite way of Parliament on the Danube.  Go that way and you’re heading toward Slovakia and Austria.  Everything is so quiet and peaceful at that time of day.  It’s important, when living in a big city or a city with tourist attractions, to find times when you can just be out there among things without many people scuffing it all up.  Early morning is definitely the time go to.

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So we did some early morning shopping at the Mountex for a few last minute clothing items and essentials, and then decided to go to Szentendre to find a gift for my Mom that I haven’t been able to get anywhere yet and kept putting off.  And I really wanted Györgyi to be there b/c there is always what I call the I’m Hungarian and local discount of a few thousand forints, especially when buying touristy things:  linens, porceline, etc.

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Szentendre is a great little side trip for anyone visiting Budapest.  You can take the city train there, or a car (it’s about 20 minutes drive from the city) and it’s a cute artsy town filled with galleries and shops from the many artists who have settled there over the centeries.  It’s very busy in the summer, but we found a perfect seat in the center of the square to have a leisurely cappuccino.

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I was never a big afternoon cappuccino drinker in America.  Actually, I can’t recall ever having an afternoon cappuccino in America.  But now it’s a regular occurance, and I’ve come to recognize the virtues of just being still for a few minutes.  Europeans know this very well.  I think Americans could definitely benefit from the slowing down it takes to sit and have a quiet afternoon drink.  Of course a glass of wine or beer is also perfectly acceptable.

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So we sat for a little while and then decided, since we hadn’t eaten since early morning, that we were starving.  And we had the perfect idea of where to go:

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The Siesta Cafe, which we had been to last summer, is, in my opinion, the best place to get fresh trout (friss pisztráng) in and around Budapest, baring your own ability to catch it on the river, season it, and cook it.  It. Is. Just. Amazing.

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The Siesta Cafe is about 15km past Szentendre on the side of the road (between road and Danube actually) on the way to another must-see little Hungarian town, Visegrád, where you can see the Danube Bend.   This place is a classic roadside fish joint.  Plastic chairs and tables and a guy in a little wooden hut frying or grilling up fresh trout and assembling fresh salads and fries.  They catch their own fish and serve it up fresh every day.  It’s absolutely my favorite kind of place.

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I had the trout on the left, which is covered in fresh pesto.  And Gy had the one on the right, which is encrusted in a parmasan crumb before fried.  We both had the recommended side, which is a gigantic salad covered in a spicy honey mustard dressing.  Yes, it’s ice burg lettuce.  No, there are not a lot of nutrients or fancy garnishes.  But it’s just perfect.

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Served with a little bit of fresh lemon (in addition to our lemonade and Heinekens) it was the perfect meal.  Right now, I can say it confidently, that it’s my death row meal.  We were so engrossed in our eating that we pretty much only said oh my god and this is so amazing the whole time we sat there.  People were talking around us, other were walking by the river, we could hear the sizzle of the new fish going into the oil, but we were just there, enjoying ever moment of it in exquisite silence.  I can’t wait to take my parents there next summer (and probably go again in September when we get back).

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We didn’t stay too long after eating, since there were lots of folks eyeing our table.  We drove back to Budapest (about 30-35 minutes), stopping along the way to buy some peaches and some jams from a guy on the side of the road.  It was the perfect summer Sunday, and since I’ve been so pre-occupied and stressed about packing and flying, it was a totally unexpected and amazingly pleasant surprise.

If you’re in Budapest Spring-Fall, you must go to the Siesta Cafe (and make a reservation if you can).  They don’t have a website, but we snagged their contact info and location.  In addition, I might also say that if you are visiting Budapest, you owe it to yourself to see some of the Hungarian towns, the real Hungary.  As I was, I’m sure you’ll be happily surprised by what you find.

The Siesta Cafe

Dunabogdány, Kossuth Lajos u. 129.

Tel. +36 30 9141502

Marvelous Marvelosa Kávézó és Étterem

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fruitsoup

I’ve decided that for all of the reasons a restaurant can be marvelous, Marvelosa is absolutely the most in Buda.  Right down the road from the Lánchíd Bridge and two doors down from the last great wine shop in Budapest, Bortársaság, Marvelosa squeezes its cute little Parisian-style cafe self into a Danube facing nook.  I have eaten there several times, and I have never had one bad experience.  The daily menu is always wonderful, the food is inexpensive and healthy, and the service is cheerful and helpful.  Each table is named for an artist, and if you get there at the right time, you can sit upstairs or downstairs with a great view for people or river watching.

Even the owner matches the form.  Good customer service is not something you find in Budapest, and on the rare occasions that I do come across people and owners who are friendly, I want to just dance on the rooftops or rent one of those planes that spell words with the smoke and write eat here eat here eat here in circles in the sky above the city.  And I don’t mean the kind of overly-styled and gratuitously feigned “friendly” service (of course you’ll find those at the top restaurants here– and I guess if you’re paying $200 for a meal, they should force a smile while corking your wine), but rather the simple attitude that, you know what– we think our little place is pretty great too.

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When we were there a few weeks ago, we were early for lunch by about 30 minutes, but they made the lunch menu for us anyway.  The main course was a chicken salad, but the starter was the most delicious fruit soup I have ever tasted.  I didn’t ask what was in it, but Györgyi says probably cherry, sour cherry, strawberry, raspberry.  And of course it was topped with a little whipped cream.  swoon.

When we went down to pay, the owner and a customer were discussing the customer’s bill.  She did not have any smaller money than a 10,000 HUF bill, and her 2 cappuccinos were only 500 forints.  Unfortunately, since it was early, the owner did not have change to give her, so even though the customer wanted to give her something, the owner simply wouldn’t allow it.  When we paid, we tried to give her the extra forints that the woman couldn’t pay.  (And understand that 500 HUF is $2.50 US) But she said absolutely no.  We even tried to sneak it into the tip, and she insisted that we didn’t.  In fact, because of the way our own bill tallied up, and because of the no-change problem, we ended up eating for a few forints less than the actual bill was.  All that she asked from us was that we come again.  And of course, we do.  And you should too.

Marvelosa Kávézó és Étterem
Lánchíd utca 13
1013 Budapest
06 1 2019221

Pozsonyi Kisvendeglő

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It’s definitely almost summer now that the open air tables are available at Pozsonyi Kisvendeglő.  On Friday we didn’t know where to eat, so we decided to go to Pozsonyi for a light lunch.  Of course we called and reserved the last available outside table.  Since it’s one of the most popular authentic Hungarian restaurants in the city, it’s best to always have a reservation, regardless of the time of day.

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I always order soup when I go there, and the matzo ball soup is definitely one of my favorites.  Here you can see one of the matzos, which I haven’t broken up yet.  I should have taken the picture before I got my spoon into it, but I was too hungry and excited.  Seriously, though, unless you have a huge appetite, this soup is really plenty of food for a meal.  Plus, the matzo balls are the size of baseballs and the whole dish cost only HUF 550 ($2.70). That’s serious recession-lunch prices.

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Györgyi had the daily menü, which came with a mushroom soup as a first course and then this plate of chicken and rizi bizi–rice and peas.  Again, it’s the perfect lunch portion and recession friendly, costing just HUF 800 ($4.00).

Even though the temperatures were hovering around the mid-80s, Pozsonyi utca was shaded and carried a little breeze through the tables.  And since we were sitting outside, Barnabás was able to come with us.  He had a few fries, slept a bit, tried to eat a pigeon.  Just your average Friday in District XIII.

Now, Pozsonyi Kisvendéglő does not pay me to write about them, nor do they need the extra business.  But I love this place and want you to try it if you haven’t been and live here, or if you’re just visiting.  Order the daily menu or a soup and a pilsner.  Trust me, you won’t be disappointed.  So here you go:

Pozsonyi Kisvendéglő

1137 Budapest, Radnóti Miklós utca 38.

+36-1-787-4877